AltWeeklies Wire
Bun B's Delivers on 'Ill Trill'new
Back in 1987, when Chad Butler and Bernard Freeman were first writing the rhymes that would become their debut cassette The Southern Way, neither one of them ever would have dreamed that their music would one day echo off the walls of a Louis Vuitton boutique in the Galleria.
Houston Press |
John Nova Lomax |
06-03-2008 |
Reviews
Erykah Badu Makes Statements, Not Singlesnew
"Artists work so hard to create these projects," she says. "They're not meant to be 99 cents per track. They're meant to be listened to back to back. That's how I create them."
Westword |
Michael Roberts |
06-03-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
'Lay It Down' is Easily the Right Rev.'s Best in Five Yearsnew
Green and Co. (a crew that prominently includes ?uestlove) make tangible the sound of long-ago church-pew Sunday mornings spent making up for all those sinful Saturday nights.
Dallas Observer |
Robert Wilonsky |
06-03-2008 |
Reviews
Lil Wil Takes Dallas Hip-Hop Nationalnew
With "My Dougie" in tow, he's looking to get paid.
Dallas Observer |
Pete Freedman |
06-03-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Ponytail Taps Into Something Deeper and More Adaptable Than Moon/Junenew
Molly Siegel's vocals are almost certainly the strangest and most refreshing in indie music since Xiu Xiu's Jamie Stewart taught his throat to cry. It's like listening to a child learn its first word in accelerated form, only it's a twentysomething art-school graduate backed by an epic, even more clamorous version of Deerhoof.
Baltimore City Paper |
Michael Byrne |
06-03-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Ice Cream Spiritual, Ponytail
Al Green's New Album Will Make You Wish You Were a Better Mannew
If there's one male vocalist who can make the most secure of men feel inadequate about the way he's been living his life, it's Rev. Al. Even after all these years Green still performs with all the authority of a man who has lived, who has accomplishments he's proud of and mistakes he's tried to rectify.
Philadelphia Weekly |
Craig D. Lindsey |
06-03-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Al Green, Lay It Down
Utah Phillips, 1935-2008new
The singer, songwriter, activist, historian, storyteller and railroad tramp died last month at his home in Nevada City, Calif. Though he spent a lifetime imparting stories, songs and poems to the multitudes that came to hear him play, he took with him all the bits that never got written down -- what he referred to as "the long memory."
Philadelphia Weekly |
Jeffrey Barg |
06-03-2008 |
Music
R.E.M. Returns to Harder, Faster Soundsnew
The extended period of writing and rehearsing that preceded the recording of Accelerate, coupled with playing live in the studio, paid major dividends on the CD, which was recorded in nine weeks.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Alan Sculley |
06-03-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Accelerate, r.e.m.
Groovie Ghoulies are No More, but Frontman Kepi Remains on the Roadnew
The charismatic singer-bassist-guitarist of the late, legendary punk-popsters is up and running with two simultaneously released CDs on Asian Man Records. "I'll rock until I drop, if I can," says Kepi. "That is, as long as people will listen."
Colorado Springs Independent |
David Kulczyk |
06-03-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Groovie Ghoulies, Kepi Ghoulie
The Voyage of Walter Meegonew
Sure, they just moved to LA, but it's their new full-length debut that's really gonna take them places.
Chicago Reader |
Miles Raymer |
06-02-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Voyager, Walter Meego
Gossip Aims for a Big Crowdnew
In principle, I'm no great fan of the live album, but the Arkansas-born/Olympia-based Gossip is one band where a live album not only makes sense, it even makes sense as a major-label debut presumably meant to introduce the band to a larger audience.
The Memphis Flyer |
Chris Herrington |
05-30-2008 |
Reviews
Roots Drummer ?uestlove Takes Al Green Back to His Classic Soundnew
After two pairings with Willie Mitchell back at his old Royal Studio stomping grounds, Green heads north here, recording with Amir "?uestlove" Thompson and keyboardist James Poyser producing and contemporary neo-soul stars Anthony Hamilton, John Legend, and Corinne Bailey Rae providing occasional support.
The Memphis Flyer |
Chris Herrington |
05-30-2008 |
Reviews
Death Cub for Cutie Offers More Bite on 'Narrow Stairs'new
Plans, the band's previous album and the major-label debut, felt stubbornly inert and practically vanished on contact. Narrow Stairs is a different matter altogether.
The Memphis Flyer |
Werner Trieschmann |
05-30-2008 |
Reviews
Santa Gets Experimentalnew
The second EP from the Champaign, Ill. group solidifies and tweaks the band's brand of infectious, psychedelic indie-pop.
Shepherd Express |
Casey Bye |
05-30-2008 |
Reviews
Call Them Panic at the Disco 2.0new
An interview with Panic at the Disco's Ryan Ross about the band's new direction, why they were ill-prepared for their overnight success, and the sorry state of modern-rock.
Shepherd Express |
Evan Rytlewski |
05-30-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
