While the current British Invasion is wearing a bit — particularly when the bands are seemingly interchangeable and all apparently worship at the altar of Ian Curtis — the very clearly British foursome The Rakes don’t appear so tiresome. The London band’s ADD-influenced, punk-tinged tracks on their debut contain a…
So, Tub Ring is playing the PHiX. “Who the hell is Tub Ring,” you ask? Only Chicago’s premier experimental rawk practitioners, a band that tastefully merges the off-the-wall crush of Tomahawk with the pop appeal of Only a Lad-era Oingo Boingo. Tub Ring has also toured relentlessly with acts like…
Revolution-building is painful, thankless, hard work. Immortal Technique isn’t only a self-styled revolutionary, however, but a battle MC, so his withering critiques of politicians, capitalist pigs and cultural cowards are served through incendiary, violent language — you can usually hear the weariness and strain in his voice. He raps the…
When his sex tape went public earlier this year, it merely cemented Kid Rock’s nose-dive into that tacky level of celebrity culture where talent means less than tabloid notoriety, where people know you’re famous but can’t remember for what. Rock’s artistic standing wasn’t always so pathetic: The rap-rock jokester exploded…
In an attempt to give light to forgotten (though pivotal) singles from the heyday of the San Fran/Oakland funk/soul diaspora, Luv N’Haight launched in 1990. Fifty records later, the label shows no signs of slowing, as Bay Area Funk 2 proves. Like with many compilations of this nature, there are…
The smorgasbord of rock ‘n’ roll has included Hispanic/American culture clashes in the past: Santana, Los Lobos, War. Add to that list Brooklyn’s Cordero, a fab foursome featuring the bilingual songs of guitarist/singer Ani Cordero, a self-described “Georgia-Rican.” With guitar, trumpet, bass and drums, the band unaffectedly blends minimalist, sinewy…
It’s hard to say whether Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel, the married music makers known as Mates of State, have inspired more flat-out envy for making lovey-dovey, knowing glances at each other onstage, or for simply defying that old rule about romance dooming a band (Bring It Back is their…
Wayne Coyne promised a return to the guitar-grinding Flaming Lips of yore with At War With the Mystics, and he does deliver — kinda. Just like the Oklahoma freak-rockers’ ADD stage show, there’s more of everything here, with guitars being just another sliver of the whole gonzo pie: more studio…
We can all agree that Lemmy Kilmister owns the coolest name in all of metal history, but coming in a close second is Trey Azagthoth — leader of the long-running death metal outfit Morbid Angel — who sounds like he should hail from the frozen blackness of upper Finland but…
Thursday 20Acme Roadhouse: College Night with DJ J. Alan (Top 40) Anderson’s Fifth Estate: Area 51 with DJ Jeremy (goth, industrial) Barcelona: DJ Rob (dance) Camus: KURRENT_affairs with Pablo Gomez (electronic, rock, pop, avant-garde) The Crown Room: DJ Gable (rock, house, hip-hop) Deadbeats: EZ Thursdays with DJs Robin Lepel &…
1. T.I. , King (Atlantic) 2. Paul Wall, The Peoples Champ (Atlantic) 3. E-40, My Ghetto Report Card (Warner Bros) 4. LL Cool J, Todd Smith (Def Jam) 5. James Blunt, Back to Bedlam (Atlantic) 6. Toby Keith, White Trash With Money (Show Dog Nashville) 7. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Show…
Jacques Brel and Morrissey walk into a bar. As Kurt Weill pours the Maker’s and glasses are raised, Marlene Dietrich pulls up a barstool. The liquor flows and the conversation percolates. Dietrich is considering a sex change, Brel can’t stop talking about abortions and the Holocaust, and Morrissey keeps bringing…
Musically, this sure as hell can be an incestuous town. I see it more and more all the time, with the same musicians playing in multiple bands with different sonic flavors, often on different instruments. Especially in Tempe, where a relatively small group of musicians hold down a scene where…
As we’re all painfully aware, Monday, April 17, is this year’s tax deadline. For the average 9-to-5 schmo, that means scrounging through a pile of employment forms, bank statements and gas receipts for stuff to write off. Of course, some people try deducting every receipt in the house, from so-called…
In a bar somewhere on the West Coast, a presumptuous punk-rock fan approached a woman who looked familiar. “Hey, you look just like Exene Cervenka. What are you doing here?” The woman, taking pleasure in the opportunity to shut down this clueless tool, flatly said, “I am Exene. I just…
Whenever indie rock has veered too close to becoming like a traditional form of music — whether it’s by-the-book Class of ’77 punk, emo with sanctioned sad chords, press-the-distortion-pedal-here grunge, or power-pop that eschews anything Big Star or Cheap Trick hasn’t already tackled — that’s when it’s failed us as…
Chicago’s Carl Mitchell, a.k.a. Twista, isn’t a musical or lyrical innovator, but he’s got the fastest tongue in hip-hop, and his quick spitting — and the collaborators he’s attracted as a result — helps explain why his career’s on the upswing after nearly a decade in the game. His verbal…
Lila Downs wowed audiences as the tango singer in Salma Hayek’s Frida and won a Latin Grammy for Best Folk Album for Una Sangre (One Blood), which blended Mexican folk music with hip-hop and world beats from the Caribbean, Latin America and the Middle East. The arrangements on La Cantina:…
Opportunities for guilt-free — no, make that philanthropic — partying just don’t seem to happen enough, but this Saturday night’s MasquerAID gives you the chance to do just that. MasquerAID, at the Icehouse (429 West Jackson Street), is a benefit for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and the…
Thursday 13 Ain’t Nobody’s Bizness: DJ Brooklyn (hip-hop, Top 40) AZ 88: Mr. P-Body (synth pop, electro) Camus: KURRENT_affairs with Pablo Gomez (electronic, rock, pop, avant-garde) The Crown Room: DJ Gable (rock, house, hip-hop) Deadbeats: EZ Thursdays with DJs Robin Lepel & Josh Nelson (house, techno) e4: Limelight with DJ…
It’s not uncommon to see art galleries doing double duty as live music venues around town, but music and art museums still don’t seem to mix. Not unless you count the unsung jazz and chamber music ensembles that give ambiance to events where guests are more into the cheese platter…
The title of this one’s a scam, as the 19-track comp only includes the earliest and latest of Johnny Thunders’ post-New York Dolls output, prior to his falling ill of leukemia, which caused complications that led to his death in ’91. But it does hit the obvious sweet spots (and…
