AltWeeklies Wire
Attempting to Make Sense of SXSW, America's Premier Music Festivalnew

There are close to 2,000 registered bands at SXSW, although the impossible-to-determine unofficial number is probably twice that. If you perform, you will do so opposite hundreds of other bands from all over the world.
The Portland Mercury |
Ezra Ace Caraeff |
03-25-2010 |
Music
The Runaways’ Cherie Currie Gave Up Rock ‘n’ Roll to Swing Around a Chainsawnew
Cherie Currie was just a Bowie-obsessed 15-year-old smoking a cigarette at the Sugar Shack, an under-21 club in North Hollywood, when she was spotted by producer Kim Fowley. A Svengali, visionary and predator, he was cruising the underage clubs.
New York Press |
Sheila McClear |
03-18-2010 |
Music
The Problem With Independent Hip-Hopnew
I’m reluctant to admit it, but I don’t listen to much independent or alternative hip-hop these days, or at least not nearly as much as I did in college, when Rhymesayers, Def Jux and Stones Throw records were as much a part of my diet as ramen noodles and macaroni and cheese.
Shepherd Express |
Evan Rytlewski |
03-12-2010 |
Music
Nothing Not New: I'm No Critic But I'm Also Not a Fan. I'm a Listenernew

I'm no critic. Even though I am paid to write about music — thanks to my role as a blogger responsible for writing about one new CD a day at www.NothingNotNew.com, an ostentatious yearlong project that has me listening to nothing not released in 2010 during the year 2010.
Phoenix New Times |
Jay Bennett |
02-23-2010 |
Music
Tags: www.NothingNotNew.com, Jay Bennett
Cloud Technology and the Future of Portable Musicnew

The common way to listen to music has changed relatively slowly over the years, from records to CDs to downloadable files. Downloads could go the way of the forlorn CD, felled by something even more ephemeral: the Cloud.
Michael Eades' Label YK Records Bridges the Physical-Digital Gapnew

In his role as Spongebath Records' webmaster, Michael Eades told the staff and bands about a new digital audio encoding format called MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 — more commonly known as MP3 — that would later flip the old music business model on its lid.
Nashville Scene |
Matt Sullivan |
01-15-2010 |
Music
Our Dismal Decade: A Highly Subjective Look at the Decade in Musicnew

The decade was imminently forgettable. But with great tribulation comes great art, and music saved my soul. It's no wonder this list is dominated by dour, dark music — as a mirror of emotion, it's practically flawless.
Dig Boston |
David Day |
12-30-2009 |
Music
Before the Cheesecake Factory, Arlington Was Home to Storied Punk Residencesnew

Collin Crowe, 26, the guitarist for Buildings, was among the final tenants of Kansas House, a tiny single-family home on the corner of N. Kansas Street and Wilson Boulevard that was among Arlington’s last underground art spaces.
Washington City Paper |
Aaron Leitko |
12-17-2009 |
Music
Team Spirit: Durham's 307 Knox Records Turns Fivenew

Since 2004, the imprint has released 31 records—a compilation full of Bull City bands, full-lengths by Midtown Dickens, The Future Kings of Nowhere and Cantwell, Gomez & Jordan and a series of 7-inch vinyl singles. Meet founder Melissa Thomas.
Year in Review: A Sizable Fleet of North Carolina Bands Found Bigger Audiencesnew
This year, more than any other this decade, the Triangle's local band scene seemed to engender broader support. It was a good year to be, as one excellent local compilation put it, "hearing here," at home.
A Legendary New Orleans Rock Club Stars in a Locally Produced Documentarynew
Before the members of the Grateful Dead were so famously arrested by New Orleans police on January 30, 1970, the band — along with Fleetwood Mac and The Flock — christened the opening night of The Warehouse, a bare-bones, 30,000-square-foot music venue on Tchoupitoulas Street.
The Farm is No Place for Coversnew
When a last-minute cancellation opened up a time slot at The Farm on Nov. 24, local band Where the Hell is Stacie Jones jumped at the opportunity — not knowing that the management would stop the fledgling group before they ever got the chance to play.
Las Vegas Weekly |
April Corbin |
12-10-2009 |
Music
La Santa Cecilia, an 'It' Band and L.A.'s Next Big Genre-Bending Latinonew

Every couple of years, a Latino band emerges from this area who match their neighborhood and times, who transcend Latino L.A. to become a regional crossover hit. La Santa Cecilia is next.
Kansas City's Hip-hop Wants a Piece of Hot 103new

Jaz Brewer has engineered albums for some of the biggest names in Kansas City rap. Some songs that Brewer has produced have made it to the city's only commercial hip-hop station. The vast majority, however, have not, and it's not because they aren't up-to-par productionwise.
How a Designer Found a Niche Packaging Music in Something You Can’t Downloadnew
Byron Kalet has been applying the basic conventions of popular song—rhythm and tone—to an audio magazine he calls the Journal of Popular Noise. Recently, he released Residential, a collection of tracks by Foscil that is limited to 300 copies.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian J. Barr |
12-07-2009 |
Music