AltWeeklies Wire
What SXSW Says About Fort Worthnew
Austin's SXSW festival was a showcase of many things, including the metamorphasis of the recording industry and what it means to cities like Fort Worth, that have great local music bands that get largely overlooked by festival promoters.
Fort Worth Weekly |
Caroline Collier |
03-26-2010 |
Music
Righteously Energetic: Ted Leo's 'The Brutalist Bricks'new
The Brutalist Bricks is more of Ted Leo's signature brand of surging, thinking-man's punk rock, with soaring melodies to counterbalance the cranked amps and pummeling drums.
Tucson Weekly |
Eric Swedlund |
03-25-2010 |
Reviews
Breakthrough Record: Backyard Tire Fire's 'Good to Be'new
An all-too-common trap for Americana bands is to lay down an easy beat and dial in some twang. Backyard Tire Fire settles in miles away from that cookie-cutter approach, mixing barreling roadhouse rockers with lean, catchy, soulful tunes.
Tucson Weekly |
Eric Swedlund |
03-25-2010 |
Reviews
Tags: Backyard Tire Fire, Good to Be
Megadeth's Dave Mustaine Shares His Dark Vision of America's Ruinationnew
Since heavy metal's inception 40 years ago, back when Black Sabbath's eponymous debut was released, the notorious genre has been politically aware and sensitive to the state's growing power at the expense of individual liberties.
Tucson Weekly |
Jarret Keene |
03-25-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
With Jack Clement's Help, Marley's Ghost Keeps Wolves at Baynew
When Marley's Ghost made its pilgrimage to Nashville last year to record with "Cowboy" Jack Clement, the band wasn't entirely sure what to expect.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Bill Forman |
03-25-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
Monterey County’s Most Ambitious Musicians Seize South By Southwest’s Unique Platformnew
Wearing only tight green briefs and a Robin Hood hat, Rushad Eggleston dangled upside down like a bat from a rusting, two-story-high piece of scaffolding. Somehow, he managed to hold onto his oversize cello while he sawed on it like a frantic lumberjack.
Monterey County Weekly |
Stuart Thornton |
03-25-2010 |
Music
Cutting the Excess: Scout Niblett Raises the Temperaturenew
Scout Niblett recorded 100 different versions of The Calcination of Scout Niblett, the title track of her new album on Drag City. Not because she was looking for the perfect take—very near the opposite, in fact.
The Portland Mercury |
Ned Lannamann |
03-25-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
Attempting to Make Sense of SXSW, America's Premier Music Festivalnew
There are close to 2,000 registered bands at SXSW, although the impossible-to-determine unofficial number is probably twice that. If you perform, you will do so opposite hundreds of other bands from all over the world.
The Portland Mercury |
Ezra Ace Caraeff |
03-25-2010 |
Music
Black Eyed Peas Laugh All the Way to the Banknew
It may be hard to imagine it now, but there was a time when the Black Eyed Peas were primarily known for the serious, socially conscious side of its music. Early albums gave the group a reputation for being socially aware.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Alan Sculley |
03-23-2010 |
Concerts
Though Purely Anarchic, a North Texas Art Collective has Unifying Qualitiesnew
Most acts at Wasted Words craft their cacophony through nontraditional means, often with electronics. Performers heavily alter equipment, warping or degrading pre-recorded material — such as political speeches, clanking machinery, and movie clips — or making bizarre, entirely new instruments.
Fort Worth Weekly |
Cole Garner Hill |
03-22-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
Owing a Debt to Minnie Pearlnew
In truth, Sunday night’s Columbus Blues Festival is a whole lot more than blues. With Bobby “Blue” Bland headlining and supported by Clarence Carter, Bobby Rush, Lenny Williams and Floyd Taylor, you’re going to hear a lot of variations on a theme.
The Other Paper |
John Petric |
03-19-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
Hank of America: Henry Rollins, Punk’s Musclebound Man of Lettersnew
Since his days leading the charge as the singer of Black Flag and the Rollins Band, Henry Rollins has hardly had a wink of sleep through the majority of his adult life. He has become equally known as a spoken-word performer.
Montreal Mirror |
Johnson Cummins |
03-19-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Montreal Mirror, Henry Rollins
The Runaways’ Cherie Currie Gave Up Rock ‘n’ Roll to Swing Around a Chainsawnew
Cherie Currie was just a Bowie-obsessed 15-year-old smoking a cigarette at the Sugar Shack, an under-21 club in North Hollywood, when she was spotted by producer Kim Fowley. A Svengali, visionary and predator, he was cruising the underage clubs.
New York Press |
Sheila McClear |
03-18-2010 |
Music
The Tradition of Essential Music That's as Mechanized as it is Carnalnew
I hate electronic music that's devoid of any humanity; the best electronica reframes human experience in a compelling way. Think Tricky's derelict spacecraft love ballads on 1995's Maxinquaye.
Tucson Weekly |
Sean Bottai |
03-17-2010 |
Reviews
Tags: Causers of This, Toro Y Moi
Xiu Xiu's Albums Have Never Been Anything Less than Subversivenew
Xiu Xiu's seventh album of new material is among its best, embracing synth pop and avant-garde noisemaking more than ever.
Tucson Weekly |
Gene Armstrong |
03-17-2010 |
Reviews
