It’s often difficult to critically analyze a much-beloved artist, because the reviewer’s tendency is to excuse irksome traits or loathsome sonic detours simply because of past greatness. And so while it’s tempting to give Morrissey a free pass for hauling in a children’s choir for several songs on his eighth…
It’s interesting, yet not all that surprising, to learn that Young People singer Katie Eastburn — when not recording or touring with the bicoastal, avant-garde duo (she lives in New York,; multi-instrumentalist Jarrett Silberman is in L.A.) — is a dancer and choreographer. The band’s brooding third album bears aesthetics…
The only conceivable way this seven-song EP from Ambulance LTD — released as an appetite-whetter for the quartet’s second full-length, due later this year — could come across more British is if there were a scratch ‘n’ sniff circle on the booklet cover that smelled like fish and chips. Not…
The term “guilty pleasure” has become the blanket defense used by status-conscious critics for uncool acts they secretly love but can’t admit to in print. But in an era when even Kelly Clarkson gets good press, perhaps the guiltiest pleasure of all is boring old Billy Joel. Unlike other punching…
If you tell a true ’80s punk fan that the Subhumans are playing a gig, you’ll need to clarify which Subhumans you’re talking about. There’s the Subhumans from the early ’80s Vancouver punk scene, who rocked alongside bands like D.O.A. and the Pointed Sticks, and then there’s the Subhumans from…
Let’s be frank. The problem with metalcore is that it all sounds the same. Enter Zao’s hotly anticipated Fear Is What Keeps Us Here, its upcoming sophomore effort for Ferret Music. Details are scarce, but the band is debuting two songs on this tour. And here’s the kicker: The album…
It might not be cool to say, but missing out on seeing Freddie Mercury perform live is one of the great musical tragedies of my life. I’m always struck by the regret I feel at this fact, and attempts on my part to compensate — namely, rewatching Queen’s Live at…
All hail “Love Rollercoaster,” a sweet slice of funk brought to us by the Ohio Players. There is not enough funk in this world. So we welcome every bite of funk that has been fed to us and every band that cooks it. Oh, Ohio Players, the sins that have…
If recent breakouts by Mylo and Vitalic have proven that there’s still life left in house music and upbeat electronica (and they have), Idol Tryouts proves that there’s also life beyond it. This double-disc set, compiled by the soothsayers at the edgy Ann Arbor label Ghostly International, is split into…
Imagine an emergency room doctor gauging a patient’s health according to the originality of his symptoms: “Hmm . . . unclassifiable cough, ingeniously irregular heartbeat . . . Sir, I’m happy to report that you’re in excellent shape.” But the health of rock ‘n’ roll is often measured by innovation,…
Before the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O strutted, spit and cooed her way to indie-rock icon status, the last dynamic female to front a rock band was arguably Courtney Love. The grunge widow propelled Hole to stardom in the 1990s with her inimitable martyr poses and baby-doll fashion on the…
Bleeding Through makes melodic, postmodern metal, taking what it needs from formerly discrete subgenres (shredding thrash guitar, gothic keyboards, black metal blast beats) and churning it all together behind vocalist Brandon Schieppati, whose bellow gets the dudes moshing when his angsty croon isn’t driving the girls wild. Avenged Sevenfold plows…
1. Band of Horses, Everything All the Time (Sub Pop) 2. Liars, Drum’s Not Dead (Mute) 3. Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan, Ballad of the Broken Seas (V2) 4. Murs, Murray’s Revenge (Record Collection) 5. Arctic Monkeys, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I Am Not (Domino) 6. Josh…
Call it the great inevitable. Alt-rock trends in the 21st century have, so far, stuck to a pretty tight schedule, reviving retro sounds right around the 20-year mark. So it makes perfect sense that the successor to all the recent post-punk and early-New Wave imitators would firmly plant us somewhere…
As a 17-year-old skateboarder up in Anchorage, Alaska, where I worked at the only skateboard shop in town, I was sprung on the skaterock that was the soundtrack of my crew’s four-wheeled adventures. Bands like Suicidal Tendencies, Agent Orange, and especially JFA (Jodie Foster’s Army) provided the extra energy we…
Whether you know what to expect or it’s your very first time, nothing can actually prepare you for South By Southwest. Battalions of bands take over Austin, Texas, and Shiner Bock flows like water. The whole music industry food chain — major and indie label reps, publicists, booking agents, and…
Listen, boys and girls: A long time ago — yes, before you or I or the Toronto music scene was even born — some very wrong people had a very bad idea. Children, these very wrong people reasoned, are small and silly. Let’s make small, silly music for them. And…
Fall Out Boy bassist and songwriter Pete Wentz can’t stand being limited by 4/4 time. He has aspirations of becoming the next Russell Simmons. “People didn’t just buy a Def Jam record,” he says. “People bought a culture.” The multitalented entrepreneur talks about the need to create a similar counterculture…
For years, the Wu-Tang Clan has epitomized hip-hop’s gritty underground, pushing the art form to another level with a street mentality and a plan to build an empire. As solo artists, its members have produced mixed results (lest we forget Method Man’s acting career), but consistency has been a strong…
Although Matisyahu has been around for a few years, the novelty factor is still high on his third album. After all, can you name another Orthodox Jewish dancehall star? But those who can handle a bespectacled, bearded, yarmulke-clad performer breaking it down, island stylee, will find that Youth quickly turns…
In a music industry where the dreck rises to the top of the charts and the cream gets tagged as “cult,” it’s comforting to see Sparks persevere over the decades in spite of a mostly indifferent American audience. Fronted by the brothers Ron and Russell Mael, the Los Angeles group…
There used to be a time when you could actually mention Dilated Peoples and Black Eyed Peas in the same sentence, given that they both came up in the subterranean Los Angeles hip-hop scene in the late ’90s and once shared a similar funk-soul sampling, old-school scratching and beatmaking, Golden…
