AltWeeklies Wire
Islands Sail into 'Arm's Way'new
Islands have transformed from Nick Thorburn and a revolving door of guest stars into a cohesive group with a stable future.
Montreal Mirror |
Erik Leijon |
05-23-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Chaucer Barnes Creates Big Expectationsnew
As he describes himself while fronting the live hip-hop band Copacrescent, on their new release So Selective, "Chaucer Barnes is the new truth."
The Portland Mercury |
Graham Barey |
05-23-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
The Return of Swervedrivernew
The seminal shoegazer band was coated with 10 years of dust when they took the stage at Coachella last month.
The Portland Mercury |
Ezra Ace Caraeff |
05-23-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Sasquatch Ho!new
A user's guide to the furriest, funnest music fest in the Northwest. Now with a third day!
The Portland Mercury |
Ned Lannamann |
05-23-2008 |
Concerts
The Roots Still Fight the Fightnew
The state of "conscious" rap is in serious flux right now, which is why the Roots' aggressive, disorienting Rising Down feels timely and urgent.
Jamie Lidell Riffs on the Absurdnew
Though the native Englishman — who was once, believe it or not, vegetarian — is a goofy ad-lib machine in person, Jim is a fairly sober work.
SF Weekly |
Ben Westhoff |
05-23-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Foxy Brown Gets Too Predictablenew
Since her days as a 16-year-old prodigy on her multiplatinum debut Ill Na Na, her voice has lost all traces of vulnerability, and here she's morphed into a law-evading, fucking, materialistic caricature.
John Swardson: Working-class Heronew
His manly but sensitive songs remind some of Bruce Springsteen.
City Pages (Twin Cities) |
Andrea Myers |
05-23-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Bassist Avishai Cohen Takes a Lead Role on His New Trio Albumnew
Jazz "neocons" -- those who maintain that if it isn't blues-based, it isn't jazz -- will surely reject Gently Disturbed. There's not a 12-bar or a blue note to be found, because the disc is too subversive, and too damn good, to bother with such rigid constraints.
Washington City Paper |
Michael J. West |
05-23-2008 |
Reviews
Unrest's Bridget Cross Recalls Her Old Bandmates for New Projectnew
Cross now lives in Alaska, but for most of the tracks on Maybe It's Reno's self-titled debut, she reunites with her former Unrest mates, Mark Robinson and drummer Phil Krauth, to deliver an agreeably familiar mix of dreamy guitar and gawky grooves.
Washington City Paper |
Casey Rae-Hunter |
05-23-2008 |
Reviews
Jamie Lidell's Latest is a Little Sad and Sometimes Sappynew
The Brit soul singer jumps into the way-back machine for a ride to 1960s Motown in his new album, the simply titled Jim.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Patricia Sauthoff |
05-23-2008 |
Reviews
Hemlock Offers a Perfect Antidote to Our Poisonous Eranew
With America sinking into an abyss of war and recession, this Las Vegas band offers aggressive, eardrum-mashing solace of the highest order.
Tucson Weekly |
Jarret Keene |
05-22-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Hemlock, No Time for Sorrow
The World Needs Billy Braggnew
Bragg's first new record in six years breaks no new ground, but it shows that Bragg has lost neither his commitment to his ideals nor his knack for writing fantastic songs.
Tucson Weekly |
Kristine Peashock |
05-22-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Billy Bragg, Mr. Love and Justice
Margot and the Nuclear So and So's Don't Separate Band Life and Personal Lifenew
The eight-piece Indianapolis-based group practices an ornately arranged and charmingly shambling version of pop-rock, alternately dubbed chamber pop and urban folk.
Tucson Weekly |
Gene Armstrong |
05-22-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Catch the Legendary Dickies While You Still Cannew
Talking to the two remaining original members of the Dickies, America's longest-running punk band, is like taking a stroll through the punk-rock history books.
Tucson Weekly |
Stephen Seigel |
05-22-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: The Dickies
