AltWeeklies Wire
Jeanna Salzer: Contemporary Pop Newcomernew
Salzer, a third-year student at Alverno College, is blessed with a voice that belies her young age: She sings with an authority and authenticity that seems to have little place in the world of contemporary pop music.
Shepherd Express |
Michael Carriere |
09-19-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Jeanna Salzer, Raindrops
The Goodnight Loving Gets Nostalgic for Milwaukeenew
Though he cautions that two of his band mates who once lived there might disagree with him, Andy Kavanaugh doesn't have many kind words about Green Bay.
Shepherd Express |
Evan Rytlewski |
09-19-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: The Goodnight Loving
This is Memphis Hardcorenew
Even if Staags! and No Comply manage to recall Midtown Memphis' first hardcore punk-rock heyday (late '80s through late '90s), like all good hardcore, these new local bands have little to do with nostalgia.
The Memphis Flyer |
Andrew Earles |
09-19-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Miami's Spam Allstars' Mismashed Heatnew
As Spam Allstars, they spin a web of heady grooves around Yeomanson's uncanny manipulations, resulting in a harmonious melange of electronic elements, samples of old Latin vinyl and the live muscle of a Latin conjunto.
Orlando Weekly |
Lissette Corsa |
09-18-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Spam Allstars
The King and I: Elvis Tribute Artist Shea Arender Explains His Craftnew
There's no mistaking the home of Elvis tribute artist Shea Arender. Four white pillars and a pair of somber stone lions flank his front door, eliciting a knowing grin from visitors as if they have been let in on a good joke.
Jackson Free Press |
Ari Glogower |
09-18-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Meet David Berman: Poet, Musician, Truth-Tellernew

The Silver Jews frontman, not unlike former Poet Laureate Billy Collins, is the rare poet who writes poetry for people who don't think they like poetry. His writing -- and his songs -- are accessible, and hold great truth for anyone who cares to pay attention.
Tucson Weekly |
Stephen Seigel |
09-18-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
World-Tronic Dub: Telepath Gets Refined and Funkynew
Borrowing sounds from other cultures and mixing them into Western music is nothing new -- just think Paul Simon's Graceland or the Brazilian street drums of Rhythm of the Saints. But Asheville, N.C.-based, Philly-bred Telepath take that concept to a new level.
Charleston City Paper |
Stratton Lawrence |
09-18-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Donna the Buffalo Hits Double-Decade Milestonenew
Donna the Buffalo has fiddled, picked and sashayed its way through a journey of fine roots music. Make that American music.
Creative Loafing (Charlotte) |
Samir Shukla |
09-17-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
South Texas Destroyers Combine Diverse Backgrounds for Kick-ass Debutnew
South Texas Destroyers' beginnings come straight from the When Harry Met Sally handbook.
San Antonio Current |
Clint Hale |
09-17-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Final Warning Returns to Portland After a 22-year Hiatusnew
More than two decades after a "chemicals"-related breakup, FW is about to play Portland one last time.
Willamette Week |
Nathan Carson |
09-17-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: punk, Final Warning
Flip the Switch and Begin Anew with TV on the Radionew
If Cookie Mountain closed a chapter for TV on the Radio's alabaster soul, then Dear Science signifies a new direction. Tunde Adebimpe calls it "brighter and cleaner," shorn of the dense layers of distortion of the past. The music is wide open. The future is wide open.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Mosi Reeves |
09-17-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: TV on the Radio, Dear Science
Salsa Vets Bio Ritmo Assert Themselves with an Adventurous New Albumnew
Bionico finds the nine members exploring a funky hybrid of their traditional Puerto Rican street salsa and electronic dance music, tossing a spacey, 1970s drum machine called the Drum Fire into the sonic wash.
Style Weekly |
Brent Baldwin |
09-17-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Port O'Brien Stirs Up the Indie Kidsnew
Port O'Brien has also earned the obligatory critical comparisons to Arcade Fire — a single Yahoo! search for both bands yields 65,000 Web pages — although there's little similarity other than "I Woke Up Today" and Arcade Fire's "Wake Up" both containing wordless vocal intros.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Bill Forman |
09-16-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Getting to the Roots of the Sisters 3's Mutant Folk Musicnew
Three bodies, three sensibilities. But when it comes to the Sisters 3, they're of one mind.
Philadelphia City Paper |
M.J. Fine |
09-16-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Star Spangled, The Sisters 3
Steve Earle Talks Music, Politics and Addictionnew

Earle's resurrection after being released from jail in the mid-1990s is remarkable, and few would dispute that he is today one of the best songwriters in the world. And he always seasons his songs with powerful political messages that rise above the polemical.
New Haven Advocate |
Jim Motavalli |
09-16-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews