If you saw the potent and distressing documentary Before the Music Dies, you had the opportunity, aside from a concert venue, to see why Erykah Badu is so special. Badu’s critique of the current climate in popular music and her hilarious (but dead-on) list of exactly what physical attributes are…
Modern rock is plagued by many problems, and two of them revolve around the issue of earnestness. Often musicians suffer from one of two sides of the same problem: Either they, in all their “coolness” and allegiance to all that is affected, worship at the altar of irony with such…
European sensation Hot Chip started making music because the bandmates were bored with everything new and just couldn’t get over their old favorites. “We loved Phil Spector and the Beach Boys, Kraftwerk and Robert Wyatt, Timbaland and Madlib, Brian Eno and Devo, Anti-Pop Consortium and Aphex Twin, Will Oldham and…
Like their crescendo-loving peers in Explosions in the Sky, Japanese post-rockers Mono lay down soundtracks for the Oscar-worthy epics in your head. Formed in 2000 as a pet project for experimental guitarist Takaakira Goto, Mono soon evolved into an instrumental quartet consisting of the basics—y’know: guitar, bass and drums. The…
Sanjaya, gone from American Idol! Alas, I barely knew him. Our time together was but brief, comprised of stolen moments on YouTube and furtive glances at celebrity gossip blogs. And though now the Indian warbler is forever gone from the Idol ranks, he will always be in my heart. For…
It just doesn’t get much more country than one witness’ account of the Billy Joe Shaver shooting, which took place a couple of weeks ago near Papa Joe’s Saloon just outside of Waco. Several witnesses say that Shaver and his victim—Billy Coker—had been chatting amiably until talk turned to Shaver’s…
Along with like-minded contemporaries Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Minnesota’s Tapes ‘n Tapes has come to epitomize the power of digital media in the new millennium. Thanks to the band’s instantly memorable and magnetic blend of Pixies post-punk and Slanted and Enchanted-era Pavement, along with a handful of choice reviews,…
What the hell is a Limbeck? Short answer: He’s a member of Limbeck, a So-Cal cocktail of Jayhawks roots rock and Shins dream-pop that more often than not gets called alt-country. The long answer: Many moons ago, the Bastards of Limbeck were a teen pop-punk band named after Charles in…
CINEMATIC MASTERWORK Adam Sandler’s profoundly disturbing resemblance to Bob Dylan in Reign Over Me. Though it is fun to imagine Bob singing, “It’s cool to pee yo’ pants.” SOCIETAL CONUNDRUMS Wondering why anyone would knowingly watch a video clip of Karl Rove rapping. Have some respect for yourself. TECHNOLOGICAL MARVELS…
Based on the uncharacteristically lively Woke on a Whaleheart, the latest album by Bill Callahan (aka Smog), it seems dating fellow Drag City artist Joanna Newsom has worked out exceedingly well for the enigmatic singer-songwriter. The union has also succeeded splendidly for fans, as the album easily ranks among Callahan’s…
Those who think that pop-music junkies represent music fandom’s lowest common denominator should read the comments left on iTunes about Avril Lavigne’s cheerleader-chant-from-hell single, “Girlfriend.” Namely, this astute one: “The avril i looked up to was her own person, and proud of it. She wasn’t afraid to act like herself,…
For Amon Tobin’s Chaos Theory: Splinter Cell 3 Soundtrack, the Brazilian-born U.K. resident and producer/DJ spun delicately assembled cinematic instrumentals into epic nightmarish videogame backdrops, boasting chopped organ and string section bits over boisterous drum breaks. It was another impressive exercise in Tobin’s venturesome sound manipulation, but Foley Room presented…
Paul Wall is a snuggly, goofy shortstack who’s probably really into pizza and playing that airplane game with his son. He has a squinty pug face and is ugly-sexy in a teddy bear/goblin way, which he wouldn’t be if he were a Home Depot cashier instead of the unlikely king…
In rock, there are several classic, iconic poses that have stood as visual emblems of the genre, that have sustained it for years. In this case, the cliché of a picture being worth a certain number of words holds true: The windmill pose of a guitar king—most perfectly personified in…
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…
Young Jeezy is just that—young. Originally named Li’l J (actually, originally he was named Jay Jenkins), the Atlanta rapper has the deadly serious focus of a teenage phenom with his eyes on the prize. His music completes the nefarious circle of monetarily driven rap: Jeezy leaves the coy allusions to…
His dad, novelist Larry McMurtry, bought him his first guitar when he was 7, and his mother, an English professor, taught him how to play it, but even so, the acorn resides close to the tree. James McMurtry’s country-tinged roots rock is keyed to his facility with words, his insights…
It’s not easy for a 6-foot-7-inch singer to get overlooked, but such is the case for Bruce Robison. While the tall Texas troubadour has been releasing albums for more than a decade, he’s best known as a hit songwriter for Tim McGraw, the Dixie Chicks and George Strait. Or as…
Both the Twilight Sad and Aereogramme hail from Glasgow, and maybe it’s something in the water over there, but these two bands share a very similar sprawling guitar aesthetic. Although Aereogramme’s latest, My Heart Has a Wish That You Would Not Go, emotes the sentiments of that long-winded title throughout,…
Hailing from Brooklyn, Type O Negative is one of the few metal bands to dare to actually smile while performing, even though they are most commonly associated with the gothic-doom subgenre. Formed in the early ’80s, the band features singer Peter Steele, best-known for using a chain for a guitar…
Adult are indeed all grown up—a married couple from Detroit, whose latest album is entitled Why Bother?, which might not have been the best marketing decision, but hey, who looks at titles anyway? If you do bother, you should imagine Siouxsie Sioux (or maybe PJ Harvey) backed by some of…
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…
