As one half of Cannibal Ox, Vordul Mega spit dense, allegorical tales of the inner city. That same sharp observation is still front and center on his second solo effort, which retains Cannibal Ox's future-paranoid vibe while adding a soulful jolt to the proceedings.

Kardinal Offishall's debut as part of R&B crooner Akon's Konvict Muzik clique is a high-energy blend of Jamaican dancehall and modern hip-hop that could get just about any party started.

I never gave it much thought as a kid what Michael Jackson, Prince and Madonna would be like at age 50. All I cared about was the music and how Michael Jackson danced like that.

Experimenting in the free-wheeling literary realms of bizarro fiction is Eckhard Gerdes of Geneva, considered an elder statesman in the genre he helps champion.

When not performing his professorial role teaching creative writing, composition or literature courses at colleges in the Chicago area, he’s at play in a genre that splits wide the traditional boundaries of language, storytelling and reality itself. His newest book is “My Landlady the Lobotomist.”

The creative minds behind Batavia’s signature Art In Your Eye, a summer festival of all things visual, next will celebrate the ear with their second amateur songwriting contest capped by a concert in October.

With the recent crowning of "Glamarella" as Intercontinental and Women's Champions respectively, I got to thinking about the place of comedy in professional wrestling.  Much like any entertainment art form, wrestling has drama, action and, yes, comedy.

The Senior Suburban Orchestra will open its ninth season with a rehearsal Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 2. The orchestra is composed mostly of retirees, and performs 15 concerts a year at schools, retirement communities and other public venues.

In their final season on F/X, which starts Tuesday, Detective Vic Mackey and his squad of corrupt LAPD cops will put the lid on what may be the greatest and most entertaining cop show on TV (and I love "Law & Order").

David Cook was speechless when the cloth came down and the mural designed in his honor was unveiled.

Each massively multiplayer online game has its own unique little economy within the game. And most have real-world values on them, even if the developers would love nothing more than to crush that.

Joseph Nagyvary says he’s found a way to make contemporary violins sound like a Stradivarius.

A conversation with the man behind "A Prarie Home Companion." Keillor’s "A Prairie Home Companion: The Rhubarb Tour'' – a live variety show adapted from his broadcast program – pulls into the Cape Cod Melody Tent in Hyannis on Sunday and South Shore Music Circus in Cohasset on Monday.a

It’s not easy to reference current events in songs these days without alienating half your audience. But Cambridge, Mass., songwriter Mark Erelli succeeds in providing a very moving snapshot of what it’s like to live in America in 2008 on his new album, “Delivered,” due out Sept. 16 on Signature Sounds.

Dorothy Fadiman’s  "Stealing America: Vote by Vote" is a dull and  lacking-in-conclusive-proof documentary about unreliable voting machines and how they can be rigged to manipulate the outcome of an election.

The Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra announces its new subscription season, “Pure Emotion,” beginning Saturday, Oct. 18, with “Festa Italiana,” showcasing music by Italian composers and soprano Nancy Gustafson singing arias by Verdi and Rossini.