AltWeeklies Wire
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
Brutal Truth: Interviewing Grindcore Bassist Dan Lilkernew
Brutal Truth, founded in 1990 by ex-Anthrax bassist Dan Lilker, has bookended the last decade by breaking up, reforming, and releasing arguably its finest record this year. In this Q&A Lilker discusses the band's recent history and metal's subgenres.
Baltimore City Paper |
Michael Byrne |
08-04-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Year After Year, Maryland Deathfest Only Gets Strongernew
The extremes of metal music have filled every room of Baltimore nightclub Sonar with bands and fans over a long weekend in May for the past several years as part of Maryland Deathfest.
Baltimore City Paper |
Michael Byrne |
05-19-2009 |
Music
R&B Flower Child Lynee Michelle Spreads a Message of Peace, Love, and Happinessnew
Lynee Michelle makes a living recording love songs and sexy dance tracks, but has built her career from within Baltimore's male-dominated hip-hop scene.
Baltimore City Paper |
Al Shipley |
05-19-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Torche Takes on Metal with an Unlikely Arsenal of Pop Hooksnew
It's a little difficult imagining Torche's eureka formula of unalloyed metal power and unabashed pop hooks not winning over susceptible converts everywhere the Miami/Atlanta-based trio brings it. But to hear drummer Rick Smith tell it, Torche's hybrid appeal hasn't made things as easy as you might think.
Baltimore City Paper |
Lee Gardner |
04-21-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Leave the Ego Behind and the Music Will Follow With the Yahowa 13new
For the past 30 years the music of the Yahowa 13 has entranced that segment of music heads who dig spaced-out excursions into psychedelic tapestries and krautrock tumults of infinite jams.
Baltimore City Paper |
Bret McCabe |
03-31-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Kenny Tompkins' Side Hustle Hasn't Spoiled Him Yetnew
Christmas Lights frontman Kenny Tompkins describes Walk Like a Human as a meditation on "the challenges of waking up every day"--something that, for many paycheck-to-paycheck workers, is increasingly tough to do.
Baltimore City Paper |
Raymond Cummings |
03-31-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Baltimore Hip-Hop Vets Offer a Way Forward For The Scene--Looking Backnew
If you follow hip-hop journalism, you've heard this story before: Once there was a grassroots movement that established criteria for what made hip-hop matter. Now it's just people repeating the same old nonsense about big-screen TVs, money, and bitches.
Baltimore City Paper |
Bret McCabe |
02-24-2009 |
Music
The Finer Points of Outstaying Your Welcome, Starring Scott Weiland and The Gamenew
Rock 'n' roll wraith Scott Weiland and embattled gangsta rapper The Game have one thing in common: Each has overstayed his welcome but continues to enjoy mainstream success by luck, or by the grace of God. In terms of both studio alchemy and tabloid foibles, neither brings anything especially crucial to the cultural table.
Baltimore City Paper |
Raymond Cummings |
01-27-2009 |
Music
Country Music Rediscovers Its Whiskied Small-Town Rootsnew
Taylor Swift's recent album, Fearless, is such a triumph, both artistically and commercially, that you'd think it would be the answer to all of country music's problems. But it's not -- because it's not really a country record.
Baltimore City Paper |
Geoffrey Himes |
01-06-2009 |
Music
Ami Dang Bridges Classical Sitar and Voice with Western Avant-Garde Musicnew
It's abrupt when you hear Indian classical music as meditative and spiritual -- that is, as it is intended to be. And it's even more abrupt when it's heard woven into Western avant-garde music, each element working to develop/unshroud the other. This act is a large part of the sublime art of Ami Dang.
Baltimore City Paper |
Michael Byrne |
01-06-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Max Ochs Still Works and Sings For Social Justicenew
By all rights, Max Ochs should be bitter. His college buddies, John Fahey and Robbie Basho, had more well-known and critically lauded musical careers. And the rare instance when Ochs does receive attention from the press, there's always an obligatory reference to his more famous cousin, Phil.
Baltimore City Paper |
David Dunlap Jr. |
12-09-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Deerhunter Confounds and Delights Againnew
Deerhunter doubly rewards fans' faith and rebuffs critics who dismiss the band as all reverb/echo flash and no songwriting chops -- literally, because Microcastle is actually two albums in one: Microcastle proper and a bonus disc of odds and ends titled Weird Era Cont.
Baltimore City Paper |
Raymond Cummings |
11-04-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Deerhunter, Microcastle
Religious Knives, Surprisingly, Create Order Out Of Chaosnew
So far this year, Religious Knives have issued two proper albums that mark monster steps away from noise-drone doldrums and into classic rock/no-wave terrain. In both cases, the quartet starts out with a head fake.
Baltimore City Paper |
Raymond Cummings |
10-28-2008 |
Reviews
Minneapolis Hip-Hop Duo Atmosphere Goes For Studio Goldnew
Atmosphere's Slug and Ant look to a live-band approach for a breath of fresh air.
Baltimore City Paper |
Tony Ware |
10-14-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
