AltWeeklies Wire
Hope Sandoval Releases Another Album Full of Deceptively Simple Songsnew
Fans of the former Mazzy Star vocalist will rejoice to learn she has a new disc out, and that it is perhaps a more beautiful psychedelic dream-pop experience than her first record.
Tucson Weekly |
Gene Armstrong |
10-29-2009 |
Reviews
fun's Orchestrated Punk Pop Draws a Rabid Followingnew
"It's wild to hear a room full of people singing along and it seems like every single one of them knows the words and is singing at the top of their lungs."
Colorado Springs Independent |
Bill Forman |
10-29-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Aim and Ignite, fun
Pardon the Colloquialism, but the New Mountain Goats Album is Super-Duper Goodnew
The Life of the World to Come is so good it may make you giggle and squirm and play it over and over again.
Tucson Weekly |
Sean Bottai |
10-29-2009 |
Reviews
Ha Ha Tonka Finds Something New in the Shadows of Southern Rocknew
Growing up between the Ozark Mountains and the Missouri state park the group is named after, Roberts and his bandmates in Ha Ha Tonka play a beguiling brand of post-Southern rock they've taken to calling "indie rock meets O Brother, Where Art Thou."
Colorado Springs Independent |
Bill Forman |
10-29-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tom Russell Eschews Modern Indie Rock's Emasculated Songwritingnew
"(Indie-rock) voices have become wimpy, and so has the songwriting," says Russell, 56, matter-of-factly, prompted by my first question: Where have all the real men singer/songwriters gone, and why doesn't indie rock offer any?
Tucson Weekly |
Jarret Keene |
10-29-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Why? Wades Through the Strange 'Eskimo Snow'new
Started as a pet project by Yoni Wolf, whose deadpan raps and quirky musical tastes (culled from hip-hop, rock and folk influences) made for strange bedfellows, Why? soon swelled into a full-fledged band with Yoni's brother, Josiah, and friend Doug McDiarmid joining.
Tucson Weekly |
Michael Petitti |
10-29-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Eskimo Snow, Why?
Hip-Hop is Dead ... or Undead, Rathernew
Depraved hip-hop is the biggest thing to hit trailer-trash America since sliced meds -- and not just in redneck pockets, where rap music hardly reached before, but in suburban enclaves where acts like Twiztid and Tech N9ne sell out shows with ease.
Boston Phoenix |
Chris Faraone |
10-29-2009 |
Music
Tags: G.G. Allin, Horrorcore, Ricky Mortis, Stetsasonic, Zombie Death Squad, RZA, hip-hop, Tech N9ne, Scarface
Leave it to a Kid from the CD Generation to Make Tapes Cool Againnew
Whitworth University's Alex Davis runs Leftist Nautical Antiques, which releases limited-edition cassette tapes, from his dorm room.
The Inlander |
Leah Sottile |
10-28-2009 |
Music
Boston Howlers Converge Continue a Streak of Stunnersnew
On Axe To Fall, Jacob Bannon unearths noises no human should be able to make. Kurt Ballou rips his guitar like he's auditioning for America's Next Top Guitar Hero at all times, and Nate Newton and Ben Koller still make up one of the most bludgeoning rhythm sections ever. For the band, it is just business as usual.
Dig Boston |
Erik Ziedses Des Plantes |
10-28-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Axe To Fall, Converge
After 10 Years of Popping Detroit, the Singles Split for L.A.new
After 10 years of what lead singer and guitarist Vince Frederick refers to as "going in circles," the band is packing its bags and heading off to the washed-up cultural wasteland called Los Angeles, the city where bullshit not only talks, it still maintains a strong control of the music industry.
Metro Times |
Brett Callwood |
10-27-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: The Singles
The Raveonettes Update Girl-Group Wall of Sound with Touch of Doom and Gloomnew
While the Raveonettes have explored the tension between girl-group naïveté and gloom on their previous three albums, vocalist Sharin Foo says that for In And Out Of Control, they strove for less celebratory material than usual.
NOW Magazine |
Jason Richards |
10-26-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
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.
San Fran Bedroom-Pop Brats Girls Deliver a Killer Debut Discnew
Indie pop is the new indie rock, as evidenced by the recent popularity of bands like the Postelles and the Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Add to that list the San Francisco band Girls, who wrap their bedroom pop in many-colored paper without obscuring the classic sunny-day melodies underneath.
Pearl Jam Steps Back, Goes Pop -- and Makes One of the Best Albums of its Careernew
With Backspacer, the "grunge" godfathers seem intent on rewriting their story. It's their best record since 1998's Yield, thanks to the presence of producer Brendan O'Brien, who was allowed by the band to have a hand in picking apart the songs. The result is an economical and wholly replayable Pearl Jam album.
The Flaming Lips Return with a Dazzling Double Albumnew
The Oklahoma psych-rock vets have finally made their Dark Side of the Moon, and yet there are no obvious singles among the 18 tracks. In other words, Embryonic is a true Album, in that no one track can easily be taken out of context.
