Lately, Modest Mouse front man Isaac Brock has been fond of telling rock critics about his run-ins with Satan — an explanation for the grim content of the trio’s latest record and major-label debut. Such fire-and-brimstone rationalizations might sound strange coming from a young man who, in the past, has…
About time a bio was written on Sonny Rollins, the last living jazz patriarch, who also met repeatedly with the author as the book was taking shape. Not that the saxman was pleased with the project, to which he admits he “reluctantly agreed, feeling that it would probably be written…
In 1971, John Lennon issued a No. 1 album and Top 5 single both titled “Imagine.” The following year, Lennon and Yoko Ono self-directed a 55-minute film also titled Imagine, which included clips for all 10 of the album’s songs plus two from Ono’s Fly record, making it the precursor…
When über-label conglomerates PolyGram and Universal Music merged just over a year ago, it shook the record industry to its very foundation, swallowing or killing long-established labels like A&M and Geffen, and leaving a trail of displaced bands in its wake.This meant disaster for literally hundreds of groups that saw…
In May 1997, singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley put on his best thrift-store suit and got a friend to drive him to the Memphis Zoo. Buckley, an ascendant alternative-rock icon and reluctant heartthrob, had decided to apply for a job as a zookeeper.The 30-year-old Buckley had temporarily relocated from New York to…
Mention to Jay Busch that he seems to be scuffling for gigs, and he’ll laugh. “It goes with the job description. It’s like the ingredient list on a food package. “Scuffle’ is near the top of the list of ingredients for a working musician.” He pauses, and then adds, “”Remuneration’…
Are you ready to rock? Are you ready to rip it up? Do you know what I’m talking about?When sung by Henry Rollins, the opening lines of his version of Thin Lizzy’s arena inciter “Are You Ready” makes it wallopingly clear that Rollins knows what he’s talking about when it…
Sometimes towering insignificance is the very thing that draws the most attention. Take Sony Legacy reissuing not one, but four Burton Cummings CDs with previously unheard bonus cuts.Burton Cummings? In rock ‘n’ roll hero terms, he’s Atom Man, the Justice Leaguer who only saved the day by doing something really…
Because a girl tossed a drink in his face, punched him and left him stranded in Hollywood into the wee hours, Jeff Whalen’s first moments on the phone included three rasping, indecipherable attempts at a greeting. But it was noon, and he didn’t mention anything about intending to lie in…
Resolver’s best cut, “Yeah Man,” finds Louise Post informing her submissive male that “I’d know you in the dark/By the way your hands pull me apart/I’d know you in the day/By the way you’re miles away/I know you’re in the mood not to be attached or be misused.” Great, now…
When you become intractably identified as “formerly of” and your new band is relentlessly mentioned as a “side project,” it’s not easy to make a name for yourself — just ask Looper’s Stuart David. A founding member of cult darlings Belle and Sebastian, the mild-mannered David was sometimes mistaken for…
You seem like a person who knows from fun — here’s an exercise guaranteed to provide you your required dosage of cruel hilarity. You know that panic-stricken look that comes over people when their CDs get stuck and start skipping violently? It’s a million times worse than the sound of…
Gumbo loves slamming pud jazz wanna-bes and goo-heavy R&B warblers. But my insensitive editor stubbornly refuses to allot me an extra page for diatribes on, say, how stupid it is to categorize Sade as jazz. Gumbo has, however, been granted an additional 17 syllables, used below to convey a haiku…
“It was direct. There was no bullshit, no obscurity. It was like, ‘This is it, this is what I feel.’ It punched you straight in the heart.” Matt Johnson is talking about John Lennon’s lyrical prowess, but he could well be speaking about his own approach to songwriting. Calling from…
Channel-surfers flipping past the USA Network’s music showcase program, Farmclub, might have had their fingers stop dead in their tracks if they happened to come upon the Bloodhound Gang’s recent performance on the show — one that featured fire-blowing, sporadic nudity and snippets of TLC, Rammstein and Korn songs spliced…
Tracing the contours of the cerebellum like some evil throb, the ringing can make your hair hurt. Later, you keep hearing a far-off siren, like some ambulance, distant and shrill. That weird, high hum lingers for days, weeks, always. But that’s all part of the fun, right? At least the…
Five years ago, back when Sleater-Kinney was just starting out, the song “I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone” gave the band a bold statement of purpose that couldn’t help but be noticed. Blaring out the title more like a proclamation than a chorus, co-founders Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker made…
After about a decade’s preoccupation with making big noises with the likes of Pearl Jam and perennial collaborators Crazy Horse, Neil Young settles in for the winter of his content. Silver & Gold is an open hearth warming up the cabin while the wind howls outside. Young’s tenor, getting more…
Potential. Chances are, you’ve heard that term applied to yourself at some point. It’s an overused and double-edged word, implying lack of present-tense success and the possibility for future failure. “Potential” is a word that was used, quite accurately and frequently, to describe what the band Mineral had. The group…
The Arizona Roadhouse Brewery, situated prominently at the corner of Apache and Terrace in Tempe, is an aesthetically pleasing and fairly sophisticated brew pub — copper tanks staring conspicuously out of the glassed façade, an oak bar with brass railing, expensive cigars resting enticingly in a bar-top humidor, award-winning beer…
The white man or woman who plays the blues is often forced to confront a long-standing stereotype: the idea among blues-brained purists that only black artists can truly sing about pain, loss and heartbreak. Of course, music history begs to differ with this notion. Some of the most wrist-slitting blues…
It had to happen. Pop-tart Gwen Stefani — pretty as she can be with a midriff for the ages — celebrated a special birthday recently: the dreaded three-oh. And by industry standards — those sad, governing, youth-obsessed and number-crunching principles — such a cosmic reckoning usually means one thing: Keep…
