Since going solo from ’60s gospel-pop sensation the Staple Singers, Mavis Staples has never flowered into the dynamic performer many envisioned. Painfully retrofitted to odd genres (disco in 1979 and electro-pop in 1984) and backed by mediocre accompaniment, her solo career has been maddeningly sub par. Her re-emergence in the…
Known primarily as a producer (Lucinda Williams, Robert Earl Keen, Ray Wylie Hubbard), singer-songwriter Gurf Morlix has quietly released three credible solo efforts but didn’t really discover his mojo until Diamonds to Dust, his newest effort. Filled with sharp, twisted lyrics and primal grooves, Diamonds is a treasure trove for…
Quite possibly the most warped double billing in recent memory, the pairing of Baltimore’s Arbouretum and North Carolina native David Karsten Daniels is a wonderful twofer of uncompromising intensity. Rites of Uncovering, Arbouretum’s sophomore effort is a literate, bluesy semi-masterpiece full of extended pieces that never overstay their welcome and…
Although antithetical, Placebo has often been called a glam version of Nirvana. The London quartet has been honing their blend of art and rock for over a decade and guitarist Stefan Olsdal sees a lot more in their sound than a simple (and oxymoronic) comparison to any one band. “I…
For those hipsters out there who think Coldplay is too big to remain trendy, Guster might just be the band for you. Over the course of a decade, this Boston area band has built a surprisingly large grassroots following playing seemingly unassuming pop that reveals more with each listen. Ganging…
When vocalist/drummer Francis Mark moved from behind his drum kit to replace departing lead screamer Benjamin Perry, hopes were high that this Long Island quintet was going to delve further into the melodic side Mark brought to the band. The group’s latest effort, Holding a Wolf by the Ears, while…
I hate the interview process, the whole thing,” says Ira Kaplan, guitarist and founder of Yo La Tengo, one of the most critically acclaimed and longest-lasting American indie bands. “But I’d be happy to talk about some movies I have seen.” Sounding more amused than annoyed, Kaplan, a former rock…
Mark E. Smith, the infamously scowling frontman for post-punk legends the Fall, is a literate, talented lout who simply cannot handle even a limited amount of success. Fall Heads Roll, last year’s surprisingly tight (and loud) collection found Smith taking a youthful bunch of scallywags and returning to past glories…
With the deluge of product released both by the major and indie labels as well as the proliferation of the do-it-yourself aesthetic even among the slackers, there are bound to be a few gems left unfound, a handful of treasures left undiscovered, buried in the miscellaneous rack at the local…
At 72, nobody still fucks with the Killer. On his recent effort, Last Man Standing, Jerry Lee Lewis goes toe to toe with, among others, Jagger, Richards, Springsteen, Fogerty, Robbie Robertson and Neil Young and comes out as undeniably brilliant and pissed off as ever. The new disc is a…
With the passing of Jerry Garcia, not only did the Grateful Dead (thankfully and belatedly) end as a functioning unit, but also hordes of imitators wasted little time in vying for the mantle of chief jam band, top purveyors of nonstop guitar noodling contained in epic songs with absolutely nothing…
At 56, Graham Parker has lost little of the caustic bile that informed so much of his best work of the mid- to late ’70s. Always mislabeled as “angry,” Parker’s songs can better be described as surly and intellectual. A potent songwriter with an eye for hypocrisy and mistaken vanity,…
With roots in North Texas (singer Aurelio Valle and percussionist Wayne Magruder were in Denton’s the Factory Press way back in 1993 before relocating to New York), this moody quartet has grown considerably over the course of five releases. Calla’s newly released effort, Strength in Numbers, may well be their…
Unless you want to spend megabucks on the massive Complete Stax-Volt Singles box set released 15 years ago, this double disc distillation should do just fine. Featuring many of the artists who defined soul music throughout the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, this dose of history is nearly perfect. Beginning with…
Inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2005, the Tragically Hip continue their brand of off-kilter power rock on the substantial World Container. Released almost exactly 20 years since their debut, the new effort finds the band sticking to a formula of straddling the line between collegiate and…
“I don’t chase trends, categories or genres,” says Walter Salas-Humera, leader of the Silos. Speaking from the tour van as the band makes its way to SXSW, Salas-Humera talks about quietly becoming the elder statesman of alt-country/Americana, even though he’d disagree that the music he makes fits neatly under any…
Dave Faulkner, singer-songwriter for Australia’s legendary punk-pop combo the Hoodoo Gurus, sips coffee in his home in Sydney and talks about the band’s decision to regroup and their first trip to the United States in more than a decade. “We played a festival date in Australia, and we discovered we…
Acknowledged as much for his production and mixing skills as for his own recordings, Ramble John “RJ” Krohn deftly incorporates the working class ethic of his Ohio upbringing into his unique brand of hip-hop and ambient rap. Dubbed RJD2 by a friend, Krohn has collaborated with several acclaimed indie rappers…
East Dallas resident Darryl Lee Rush is the kind of gritty and straightforward songwriter that gives country music a chance to escape its seemingly endless fixation with bodacious blondes and mullet-addled super patriots. Instead of the slick gloss of contemporary Nashville or the big hat/no brains bravado of the likes…
The promotion materials for this Dallas band declare them to be “the masters of doom metal,” and though such claims are certainly difficult to verify, one can say that these two reissues from the late ’80s represent a well-hidden underbelly of local debauchery. Formed by John Perez of Rotting Corpse…
One of rock’s most renowned burnouts, Roger Kynard Erickson was a legend at 18, when he wrote “You’re Gonna Miss Me” while a member of the 13th Floor Elevators, way back in 1965. The ensuing years found Erickson (who openly advocated LSD consumption) institutionalized at the Rusk State Hospital for…
The Red Tree, the first release from Ontario’s Moneen in three years, is the kind of effort that can even give emo a good name. Dense and complex, the record features the nasally howl of Kenny Bridges fitfully cast against the hyperkinetic rhythm section of drummer Peter Krpan and bassist…
