Jeff's Picks - Reviewed by Jeff Niesel

Jeff Niesel started writing about rock ’n’ roll some 20 years ago when he stood in the pouring rain to hitch hike his way to see R.E.M. on their Life’s Rich Pageant tour. Since that time, he's written for various daily newspapers, alt-weeklies, magazines and websites and now writes for the Cleveland Scene, one of the country's oldest alt-weeklies, and is also the editor of HearSay Now.

Air - Le Voyage Dans La Lune (Astralwerks)

This mostly instrumental soundtrack to a recently restored turn-of-the-century science fiction film has all the usual electronica eccentricities you’d expect from the adventurous French duo.

Heartless Bastards - Arrow (Partisan)

Led by powerhouse singer Erika Wennerstrom, this garage blues act adroitly veers from moody ballads (“Marathon”) to rootsy rockers (“Late in the Night”).

Shearwater - Animal Joy (Sub Pop)

This Austin-based indie pop band benefits from the fact that Jonathan Meiburg's rumbling baritone vocals make the music here sound appropriately ominous and foreboding.

J. Edgar - (Warner Bros.)

Clint Eastwood’s film about FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover didn’t receive particularly good reviews when it arrived in theaters late last year, but Leonardo DiCaprio is terrific in the starring role, and the movie captures the contradictions at the heart of Hoover’s lengthy term.

Hugo - (Paramount)

Martin Scorcese’s film about an orphaned boy who tries to put together a puzzle his father left him isn’t just a visual treat. It’s also a touching story that effectively pays tribute to old school cinema.