AltWeeklies Wire
Label X Closes Up Shopnew
Label president Todd Smith is a pretty circumspect cat these days. You would be too if you just pulled the plug on your own company.
LEO Weekly |
Mat Heron |
07-14-2008 |
Music
Did You Say Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis?new
Sometimes weird combos can work. Like pineapple pizza. R.
Philadelphia Weekly |
Caralyn Green |
07-14-2008 |
Reviews
Running Out of Retronew

Enjoy the '90s revival while you can--the space-time continuum is about to collapse.
Chicago Reader |
Miles Raymer |
07-14-2008 |
Music
Springfield's Teenagers Say There was Nothing to Do Here Until Rico Came Alongnew

Rico Perkins saw the need for a safe place in for teenagers to blow off steam. A few years ago the self-described former nerd cut his hair, danced his way to hippest-kid-in-school status, and threw a party for his friends. Since that first success Rico has become one of the most popular promoters for Springfield's under-21 crowd in memory.
Illinois Times |
R. L. Nave |
07-14-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Miami's Torche Take Heavy Music to a New Extreme ... of Popnew
The recent Hydra Head signees have hooks in spades. Their new record, Meanderthal, lets their Beatles-esque harmonies come more to the fore, hovering over their downtuned onslaught of noise, doom, hardcore and pop.
Montreal Mirror |
Johnson Cummins |
07-11-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Seun Kuti Carries His Father's Afrobeat Torchnew

The youngest son of Nigeria's legendary Afrobeat originator Fela Kuti, known for his own energetic and passionate performances, is convinced that you need to see him on stage.
Montreal Mirror |
Erin MacLeod |
07-11-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Coldplay: Wall Street's Favorite Bandnew
After three years between releases, Coldplay have returned with Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, in turn boosting EMI/Capitol Records' shares while reigniting debates worldwide over fruit-related baby names.
Tucson Weekly |
James Hudson |
07-10-2008 |
Reviews
Tilly and the Wall's Latest Taps Through Boundariesnew
O is a half-hour of foot-stomping, hand-clapping energy -- and not just metaphorically. "Pot Kettle Black" and "Poor Man's Ice Cream," two of the loudest and wildest songs, both have a stomp team providing the rhythm.
Tucson Weekly |
Annie Holub |
07-10-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: O, Tilly and the Wall
Southwestern Electronic Faves ... music video? Prepares to Take the Next Stepnew
The duo recently played the South by Southwest Music Conference in Austin, and that brought them to the attention of National Public Radio, which featured the band in an article on its music Web site. Now they are preparing for their first tour.
Tucson Weekly |
Gene Armstrong |
07-10-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Grouper Dials Down the Dronenew
And then I realized that Dragging a Dead Deer was reminding me not of another album, but of an experience; waking up in my own bedroom in the middle of the night and not knowing where I am for a brief, disturbing instant.
The Portland Mercury |
Cary Clarke |
07-10-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Daylight Dies Creates Sweeping Melancholynew
The band follows the template of Swedish melodic metal bands like Opeth and In Flames, reining in Opeth's jarring bipolarities and stamping out In Flames' triumphant flourishes.
Music for Fuel: It's Harder than Ever to Jam Econonew

"Last year, I was worried about getting out to the West Coast with gas at $3.20 a gallon," says Dan McGee, the frontman for heavy-touring Chapel Hill band Spider Bags, "and this year, I'm worried about getting to work."
White Rabbits Spoon Out More Creepy, Honky-tonk Calypso Soundsnew
Though an interest in world music and an affinity for ska and New Wave perked it up a bit, their first album, Fort Nightly skewed toward the macabre.
New York Press |
Callie Enlow |
07-10-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: White Rabbits
Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival Organizers Confront the Genre's Image Crisisnew
Wes Jackson has planned a broad lineup that represents various stages in hip-hop's existence from new artists to performers fro mteh golden age and elder statesmen.
New York Press |
Billy Jam |
07-10-2008 |
Music
Socio-Economic Anxiety Never Rocked as Hard as it Does on the Hold Steady's Latestnew
Though the Hold Steady's musical style has always been of the lunchpail-swingin' bar-rock variety, Craig Finn's lyrics have usually been less about the rundown poor than the burned-out party kids. That changes on Stay Positive: Finn more directly addresses working-class themes, spinning tales of slightly older characters who are actually sweating their way through the drudgery.
Washington City Paper |
David Dunlap Jr. |
07-10-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: The Hold Steady, Stay Positive