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CHRIS FARAONE

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Interview: Bill Maher

Bill Maher's new rules to live by
"If liberals act like pussies, then they are pussies."

By: CHRIS FARAONE | October 15, 2009

Review: The Damned United

No underdog tale here
If you’re looking for an insufferable-underdog tall tale, then avoid director Tom Hooper’s soccer (er, football) drama.

By: CHRIS FARAONE | October 15, 2009

Masta Ace and Edo G pair up to tear down
Del the Funky Homosapien and Tame One. Canibus and Keith Murray. AG and OC. Buckshot and KRS. Masta Ace and Edo G. These aren’t comments on a Facebook thread asking for hip-hop dream duos. They’re real pairs of united legends who are giving disenchanted heads unprecedented reasons to put aside the throwbacks and enjoy music recorded this millennium.

By: CHRIS FARAONE | October 13, 2009

Boston public-school apartheid?

Think busing was a problem in this town? Some are labeling charter schools as Boston's newest educational battleground
At the Edward W. Brooke School in Roslindale — a kindergarten-to-eighth-grade public charter school — the push to advance graduates to elite secondary programs begins in fifth grade.

By: CHRIS FARAONE | October 15, 2009

Mr. Magic, R.I.P.

Rest in Beats
By the time this goes to press, DJs and designers will be mixing and manufacturing mix-tapes and shirts commemorating Mr. Magic, the seminal New York radio jockey who died of a heart attack at 53 in Brooklyn this past Friday.

By: CHRIS FARAONE | October 07, 2009

Interview: David Cross

David Cross is not cross
"When people thought of stand-up in 1987, they thought of a guy with a skinny red tie and a jacket saying, 'What's the deal with blah, blah, blah?' "

By: CHRIS FARAONE | October 07, 2009

Freudian trip

Esoteric drops reality rap on Saving Seamus Ryan
Hip-hop is faker than Vince McMahon's business plan and tan combined. Pussy-whipped MCs who sling Whoppers rhyme about bagging blow and smacking ho's; even cats who actually do poison their communities exaggerate their hood credentials.

By: CHRIS FARAONE | October 06, 2009

Brandeis President Jehuda Reinharz steps down

Pricked by a Rose?
Fallout from Bernie Madoff's titanic scheme is still unfolding, as was made clear on this week's 60 Minutes report about the search for billions bilked by the New York Ponzi king.

By: CHRIS FARAONE | September 30, 2009

Fantastic damage

Anti-Pop Consortium’s unfinished business
Unlike hip-hop acts that deny bucking convention for the sake of eccentricity, Anti-Pop Consortium were as clear on day zero as they will certainly be at Great Scott next Thursday about their maverick intentions.

By: CHRIS FARAONE | September 28, 2009

Brother Ali | Us

Rhymesayers (2009)
Brother Ali is like a cool roaming uncle who occasionally surfaces with gifts and insights.

By: CHRIS FARAONE | September 29, 2009

MassCan's 20th Freedom Rally relatively free from arrests

Peace Pipe Dept.
Assuming that, at MassCann's 20th annual Freedom Rally on Boston Common this past Saturday, all 30,000 attendees got stoned, smokers had less than a half-percent chance of getting busted.

By: CHRIS FARAONE | September 23, 2009

Soul training

Suddenly, Mayer Hawthorne is running retro-pop
Mayer Hawthorne rose to instant retro-pop acclaim the same way that everyone from Al Green to Michael Jackson moved on up — work and luck.

By: CHRIS FARAONE | September 22, 2009

Review: KRS-One and Buckshot | Survival Skills

Duck Down (2009)
Duck Down (2009)

By: CHRIS FARAONE | September 22, 2009

A Tale of Two Towns

Renowned for its roguish history, Charlestown is finally getting Hollywood's attention
Charlestown was baptized in bloodshed. Yet this unique, fertile turf has been generally overlooked by Hollywood, which has preferred instead its old rival South Boston, the primary backdrop for Oscar winners Good Will Hunting and The Departed .

By: CHRIS FARAONE | September 29, 2009