AltWeeklies Wire
Marianne Dissard: The Cat. Not Menew
French-born Marianne Dissard left her longtime home of Tucson last year, but not before recording her third proper album, one that pairs ambitious musical leaps with greater emotional vulnerability. Variety has characterized Dissard's musical path, from 2008's L'Entredeux (written with and produced by Calexico's Joey Burns), which found Dissard channeling Americana through her French chanson tradition, to the bright and theatrical L'Abandon (2011) to two loose, off-the cuff recordings, made in Berlin and Paris with her small touring ensembles...
Tucson Weekly |
Eric Swedlund |
02-13-2014 |
Reviews
J.D. Wilkes & the Dirt Daubers: Wild Moonnew
What began as an old-timey unplugged side project for psychobilly trailblazer J.D. Wilkes and his pinup-gorgeous wife, Jessica, has evolved on their third album into a swaggeringly electric band that specializes in swamp blues and twangy garage-abilly. Fans of Wilkes' Legendary Shack Shakers will appreciate the after-midnight roadhouse energy of the Dirt Daubers, but this group also crafts concise songs with oodles of melodic hooks that all might have been hit singles in an alternate jukebox universe...
Tucson Weekly |
Gene Armstrong |
01-16-2014 |
Reviews
Howe Gelb: The Coincidentalistnew
On his latest album of avant-twang and alternative folk-rock, the Giant Sand leader and Tucson music-scene godfather sings in an almost spoken drawl, by turns gruff and sweet, that may be familiar to longtime fans. But here it's mixed up close, like an intimate, whispered confidence, as if Gelb were spinning old stories in the privacy of your living room...
Tucson Weekly |
Gene Armstrong |
11-07-2013 |
Reviews
Arctic Monkeys: AMnew
Every couple of months, the British press finds a new band that will "save rock." In the summer, or maybe early autumn, of 2005, Arctic Monkeys saved rock, but on a scale unprecedented at that time, even by Oasis...
Tucson Weekly |
Joshua Levine |
09-12-2013 |
Reviews
Tags: Arctic Monkeys
Janelle Monáe: The Electric Ladynew
Janelle Monáe swung for the fences on 2010's hyper-ambitious The ArchAndroid, hustling between musical styles and sidestepping pop star shenanigans in order to announce the arrival of a serious artiste. The Electric Lady doesn't represent a reimagining of Monáe's project...
Tucson Weekly |
Sean Bottai |
09-12-2013 |
Reviews
Tags: Janelle Monae
Fuck Buttons: Slow Focusnew
One of the oddest and most impressive things about Slow Focus is how it manages to burble, groan, stammer and seethe and yet it never crosses the line from melody into discord. From the cacophonous percussion that ushers in the opening track, "Brainfreeze," Slow Focus often seems as if, at any moment, it might break apart into science-fiction static...
Tucson Weekly |
Sean Bottai |
08-09-2013 |
Reviews
David Lynch: The Big Dreamnew
"No, no, no, I don't drink that foreign beer," legendary filmmaker/weirdo David Lynch chortles at the end of the electro-blues vamp "Sun Can't Be Seen No More." This being Lynch, the whole song is sung through a vocal modulator that transmogrifies his pipes into something akin to an asthmatic Donald Duck...
Tucson Weekly |
Michael Petitti |
08-09-2013 |
Reviews
Tags: David Lynch
Diamond Rings: Free Dimensionalnew
When Toronto musician John O'Regan transformed himself from punk-band frontman to glam-rock diva on 2010's Special Affections, the results were a wonderful and skeletal album of electro-glam.
Tucson Weekly |
Sean Bottai |
11-15-2012 |
Reviews
Tags: Diamond Rings
Mean Creek: 'Youth Companion'new
Boston's Mean Creek play a bold and exciting guitar rock that recalls both '90s alternative and '80s post-punk.
Tucson Weekly |
Eric Swedlund |
11-15-2012 |
Reviews
Tags: Mean Creek
Meomena: Momsnew
Portland, Ore.'s Menomena is a modern group yet to release a truly forgettable or misdirected album—more than can be said for most of their peers. Given the rather acrimonious departure of Brent Knopf, one might think Justin Harris and Danny Seim would have had to reinvent their sound...
Tucson Weekly |
Michael Petitti |
11-04-2012 |
Reviews
The Drowning Men: All of the Unknownnew
The Drowning Men are trying for a lot of things at once: The Oceanside, Calif., quintet blend folk, stately indie rock, dark subject matter, occasional bursts of punk energy and more.
Tucson Weekly |
Eric Swedlund |
10-11-2012 |
Reviews
The Tough Shits: "The Tough Shits"new
On the debut by Philadelphia's The Tough Shits, one is treated to a cartoon by comic artist Avi Spivak, depicting a cast of characters partying on a seedy boardwalk. It's an indicator of lyrical themes...
Tucson Weekly |
Billups Allen |
10-10-2012 |
Reviews
The Helio Sequence: Negotiationsnew
Nobody does shimmering cool quite like the Helio Sequence. [image-1]
With sparse instrumentation—guitars, keyboards and drums—and a sense of all-enveloping reverb, the Oregon duo of Brandon Summers and Benjamin Weikel essentially spins gold from hay...
Tucson Weekly |
Eric Swedlund |
10-04-2012 |
Reviews
Kreayshawn: Somethin 'Bout Kreaynew
Cultural consensus tells us that some artists have little to no value. They're the musical equivalent of junk food—all empty calories and chemical additives. Kreayshawn, in context, belongs to the same brain-dead girl gang as Ke$ha and Dev and Uffie...
Tucson Weekly |
Staff |
10-04-2012 |
Reviews
Tags: Kreayshawn
Buke and Gase: Function Fallsnew
This indie-rock duo from Brooklyn recently changed their name ever so slightly (from the original Buke and Gass) because casual listeners and fans alike were mispronouncing it. The name refers to their unique, customized instruments: Arone Dyer's "buke," a six-string baritone ukulele; and Aron Sanchez's "gass," a guitar-bass hybrid.
Tucson Weekly |
Gene Armstrong |
10-01-2012 |
Reviews
