AltWeeklies Wire
Jucifer's Use of Extremes is Inherent to its Wholenew
Major stylistic shifts are abound in just about all of this two-piece act's recordings. The music suddenly shifts from the calm and free-flowing melody of shoegaze to the harsh brutality of noise or metal. But it always feels as if this dynamism has a rationale.
East Bay Express |
Nick Schwab |
09-02-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: L'autrichienne, Jucifer
The Flaming Lips Keep Their Fearless Freak Flag Flyingnew
Put simply, you'd have to be the most loathsome, granite-hearted reptilian cynic this side of Bill O'Reilly -- or quite possibly clinically dead -- not to be moved or uplifted by the Lips in action. Which is all well and good, but Wayne Coyne insists that the evolution of their live shows has been down to a series of happy accidents and a certain degree of "dumb luck."
Baltimore City Paper |
Neil Ferguson |
09-01-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: wayne coyne, The Flaming Lips
Dallas Producer Rob Viktum Serves Up A New, Tasty 'Drink'new
Viktum makes beats all the time, but the beats he's created on a new EP for his latest project, well, they're a bit different. Not in style, mind you, but in creation.
Dallas Observer |
Pete Freedman |
08-31-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Cara Gives New Life to Lost Songsnew
The quintet infuses Irish-inspired music with modern influences to create both traditional and contemporary music.
Tucson Weekly |
Gene Armstrong |
08-28-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Eric D. Johnson Returns to the Fruit Batsnew
In the four years that have passed since the last Fruit Bats album, singer-songwriter-guitarist Eric D. Johnson has toured and recorded with the Shins and Vetiver, projects that encouraged him to open up to more collaboration in his own band.
Tucson Weekly |
Eric Swedlund |
08-28-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs Chat About the Second Volume in Their Covers Seriesnew
In June, power-pop darlings Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs released Under the Covers, Vol. 2, which focuses on the '70s. The album spans prog, sappy folk, power-pop and rock royalty.
Riverfront Times |
Annie Zaleski |
08-28-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Legendary Brazilian Psychedelic Group Os Mutantes Return With a New Albumnew
Haih or Amortecedor, the band's first new album in 35 years, is willfully weird, and one wouldn't expect anything less from Os Mutantes. But the youthful, wide-eyed psychedelia of the group's classic work has given way to a wiser -- if not older -- outlook.
The Portland Mercury |
Ned Lannamann |
08-28-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Haih or Amortecedor, Os Mutantes
Diet Kong Fizzes With Fun and Ominous Undertonesnew
Countless bands can trace their beginnings to one or maybe two significant and serendipitously accidental meetings, but Diet Kong, the collaborative effort between the Brooklyn-based, husband-and-wife team of Keith Gladysz and Jenn Penn is highly unusual and touching, even for the most cynical music fan.
New York Press |
William Ruben Helms |
08-28-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
2Mex Looks Back on the Visionaries and Plunges Ahead With the Look Daggersnew
"I'm basically a record label's nightmare," says 2Mex, "We're like, 'Career suicide is our style!'"
Colorado Springs Independent |
Bill Forman |
08-27-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
How Brent Knopf Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Songnew
Under the moniker Ramona Falls, Knopf has created an eclectic collection of avant-pop songs that, on the surface, sound similar to his work with Menomena.
Willamette Week |
Michael Mannheimer |
08-26-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
The Avett Brothers Step Forward With 'I and Love and You'new
Despite seven years on the road, slowing down may be a difficult proposal for the Avett Brothers. And the buzz around their upcoming album, I and Love and You -- slated to hit shelves Tuesday, Sept. 29 -- isn't going to make that any easier.
Boise Weekly |
Amy Atkins |
08-26-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
NYC Trio Naam Puts a Fine Finish on Sludgenew
It's refreshing to hear a prog-rock element in a band that isn't a sit-down proposition, such as Tortoise. "I wanted to make [prog-influenced music] in a much more loud, droning, drug-induced sense," Naam bassist John Bundy says.
Baltimore City Paper |
Michaelangelo Matos |
08-25-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Kingdom EP, Naam
The Grownup Noise Continues to Grow Upnew
The jazzy, low-key folk quartet doesn't fit into any of Boston's music scenes. But despite its varied approach to songwriting, fans have been converted, one by one. The task now is doing that to the rest of the country.
Weekly Alibi |
Simon McCormack |
08-25-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: The Grownup Noise
After a Lauded Major Label Debut, Hush Hits Rock Bottom and Rises Againnew
Within two years, he'd gone from Detroit hip-hop's other "white meat" to an unemployed, grieving father of three with a family and a mortgage. Hard up for cash, he took a job working the night shift at a factory that was an hour-plus drive away. He'd get home and during the hours before his sons got up for school, he'd make music.
Metro Times |
Hobey Echlin |
08-25-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Peter Bjorn & John Aren't Afraid to Change Artistic Coursenew
Last year the trio followed their almost fluke of a hit album Writer's Block with an under-the-radar instrumental album, Seaside Rock, followed by this year's Living Things, a darker, more minimalistic take on New Wave revisionism.
Las Vegas CityLife |
Mike Prevatt |
08-25-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
