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Dive Bars
A handcrafted tour of the best, most obscure places to lean on a stool in Houston.
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Getting Off
Attorney Tyler Flood says he wins 80 percent of his clients' DWI trials, even if they were 100 percent drunk as a skunk.
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Houston's Choice for Mayor
Black Guy, Rich White Guy, Lesbian or Hispanic Republican
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Burgers and Hash
Lola, a modern diner in the Heights is dishing up some top-notch Texas short-order cooking.
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Looking for a Bull Market
Killen's Steakhouse in suburban Pearland is probably best during boom times.
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BBQ Buffet
Korea Garden Grille offers a stellar selection of barbecue items in unlimited quantities — and new and interesting ways to eat them.
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Looking for a Bull Market
Killen's Steakhouse in suburban Pearland is probably best during boom times.
-
Dive Bars
A handcrafted tour of the best, most obscure places to lean on a stool in Houston.
-
Burgers and Hash
Lola, a modern diner in the Heights is dishing up some top-notch Texas short-order cooking.
-
Houston's Choice for Mayor
Black Guy, Rich White Guy, Lesbian or Hispanic Republican
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Joni Mitchell, Shine
CD Review
Published on October 02, 2007 at 2:59pm
Coming out of hiding after her 2002 tirade against the music industry, Joni Mitchell has teamed up with Starbucks for Shine; way to stick it to the man, Joni! The album begins with "One Week Last Summer," a tired instrumental piece filled with faux-jazz riffs, before Mitchell starts singing. Inspired by the war in Iraq and various environmental issues, Mitchell continues with her tradition of speaking out through song. Unfortunately, speaking is almost all she does. Although she's made improvements vocally from recent albums, Mitchell essentially talks through most of Shine's tracks, leaving listeners who long for her almost eardrum-piercing high notes and delicate folk style with preachy lyrics that end up sounding like a bad medley of Michael Moore films. Her update of "Big Yellow Taxi" was given better treatment in covers by Bob Dylan, Counting Crows with Vanessa Carlton, Amy Grant (yes, Amy Grant) and even as a sample in Q-tip and Janet Jackson's "Got 'til It's Gone." But by far the biggest bummer on the album comes on the title track, in which Mitchell embarrasses herself with lyrics like "Shine on another asshole, passing on the right!" over a track comparable to the dripping water and wind chimes that keep you tense at a cheap day spa.
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