AltWeeklies Wire
Born Under a Blues Signnew
Lurrie Bell's nomination for a Grammy Award earlier this month was the latest confirmation of the blues inheritance that sustained his career and even saved his life.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Bill Forman |
01-07-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
Austin's Band of Heathens Offer Up Alt-Country for Catholic Tastesnew
Texans twang differently than their Tennessee counterparts, and rightly so. Blame it on outlaws like Waylon and Willie, Lubbock lunatics like Terry Allen and Joe Ely, or any number of insurgent country artists who get started on Austin's 6th Street and radiate outward from there.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Bill Forman |
01-07-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
Louisiana's Grammy-Nominated Pine Leaf Boys Take the Lead in a New Cajun Crusadenew
"I was raised on a little farm, my parents were very traditionalist, and they didn't have any music except for Cajun music. I'm really one of the few guys who just doesn't know jack squat about modern-day music."
Colorado Springs Independent |
Bill Forman |
01-07-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
Exmortus' Blend of Neoclassical Melodicism and Brutal Thrashnew
Rare is the metal band that can shred your face clean off while using virtuoso techniques worthy of Italian violinist Niccolò Paganini — with all the sonic subtlety of a pissed-off Japanese giant monster. Which is why Whittier, CA's Exmortus tends to stand out amidst the current thrash-metal resurgence.
Tucson Weekly |
Jarret Keene |
01-06-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
Nellie McKay Talks 'A Prairie Home Companion,' Politics, and Doris Daynew
As a forward-thinking musician, Nellie McKay has jumped all over the map in the last decade, with albums spanning pop music, funk, disco, and hip hop. Her most recent, Normal as Blueberry Pie, veers into surprisingly traditional territory with a collection of Doris Day covers.
City Pages (Twin Cities) |
Andrea Swensson |
01-06-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
Los Cenzontles, a Group at the Cutting Edge in Latin Musicnew
I find it particularly sad and absurd that a band like California’s Los Cenzontles (sehn-SONT-less, Spanish for “mockingbirds”), except for a private event here in 1995, are busier and more appreciated in Scotland and Ireland than they are in San Antonio.
San Antonio Current |
Enrique Lopetegui |
01-06-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
Gary Barrett and the Notions Plug Ahead With Their Idiosyncratic Guitar Popnew
As the frontman of Gary B and the Notions, Gary Barrett has been refining the expression of his personal quirks and neuroses with the accompaniment of jangly guitar riffs for the past five years. He knows exactly how to project his own personality and unique way of looking at the world.
Baltimore City Paper |
Al Shipley |
01-05-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
Former Seattle Weekly Editor Aja Pecknold’s a Fleet Foxnew
As the paper's former clubs editor, Aja Pecknold churned out blurbs for The Short List, maintained her "Behind the Scenes" column, and penned some lively features. She now serves as point person for all things Fleet Foxes.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian J. Barr |
01-04-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
Music Interview: The Clockmennew
As a band, The Clockmen is a perfect example of the punk-rock conformist contradiction, and the music that comes from that tug of war. Punk has always championed the new, the different, the unique. But as a movement, that's nearly impossible to sustain. The Clockmen accept the challenge.
City Newspaper |
Frank De Blase |
12-30-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
The Awkward Hit-Makers: Berkeley's The Cataracsnew
There's a studied, left-brained pragmatism to The Cataracs' approach: Perhaps because they don't have classical backgrounds or industry connections, they've spent years examining and analyzing what it takes to make a hit and applying this knowledge to every new track.
East Bay Express |
Ellen Cushing |
12-30-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Born Under a Blues Sign: Lurrie Bell Carries on a Family Legacynew
Lurrie Bell's nomination for a Grammy Award earlier this month was the latest confirmation of the blues inheritance that sustained his career and even saved his life. His father, Carey Bell, was nominated for his own Grammy three decades ago.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Bill Forman |
12-29-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Alan Palomo Scores With Neon Indian's Hazy Soundsnew
Mapping out a universe of spongy synth leads and canned beats, Dallas-bred knob-tinkerer Alan Palomo has managed an offbeat triumph in Psychic Chasms, the debut of Neon Indian, his mostly one-man bedroom project.
Dallas Observer |
Doug Wallen |
12-28-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Chuck Snow & the Lo-Fi Cowboys Go for the Garagenew
There's a video on YouTube that captures Chuck Snow at the now-defunct Deluxe Tavern, singing the Replacements' "Unsatisfied" with his former band, the Autono. What's interesting about it is how Snow totally nails it.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Bill Forman |
12-17-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
The Last Frontier: Portugal. The Man Are Like No Othernew
In lieu of resting on the crutch of their regional association, the band turned the calendar pages of 2009 by recording a pair of albums—The Satanic Satanist, their most successful release to date, and American Ghetto, due out next spring.
The Portland Mercury |
Ezra Ace Caraeff |
12-17-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: American Ghetto, Portugal. The Man
Marquez! is Ready to Become San Diego's Premier Rock en Espanol Bandnew
For Jared Armijo-Wardle and Cesar Zuñiga to have made it this far seems a fair example of their passion and commitment to the music they play: a lovely and introspective blend of American indie-rock and the regional Mexican music that Cesar Zuñiga grew up listening to.
San Diego CityBeat |
Seth Combs |
12-16-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
