AltWeeklies Wire
Longtime Portland MC Mic Censhaw Finally Makes a Solo Standnew
Sure, his name is in the liner notes for experimental hip-hop projects Hungry Mob and Suckapunch, and more traditional beats-and-ryhmes duo the Cleveland Steamers, but Thinking Out Loud is the first full-length album the MC has ever released under his own name.
Willamette Week |
Casey Jarman |
11-12-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
After 20 Years, Mudhoney Gets Back to Basicsnew
This year, Mudhoney hit their 20th-anniversary and re-released a deluxe edition of their debut EP, Superfuzz Bigmuff. They also offered up a new release, The Lucky Ones, and it's no coincidence that their latest album sounds so much like their first.
San Diego CityBeat |
Scott McDonald |
11-12-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
This is Marnie Stern -- Long May She Shrednew
The electric feminist explosion that is This Is It masks deep personal anxieties, something she describes as a "combination of zen and extreme loneliness." It's why she lyrically reaches for zen bliss. It's the musical equivalent of making lemonade from lemons.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Mosi Reeves |
11-12-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Blue Horns' Attention Span is Short; Its Songs are Even Shorternew
The band's self-titled debut, out this week, is full of catchy, throwback rock; at eight songs and just over 30 minutes, it's sequenced like the vintage LPs the band reveres.
Willamette Week |
Michael Mannheimer |
11-12-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Portland, Blue Horns
Richard Lloyd Turns Off the Televisionnew
But Lloyd does still have plenty to say about the band and its other guitarist (and primary songwriter), Tom Verlaine.
New Haven Advocate |
Peter Gerstenzang |
11-11-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Jazz Violinist Billy Bang Revisits Vietnam in Music for Veterans Daynew
"When I was writing that music, I remember actually crying again and seeing the nightmares I'd been trying to get away from."
Pittsburgh City Paper |
Mike Shanley |
11-11-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Will Black Milk Become the Latest Rap Superstar from Detroit?new
On street corners and message boards around the world, rap fans have hailed 2008 as the year that Michigan's underground hip-hop scene went "overground." It's producer-emcee Black Milk (born Curtis Cross), who stands at the forefront of this movement.
Metro Times |
William E. Ketchum III |
11-11-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Jolie Holland Conjures the Supernatural with 'The Living and the Dead'new
There's something slightly otherworldly about Jolie Holland. And it's not just the rhythmic swing and tonal lilt of her voice, and such lyrics as "Nobody likes a spook / Or so I've deduced / But I've loved some ghosts in my time."
Pittsburgh City Paper |
Andy Mulkerin |
11-11-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Uh Huh Her Unapologetically Polishes its Actnew
Had duo Camila Grey and Leisha Hailey given the prospect of fame serious consideration when forming Uh Huh Her, they would have picked a more original name for their electro-pop outfit.
The Georgia Straight |
Jenny Charlesworth |
11-11-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Lack of Diversions Led Castanets to Sonic Leapnew
The fourth Castanets CD, City of Refuge, was recorded during a monthlong stint in Overton, Nevada. Paradoxically, singer-guitarist Ray Raposa found that the area's lack of stimulating diversions led to a creative leap.
The Georgia Straight |
Alexander Varty |
11-11-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Marnie Stern Insists She's No Guitar Virtuosonew
Though she'll never admit it, the Brooklyn-based musician totally shreds on guitar, as evidenced on her latest opus, This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That.
The Georgia Straight |
Gregory Adams |
11-11-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Buddy Guy is Still as Potent as Evernew
At 72, this blues-rock legend has come a long way since his threadbare childhood, which he spent in a plantation shack with no running water and no electricity.
The Georgia Straight |
Steve Newton |
11-11-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Arlo Guthrie Still Runs on People Powernew
Spinning tales, singing songs, making us a laugh and giving us hope has been Guthrie's living and his way of life since the '60s.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Mary Armstrong |
11-11-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Arlo Guthrie, folk music
Pianist Michiel Braam Drafts Chicagoans into His Long-Running 'Anti-Orchestra'new
On Friday his long-running large group, Bik Bent Braam will play music from its gloriously rambunctious new album, Extremen, but with one big twist: Braam will fill out the roster of 13 musicians with ten local improvisers -- the first time he's ever performed the band's repertoire with anyone but the musicians for whom he wrote it.
Chicago Reader |
Neil Tesser |
11-10-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Calexico Takes Its Music South of the States and Across the Pondnew
While the Bush administration spent most of the last decade tarnishing America's reputation on the global stage and building fences along our border with Mexico, Tucson's Calexico did the opposite.
Dallas Observer |
Noah W. Bailey |
11-10-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Calexico, Carried to Dust
