AltWeeklies Wire
Gregg Perloff Is the New Bill Grahamnew
How his Another Planet Entertainment beat the competition to host the epic Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival.
East Bay Express |
David Downs |
08-14-2008 |
Music
The Immersion Composition Society Helps Musicians Overcome Creative Hurdlesnew
The society is a loosely affiliated international band of "lodges" with around three to twelve members each who share the common goal of boosting their productivity and unleashing their creativity as musicians. The two oldest and most established lodges, Origin and Wig, are still based in Oakland -- along with at least another three.
East Bay Express |
Nate Seltenrich |
08-07-2008 |
Music
Why Does the Bay Area Have a Hard Time Harboring Hip-Hop Venues?new
Hip-hop is one of the most popular genres on earth, and San Francisco is a world-class city. Yet this town seems hostile toward this musical nightlife with such revenue-generating potential. Why?
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Garrett Caples |
08-06-2008 |
Music
RockyGrass Festival Breaks Free from Tradition While Staying True to its Rootsnew
Compared to its relative Telluride Bluegrass Festival, RockyGrass is a slightly smaller, more traditional affair. Traditional, that is, in a vague sense. In its 36th year, RockyGrass has grown to a three-day festival that spans more than a century of American roots music, from the banjo and mandolin songs with which we're most familiar to 21st century acoustic songwriting.
Boulder Weekly |
Margaret Hair |
07-28-2008 |
Music
How Technology is Turning the Tables on the Westernization of Popnew
The exchange of musical ideas between the West and the rest of the world is evolving into a genuine conversation, and that can only be an improvement. The internet may be giving the music industry all kinds of fits, but it's pretty great for the health of music itself.
Chicago Reader |
Miles Raymer |
07-28-2008 |
Music
Gypsies, Tramps and Reeds Take the Stage as Balkan Bands Blow Upnew
Beyond seeking respite from mainstream songs, one reason Balkan-style music has gained such a following is that it makes you want to dance.
New York Press |
Linnea Covington |
07-24-2008 |
Music
The Man Who Makes the Pitchfork Music Festival Happennew
Mike Reed's best known as the guy who assembles indie rock's favorite festival, but in his spare time he performs miracles for the local jazz scene.
Chicago Reader |
Peter Margasak |
07-21-2008 |
Music
Running Out of Retronew
Enjoy the '90s revival while you can--the space-time continuum is about to collapse.
Chicago Reader |
Miles Raymer |
07-14-2008 |
Music
Music for Fuel: It's Harder than Ever to Jam Econonew
"Last year, I was worried about getting out to the West Coast with gas at $3.20 a gallon," says Dan McGee, the frontman for heavy-touring Chapel Hill band Spider Bags, "and this year, I'm worried about getting to work."
Michigan's Most Important Rock Fest Remains Obscure Footnote in Rock Historynew
In the summer of 1970, the Goose Lake International Music Festival was held in Jackson, Michigan, and attracted over 200,000 fans. Unlike Woodstock, it didn't rain and most of those folks actually paid to get in. Despite this, Goose Lake remains an obscure footnote in Midwestern rock history, the big show that hardly anyone outside Michigan has heard about.
Metro Times |
Mark Deming |
07-08-2008 |
Music
Travel Portland Tries to Woo Tourists with Indie Rocknew
The "private nonprofit destination marketing organization" is running an "Indie Music Hotel Package," which courts the would-be indie tourist with hip package deals for lodging and a free sampler of local music.
The Portland Mercury |
Ezra Ace Caraeff |
07-03-2008 |
Music
Nathan Brown Hopes to Bring Back the 8-Tracknew
The 8-track is such an object of obsession for Brown that he's hoping not only to repopularize, but almost literally to resurrect it. This year he has recorded and engineered releases by two Arkansas bands -- the Crisco Kids and San Antokyo -- solely on 8-track, with plans to do the same for The Thing That Always Explodes, Magic Hassle and the Evelyns.
Arkansas Times |
Sam Eifling |
07-03-2008 |
Music
50 States, 50 Bandsnew
We picked the all-time best band, all-time best solo artist, and best new(ish) band from each of the 50 states (plus a set from DC). We say the all-time best band to come out of Connecticut was the Carpenters. Michigan? The Stooges. Massachusetts? The Pixies. Care to argue about it?
Boston Phoenix |
Michael Brodeur, Carly Carioli and Lance Gould |
07-01-2008 |
Music
Two Queer Legends of Indie Rock and Queercore Look Backnew
Pansy Division's Jon Ginoli and Camper Van Beethoven's Victor Krummenacher got together recently to talk about the way it was, coming out in the repressed 1980s and coming into their own experientially, politically, and musically in 1990s San Francisco -- each, as Krummenacher puts it, a "gay guy suddenly in Candyland."
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Kimberly Chun |
06-25-2008 |
Music
Halftime Report: Examining the Most Buzzed About Albums of the Yearnew
Taking stock of some of the top releases thus far (Al Green learns to Lay It Down), flops (Trina is not Still Da Baddest), and annoyances (Mariah Carey — nobody but Nick Cannon even cares anymore), here's a look at some of 2008's most talked-about albums.
New Times Broward-Palm Beach |
Jonathan Cunningham |
06-24-2008 |
Music
