AltWeeklies Wire
Year in Review: A Sizable Fleet of North Carolina Bands Found Bigger Audiencesnew
This year, more than any other this decade, the Triangle's local band scene seemed to engender broader support. It was a good year to be, as one excellent local compilation put it, "hearing here," at home.
Marquez! is Ready to Become San Diego's Premier Rock en Espanol Bandnew
For Jared Armijo-Wardle and Cesar Zuñiga to have made it this far seems a fair example of their passion and commitment to the music they play: a lovely and introspective blend of American indie-rock and the regional Mexican music that Cesar Zuñiga grew up listening to.
San Diego CityBeat |
Seth Combs |
12-16-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
A Legendary New Orleans Rock Club Stars in a Locally Produced Documentarynew
Before the members of the Grateful Dead were so famously arrested by New Orleans police on January 30, 1970, the band — along with Fleetwood Mac and The Flock — christened the opening night of The Warehouse, a bare-bones, 30,000-square-foot music venue on Tchoupitoulas Street.
She Comes in Colors: Niagara's Tale is Pure Detroitnew
Niagara — the same woman who did time with the late Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton in the universally cultish bands Destroy All Monsters and Dark Carnival — whose drug-fueled, gun-toting, sexually vivid pop art is known the world over.
Metro Times |
Brent Callwood |
12-15-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Neo-mod Brit Brats the Arctic Monkeys are Slowing Down, Growing Up and Branching Outnew
A crusty British music scribe whose name I am unable to recall recently theorized that no one likes the Arctic Monkeys—until they actually listen to one of their records. But as soon as they were built up as the saviors of British rock music, they were knocked down.
Montreal Mirror |
Erik Leijon |
12-11-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
La Strada Feel at Home North of the Border, Cozying Up with New Pals Hey Rosettanew
La Strada's music is the kind usually molded by cold winters and small communities. It's an indie-rock fuelled by group harmonies, violin and cello. La Strada finally made it to Canada earlier this fall, opening up for Cuff the Duke.
The Coast, Halifax's Weekly |
Mike Landry |
12-11-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
An American Primitive Guitarist Looks Back on a Bittersweet Journeynew
In the late '90s, Glenn Jones' band Cul de Sac recorded an album with John Fahey. As a high school student, Jones had become obsessed with the legendary guitarist after his art teacher introduced him to one of Fahey's early albums.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Bill Forman |
12-10-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
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
Reviewed: 'The State vs. Radric Davis' by Atlanta MC Gucci Manenew
Many have tried, but no other rapper quite matches Gucci’s reckless bravado and goofy charm. He’s got an uncanny ability to make light of the dazzling, chaotic storm that is his life.
Washington City Paper |
Ben Westhoff |
12-10-2009 |
Reviews
The Farm is No Place for Coversnew
When a last-minute cancellation opened up a time slot at The Farm on Nov. 24, local band Where the Hell is Stacie Jones jumped at the opportunity — not knowing that the management would stop the fledgling group before they ever got the chance to play.
Las Vegas Weekly |
April Corbin |
12-10-2009 |
Music
Pete Rock, DJ Premier and the Praise of Disciplesnew
Hip-hop producers Pete Rock and DJ Premier remain among the most musically and culturally important in hip-hop's lifespan. We talked with five area artists (two of whom will perform Saturday) whose careers have been influenced by Pete and Primo.
INDY Week |
Eric Tullis |
12-10-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
La Santa Cecilia, an 'It' Band and L.A.'s Next Big Genre-Bending Latinonew
Every couple of years, a Latino band emerges from this area who match their neighborhood and times, who transcend Latino L.A. to become a regional crossover hit. La Santa Cecilia is next.
