Success came neither easily nor quickly for John Hiatt. Though he worked in Nashville as a songwriter within a few years of graduating high school, and even had Three Dog Night take one of his songs, “Sure As I’m Sitting Here,” into the Top 20, personal success was a long…
Picture some weird teen-romance flick in which a lonely kid goes on an oceanside vacation with his family and winds up falling in love with the girl of his dreams against a soft-focus backdrop of rain showers, pounding surf and long, scenic drives up the coast. Now slice up the…
Scheduled to perform with Heather Rae on
Saturday, September 11
Few artists have epitomized death as a career move as well as Nick Drake. In the 30 years since his demise at age 26 from an overdose of antidepressants (the jury’s still out on whether it was accidental or suicide), the honey-voiced, fatalistic British folkie has attained mythic stature, directly…
The romance of I Am the World Trade Center bandmates Amy Dykes and Dan Gellar disintegrated during the recording of The Cover Up, and the evidence is all over this dance-pop slab. Dykes devotes her slightly blasé, slightly off-the-rails vocals to lyrics that imply secret lovers unveiled, uncomfortable standoffs and…
As a nation, no one does much better at total sonic immersion than the French. In their soundtrack to Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides and on the underrated 10,000 Hz Legend, Parisian down-tempo maestros Air created a world of luxe melancholy draped in moody prog-rock guitar; on their fine new…
Punk rock is largely a boys-only club, which makes Tsunami Bomb’s sexy lead singer, Agent M, something of a novelty. But she’s more than that. Though Tsunami Bomb’s sound is based on that of the ubiquitous Cali-punk Descendents, the quartet also delivers bouncy ska-punk, Blondie-ish New Wave, thundering hardcore and…
Former goths can think twice about reliving their glory years with Al Jourgensen and Ministry. The acerbic dance hit “Stigmata” is not on the set list this time around. “If we were going to get to all the little club hits or whatever, we’d have to do a three-hour set…
Some regard routine as boring, but not the rock band Incubus. Its members subscribe to the belief that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” The band — singer Brendan Boyd, guitarist Mike Einziger, new bassist Ben Kenney, DJ Chris Kilmore and drummer Jose Pasillas — has maintained its performance…
A sea of lighters in the air is probably exactly what Camel cigarettes would like to see at its Roaring 2000’s Speakeasy Tour, which stops in Phoenix for “Your Password Is Your Key” on Sunday, September 5. Chicago house legend Bad Boy Bill will be dropping wax alongside acts like…
PolyGram, now a part of Universal Music, established a market presence in Brazil more than 50 years ago, and its back catalogue includes bossa nova, tropicalia, MPB, samba, post-samba and today’s fusions of folk and electronica. These three compilations launch a projected series designed to introduce American ears to this…
With more punky power-pop out there than you can shake a chain wallet at — what were there, 739 bands on this year’s Warped Tour? — this four-song debut EP from Seattle’s Lashes could easily get lost in the three-chord shuffle. Which would be a shame, really, because the high-spirited…
Top 10 selling CDs at Swell Records (414 South Mill Avenue in Tempe) for August 15 through 21: 1. Braille, Shades of Grey (Syntax) 2. Sasha, Involver (Global Underground) 3. Antedote, The Neato Project #1 (Neato Records) 4. Paul Oakenfold, Creamfields (Thrive) 5. Kid Krazzy, Punk Rock Disco (One World)…
Dear Bebel, It has come to my attention that you’re making it a little too easy for the general public to perceive you as a Portuguese crossover artist — seven of the 12 songs on your new self-titled album are sung in (shudder) English. Clearly this is in direct violation…
From the Oxford Encyclopedia of Indie Rock Mythology, page 1,174: Sebadoh (seh’-blargh-chwynugllwgg): Founded in Massachusetts in 1986 by Tascam test engineer Lou Barlow and circus magician Eric Gaffney. Both shared songwriting duties: Gaffney’s songs sounded like the neighbors being chain-sawed; Barlow’s songs sounded like kittens softly weeping. After being asked…
Former Phoenician homeboy DJ Z-Trip’s long-awaited debut CD, tentatively titled Shifting Gears, may not be dropping until spring of next year, but that doesn’t mean he’s being quiet in the meantime. Z-Trip hits town with the Projekt Revolution tour this Wednesday, September 1, once again along for the ride with…
“I use speech to bust rhymes through a concrete wall,” raps Boston MC/producer Insight on “Evolve,” the first single from The Blast Radius. Insight’s music is meant to hit like shrapnel, dousing the ears in horn stabs, rumbling bass, and careening effects. It bears a remarkable similarity to DJ Premier’s…
“We were a fine drinking band, and most of our best work was done in the pub,” says Rod Stewart in the liner notes to the phenomenal new Faces four-CD boxed set, Five Guys Walk Into a Bar. It’s true — in their day (1969-1975), the raucous British quintet was…
Plenty of scribes have unloaded on The Printz, and it’s easy to see why. This compilation of two EPs is often a mess, with Aussie provocateur Chris Colonna and one-named helpers such as Pia and Surya gleefully engaging in unnatural acts of rock, hip-hop and plenty more, without the slightest…
“Repeated use of it [marihuana] has led to mental weakness, dullness and an insanity either of a violent sort in which the victim is pursued by terrible sense-illusions, with insomnia and acute mania, or of an imbecile-lethargic kind, resulting in incurable dementia. . . . Children of addicts are said…
The funk-jazz outfit Galactic is celebrating its 10-year anniversary at the same time it is saying farewell to a major part of its act. Citing health concerns, Theryl “The Houseman” DeClouet will no longer be a permanent member of Galactic. “He can’t really hang with our touring level,” says bassist…
Linkin Park has been able to pull off what many acts have been unable to do this summer — sell tickets to its festival-style show. For its Projekt Revolution Tour, the rap-rock band pulled together a lineup worthy of an old-school Lollapalooza show, with the token rap act, novelty group,…
