AltWeeklies Wire
Post-Punk Pioneers Mission of Burma Still Have Fuel to Burnnew
They've been together now longer than they were the first time around and they're back to making music that's equal parts forceful and fun -- they sound like no other band but themselves.
DMX Gets Unplugged at Colorado Springs Benefit Shownew
What began as a DMX benefit concert on Friday night, Oct. 16, at the Phil Long Expo Center in Colorado Springs turned into a bizarre scene in which security wrestled to keep the nationally known hip-hop artist offstage.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Bill Forman |
10-22-2009 |
Music
After a Decade on the Road, Lucero Lands a Major Label Dealnew
Lucero's reputation as a hard-working, hard-living, country-influenced rock band has taken shape slowly but surely. Now, 10 years and seven records later, all the touring, the long rides in the van and the late night shows seem to have paid off.
Arkansas Times |
Gerard Matthews |
10-22-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Jay Farrar, Ben Gibbard, and a Bad Actress Pay Tribute to Kerouac's 'Big Sur'new
On the One Fast Move or I'm Gone soundtrack, Farrar and Gibbard trade off singing 12 songs with lyrics taken from Big Sur, including lines from the poem "Sea" that closes the novel. Farrar admits to being intimidated at first to use Kerouac as his lyricist, until he settled into a stream-of-consciousness songwriting style.
SF Weekly |
Jennifer Maerz |
10-22-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Daniel Johnston Returns with a Clear Head and a Big Soundnew
Jason Falkner, a self-described "one-man house band" producer, has turned Johnston's typically crude but sweetly personal demos into full-blown pop productions on Is and Always Was.
San Diego CityBeat |
Will K. Shilling |
10-21-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Mumiy Troll, One of Russia's Biggest Bands, Looks to Make Comrades in the U.S.A.new
Earlier this year, the group released its latest Russian-language work, Comrade Ambassador, via American distributive channels. Mumiy plans to release an English album before long; in the meantime, the band hopes to win over a new audience with its U.S. shows.
The Pitch |
Ben Westhoff |
10-20-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Roger Daltrey Isn't Quite Ready for His Senior Discountnew
As of today, Daltrey's spent more than 65 years on the planet -- a benchmark that's even more noteworthy given the fact that he famously sang "I hope I die before I get old" in the early Who classic "My Generation."
Westword |
Michael Roberts |
10-19-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
The Globe-Straddling Music of South Africa's BLK JKS Transcends Racenew
When a quartet of black South Africans reclaims that whitest of white genres -- progressive rock, long the bastion of pimply tech-heads and doughy shut-ins -- the predominately Caucasian world of indie rock sits up and takes notice.
The Portland Mercury |
Ned Lannamann |
10-16-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: After Robots, BLK JKS
Old Lights' David Beeman Gets by with a Little Help from His Friendsnew
Old Lights played its first official gig in April of this year, and after only about fifteen shows, the band has become one of the most talked-about -- and most promising -- new bands to emerge from St. Louis in the last few years.
Riverfront Times |
Christian Schaeffer |
10-16-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
'Before the Frost ...' is a Return to Form for The Black Crowesnew
The Crowes have not sounded this relaxed and vital at the same time in many years, tackling classic rock, psychedelia, blues, country and R&B.
Tucson Weekly |
Gene Armstrong |
10-15-2009 |
Reviews
Brooklyn's Grooms Have a New Album and a Distinctive Take on Today's Soundnew
The band doesn't quite fit in with the current, decidedly '60s and '70s signifiers of indie rock cool. "Sometimes people will listen to our music and say, 'It’s kind of '90s, and it reminds me of Pavement,' and I really don't think it does. We sometimes worry that we're out of step with the trend."
New York Press |
Adam Rathe |
10-15-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Mirror Universe Tapes Helps Revive Interest in a Once-Dead Formatnew
It's hardly worth declaring a cassette revival, or even to say tapes are the new vinyl. But the recent success of the Charleston-based cassette-only record label Mirror Universe Tapes seems to indicate otherwise.
Charleston City Paper |
Bryan Reed |
10-14-2009 |
Music
Sprial Stairs Dishes on His New Album and Pavement's Hyped Reunionnew
Five years after the last Preston School of Industry album was released, Scott Kannberg is ready to present his fans with an album full of material that sounds nothing like his previous bands' output. He's back to being Spiral Stairs, but this time, there's not as much to joke about.
San Diego CityBeat |
Dryw Keltz |
10-14-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
The Flaming Lips' 'Embryonic' is a Surprising, Giddy Rushnew
Small-w weird in the best possible sense, the record cranks back the clock hands a full two decades, reveling in the kind of "whatever the fuck we want" experimentalism it seemed the Lips long ago shucked.
Philadelphia City Paper |
J. Edward Keyes |
10-13-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: The Flaming Lips, Embryonic
Is the Madonna on 'Celebration' Compilation a Material Girl, or a Beautiful Stranger?new
Oh, remember when Madonna promised to lead us through the wilderness with a witty, ambitious combination of disco sex appeal, businesswoman savvy and cardinal danger? Remember when she had her own cheekbones?
C-Ville Weekly |
Cathy Harding |
10-09-2009 |
Reviews
