AltWeeklies Wire
West Coast Music: Devotion to the Same Heronew
This odd pairing has made a record interesting enough to not only spark more curiosity in Kerouac, Big Sur and the album's accompanying documentary, but also how and why American artists across generations keep approaching the same themes.
Tucson Weekly |
Eric Swedlund |
12-31-2009 |
Reviews
Wild Guitar Tamer: Loren Dircks' 'Killing the Magic'new
This singer-songwriter, who for years led Gila Bend, is exploring other music influences — and his new the album couldn't be more interesting.
Tucson Weekly |
Gene Armstrong |
12-31-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Killing the Magic, Loren Dircks
Addition by Subtractionnew
After two albums of wispy, hushed folk with electronic atmospherics, only vocalist John Orth and guitarist Jeff Hays remained in Holopaw - yet after recruiting a handful of new members and a smattering of additional players, the band has released album of magnificent heights and gorgeous depths.
Tucson Weekly |
Michael Petitti |
12-31-2009 |
Reviews
Making More Lists: Our Critics Keep Naming the Best Music of 2009new
Our annual saga of music Top 10 lists kicked off recently, and now we present to you the thrilling conclusion of Our Favorite Albums of 2009. One of the albums named: Vic Chesnutt's At the Cut.
Tucson Weekly |
Jarret Keene, Curtis McCrary, Michael Petitti and Stephen Seigel |
12-31-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Year in Review
You May Think the Idea of Box Sets is Passé... Until You See These Releasesnew
Given file-sharing and the growing number of digital-download Web sites, both legal and otherwise, owning a bunch of music by one artist on several CDs in a cardboard box (no matter how cool the graphics and extras) is so old-school.
Tucson Weekly |
Gene Armstrong |
12-10-2009 |
Reviews
Devendra Banhart: 'What Will We Be'new
After making the transition from his early ramshackle folk into the bombastic shape-shifting of 2007's Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon, Devendra Banhart attempts here to appropriate his entire career, with mixed results.
Tucson Weekly |
Michael Petitti |
12-10-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: What Will We Be, Devendra Banhart
Cold Cave: 'Love Comes Close'new
On Cold Cave's debut, the music works as minimalist dance pop, but everything about the way it's contextualized is awful. The title song, essentially a morbid exaltation of love and death set to disco beats, nicely distills the band's lack of imagination.
Tucson Weekly |
Sean Bottai |
12-10-2009 |
Reviews
Candye Kane's More Than 20 Years of Blues, Country, Roots Rock and Jazznew
The singer's most recent challenge was the discovery that she had pancreatic cancer, an illness she has since overcome. The healing process inspired her to create her ninth album, Superhero, which was released earlier this year by Delta Groove Records.
Tucson Weekly |
Gene Armstrong |
12-10-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Superhero, Candye Kane
Converge Reaches for Diversitynew
Axe to Fall aims to recapture a bit of the profoundly alien sensibility and weird terror that consistently puts 2001's Jane Doe at the top of any metalhead/punker's desert-island disc list.
Tucson Weekly |
Jarret Keene |
12-02-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Axe To Fall, Converge
Quiet, Melancholy Moods of Orenda Finknew
Now based in Los Angeles, the ex-Azure Ray singer/guitarist recorded her second solo full-length in her old basement in Omaha, Neb., and the modest 8-track approach doesn't hurt the sonic quality.
Tucson Weekly |
Jarret Keene |
12-02-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Ask the Night, Orenda Fink
Yellow Fever's Retro Beach-Blanket Partynew
This little duo from Austin, Texas, is all about reviving the spirit of stripped-down, '60s California garage on their debut.
Tucson Weekly |
Sean Bottai |
12-02-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Yellow Fever
Hawthorne Heights Brings Back Screamnew
Hawthorne Heights moves on from the death of Casey Calvert with a new record label.
Tucson Weekly |
Linda Ray |
12-02-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Hawthorne Heights, Skeletons
Undeniably Listenable Weezernew
Even if you've always found Weezer irksome, you can't deny the pleasures of Raditude.
Tucson Weekly |
Sean Bottai |
12-02-2009 |
Reviews
New Vistas Ahead for Rammsteinnew
With its sixth studio album, Liebe Ist Für Alle Da, Berlin's Rammstein once again delves into a morbid sonic realm of disaffection, chaos and torture with 11 industrial-metal tracks.
Tucson Weekly |
Jarret Keene |
12-02-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Liebe Ist Für Alle Da, Rammstein
Fanfarlo's Acoustic Alchemynew
The special blend leads to deeply textured and layered songs.
Tucson Weekly |
Annie Holub |
12-02-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
