The first official solo release from Lou Barlow shows this earnest veteran of indie rock has an uncanny knack for writing consistent and heartfelt songs about love, life and everything in between. Dabbling in a number of projects and mini-projects such...

The "sell-out": that moment when an artist of some merit decides to take large sums of money for his or her work and continues to produce it for said money. What is it about "selling out" in this manner that saddens all of us fans of an artist? Especially...

Scary movies pump up the adrenaline and transport audiences into a realm of fear and paranoia. I swear that while I was watching the thriller "Hide and Seek," I had a flash of déjà vu. The film stars Robert DeNiro as David Callaway, a widowed father...

College students and video games - what an unlikely pair? Dig Marketing, a private consumer research firm, is looking for a group of six to eight people to conduct a focus group on video games. The focus group will be conducted on Feb. 10 and is part...

Epitaph Records is injecting some high-energy rock ‘n’ roll straight into the heart of DeKalb by bringing the Epitaph Tour to the Holmes Student Center’s Duke Ellington Ballroom at 7 p.m. today. Along with Matchbook Romance, The Matches, From First...

In the movie "The Relic", based on a novel by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, the filmmakers replaced the SWAT team of the book’s climax with a couple of armed men running around in khakis. For years, this decision perplexed me as a weird choice...

Singer/songwriter Toothpick will play Saturday at 9 p.m. at Fatty’s Pub and Grille, 1312 W. Lincoln Highway. Toothpick, aka Doug Ray, opened for O.A.R at the Convocation Center last February. Ray wrote the song "Supersize Me" featured in the 2005 Academy...

In a little more than 36 days, college (and unfortunately some high school) students will embark on one of the most exciting times of the semester: Spring Break. Like the average NIU student, you’re probably scurrying like a hungry alley cat just to...

All the Super Bowl hype - costly commercials and halftime controversy included - doesn’t mean a thing if a viewer can’t watch the show in a comfortable venue. Those not wanting to spend their Sunday night in the confines of their Lazy Boys and sofas...

Bob Dylan. Bruce Springsteen. Robert Smith. Morrissey. Jeff Tweedy. It’s time to add one more name to the list of poetic singers who can twist and turn words with flawless ease and wrap their lyrics around chord progressions that would leave Ryan Cabrera...

The NIU School of Theatre and Dance introduces two Molière plays to be performed over the next two weeks. "Tartuffe" is about a 17th-century con man who poses in clerical garb to mask his less-than-virtuous intentions regarding a wealthy aristocrat’s...

One senior art education major has given an artist’s touch to the pad she shares with her female friends. Rachel Aberle, a senior art education major, has prominently displayed some of her artwork around the house, including a set of six paintings of...