AltWeeklies Wire
Ani DiFranco Infuses 'Red Letter Year' with Jazznew
Deep, layered arrangements of jazz-infused rhythms have replaced her trademark staccato, fierce-fingerpicking concoctions.
San Antonio Current |
Jessica Ramos |
10-01-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Ani DiFranco, Red Letter Year
TV on the Radio Want to Sex You Upnew
If Death Cab For Cutie wants to possess your heart, then TV On The Radio wants to possess your phone number.
San Antonio Current |
Chuck Kerr |
10-01-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: TV on the Radio, Dear Science
James McMurtry Taps into a Collective Angernew
Singer/songwriter McMurtry had toiled for 15 years, releasing bluesy country-rock albums and playing shows, and was getting discouraged. In advance of the 2004 election, he released the powerful, "We Can't Make It Here Anymore," as a free download on his site, and it launched him into greater prominence.
San Antonio Current |
Chris Parker |
10-01-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
For Jenny Lewis, It's All About the Castingnew
When the former child star plays Lucinda Williams, Blue period Joni Mitchell, or even Stevie Nicks-led Fleetwood Mac, she nails the role, but when she's cast against type, the results aren't so hot.
San Antonio Current |
Jeremy Martin |
09-24-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Jenny Lewis, Acid Tongue
Kings of Leon Find Inspiration in Americananew
With songs conjuring trips along dusty back roads or, at the very least, a night chalking up pool cues, Only by the Night doesn’t veer far from the southern-fried rock Kings listeners have come to expect.
San Antonio Current |
Cynthia Hawkins |
09-24-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Kings of Leon, Only by the Night
A-list Indie Tours are Once Again Dissing San Antonionew
For a brief shining moment, San Antonio was the hotspot for indie music in Texas. It was a glorious time, when local alt-rock fans didn't have to drive at least an hour to see their favorite bands.
San Antonio Current |
Johnston Farrow |
09-17-2008 |
Concerts
South Texas Destroyers Combine Diverse Backgrounds for Kick-ass Debutnew
South Texas Destroyers' beginnings come straight from the When Harry Met Sally handbook.
San Antonio Current |
Clint Hale |
09-17-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Calexico Favors Mariachi-meets-folk Groove on 'Carried to Dust'new
While Calexico's previous studio release -- 2006's Garden Ruin -- was an attempt to break into the mainstream, Carried to Dust sheds such polish
San Antonio Current |
Clint Hale |
09-10-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Calexico, Carried to Dust
Don't Call Okkervil River's 'The Stand Ins' a Sequelnew
It's really a collection of deleted and extended scenes, scrapped when frontman Will Sheff, fearing overkill, nixed releasing Stage Names as a double album.
San Antonio Current |
Chuck Kerr |
09-10-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Okkervil River, The Stand Ins
Examining Re-issued Soul From James and Otisnew
I Got the Feelin': James Brown in the 60s gathers three DVDs of live footage from 1968 and is anchored by a documentary about his historic Boston show on the day after Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination -- a concert many credit with helping to keep nationwide riots from taking hold there.
San Antonio Current |
John DeFore |
09-10-2008 |
Reviews
Chicago's Dianogah Returns With a New Sound and a Hard-to-pronounce Albumnew
Who can retreat for six years, shake off the residue from abrupt turnabouts and false starts, and return polished?
San Antonio Current |
Francesca Camillo |
09-03-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Owen Duggan Aspires to More Than Good-natured Kiddie Popnew
I haven't even met Duggan yet, and already my conscience has gotten the best of me. The man is a music minister at a local church, an accomplished children's musician, a devoted family man, and I've invited him to where else but the booze-filled, smoke-tinged dregs of happy hour in the Alamo City.
San Antonio Current |
Clint Hale |
09-03-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
The Walkmen Perfect Their Own Stripped-down Post-bender-rocknew
The bare-bones drone that defined previous albums’ least accessible tracks still forms the basis for many of the songs on their latest release, but the edges have been smoothed with a warm and fuzzy vintage sound.
San Antonio Current |
Jeremy Martin |
08-20-2008 |
Reviews
Sam Phillips Strips Down for 'Don't Do Anything'new
As on all of her best work, Phillips is humble and open-hearted, invitingly tuneful but unsparing in her assessment of the emotional wreckage she sees.
San Antonio Current |
Gilbert Garcia |
08-13-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Sam Phillips, Don't Do Anything
Gary Allan's Music Evolves an Emotional Edgenew
Last year's Living Hard followed, highlighted by the hit "Watching Airplanes," in which Allan lays on his car hood at the runway's edge, watching the lights go overhead, knowing his baby's gone, 30,000 miles above, and a million miles away.
San Antonio Current |
Chris Parker |
08-13-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
