AltWeeklies Wire
Celebrating Blue Note Records' 70th Anniversarynew
In honor of Blue Note's 70th anniversary, the label assembled an all-star band, dubbed the Blue Note 7, to play a celebratory three-month concert tour and record an album of classic tunes from the label's vintage hard-bop years.
Tucson Weekly |
Gene Armstrong |
02-05-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
A Wealth of Free Musicnew
Bigger crowds for bands, higher sales for bars, and cheaper nights for fans: So why aren't all shows free?
Tags: live music, economic issues
Hip-Hop and the Obama Effectnew

Nas, Young Jeezy and others don't think Obama's presidency spells the end of hip-hop.
New York Press |
R.M. Schneiderman and Ray LeMoine |
02-05-2009 |
Music
Tags: Barack Obama, hip-hop
Annuals Tend the Future of Indie Popnew

Raleigh, N.C.-based indie-pop act Annuals started as a side project of Sunfold, but now the percussion-heavy sextet is the main attraction. And, though the group's members are now only in their early 20s, they're touring in support of their sophomore studio album as well as discovering and producing up-and-coming bands along the way.
Mountain Xpress |
Alli Marshall |
02-04-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Radiohead Cover Band Seeks to Unlock Thom Yorke's Geniusnew
What's That? recreate some of modern rock's most complex songs.
City Pages (Twin Cities) |
Bradley Campbell |
02-04-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Fucked Up Incites Pandemoniumnew

The band elicits visions of a car crashing into a phone pole, or a mob of angry drunks knocking each other to the ground. The melee can be dangerous, but there are some surprisingly tuneful moments tucked away under Damian Abraham's barking.
Weekly Alibi |
Simon McCormack |
02-03-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Ben Chasny Can't Shake His Golden State Rootsnew
Ben Chasny, who relocated to Seattle from the Bay Area last September, was freak folk before it was a term.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian J Barr |
02-02-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Lesbian Hip-Hoppers Yo Majesty Are Looking for an Alternate Route to Successnew
It's hard enough being a woman in hip-hop. The misogynistic lyrics from the male MCs. The objectifying audiences who keep coming back for more. Being a lesbian in hip-hop? That's double trouble, a minority within a minority.
Philadelphia City Paper |
A.D. Amorosi |
01-27-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Better Off Led: Mockstars Are the New Rockstarsnew

Ironically, through performing the music of Led Zeppelin, almost-famous Paul Sinclair is closer than ever to grasping rock 'n' roll's elusive brass ring. He's gone from rockstar to mockstar and back again. And in this day and age at least, the difference is becoming more and more slight.
Philadelphia Weekly |
Brian McManus |
01-26-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: tribute bands, Get the Led Out
The Polka Dot Lives on for Animal Collectivenew
Animal Collective make music that’s sometimes discordant garage rock, sometimes more like the most unrestrained Beach Boys, sometimes nothing like rock or pop at all. Their albums are a welter of found sounds and instruments, each treated and warped and rolled inside-out until they’re unrecognizable. But there’s beauty and joy and life there, too.
Los Angeles CityBeat |
Trinie Dalton |
01-23-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
A Soundtrack To Sweat Tonew
Most New Year's resolutions involve exercise, but what will you listen to?
East Bay Express |
Kathleen Richards |
01-15-2009 |
Music
Three Mile Pilot Never Broke Up -- They Just Took a 10-Year Breaknew
Inside the history, hiatus and return of one of San Diego's most beloved acts.
San Diego CityBeat |
AnnaMaria Stephens |
01-14-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Hollywood Heartthrob: How a Lucky Break and a Lot of Cash Made the Bandnew
The day he won a huge raffle, Ted Myers called his bandmates and told them not to worry about money anymore. He had an investor who would pay for everything.
Phoenix New Times |
Niki D'Andrea |
01-13-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
The Best Tribute Bands to Never Existnew
What of the many acts that, for one reason or another, will never merit the tribute-band treatment? Let's travel to a thoroughly unhip parallel universe and check out the greatest tribute bands to (hopefully) never exist.
Jazz Trumpeter Freddie Hubbard Diesnew

Hubbard, who died on December 29 at age 70 after suffering a heart attack in late November, remained almost peerless for 50 or so years with his chosen instrument.
Los Angeles CityBeat |
David Cotner |
01-09-2009 |
Music