Email Author Ed Masley

2006 Stories by Ed Masley

• Added Up

  published December 28, 2006

  To the best of drummer Victor DeLorenzo's recollection, when the Violent Femmes unleashed their own peculiar strain of punk-inspired folk on the... More >>

• The Other Elvis

  published December 28, 2006

  If any good can be said to have come of what Elvis Costello refers to here as "a fearsome chain of events started out by a mean-tempered woman... More >>

• Cream Cropped

  published December 28, 2006

  Watching the members of Cream retrace their steps, from Eric Clapton talking Ginger Baker into letting Jack Bruce join the band in 1966 to their... More >>

• The Walkmen

  published December 28, 2006

  It's hard to say why anyone would think to cover Harry Nilsson's Pussy Cats, a cover-heavy oddity whose appeal is based more on the spirit... More >>

• Nas

  published December 28, 2006

  The cover shot shows Nas about to drop a black rose into hip-hop's open grave. But this is more a wake-up call than a eulogy, as though he's... More >>

• My Morning Jacket

  published December 28, 2006

  By the time My Morning Jacket dropped the reverb-laden Southern art-rock classic Z in late 2005, they'd reached the point where Rolling... More >>

• Bo Diddley

  published December 21, 2006

  He's one of rock 'n' roll's few legends with a beat named in his honor. And the weird thing is, Bo Diddley plays guitar, not drums. But as Diddley... More >>

• Go Ask Alice

  published December 14, 2006

  Alice Cooper was looking to shake things up a bit at this year's Christmas Pudding concert. So he put in a call to the three surviving members of... More >>

• Outside the Box

  published December 14, 2006

  The Waylon Jennings Nashville Rebel DVD (RCA) should have been included in the Nashville Rebel boxed set, where it would have added... More >>

• The Vandals

  published December 14, 2006

  Few bands have done more to embody the carefree goof-punk spirit of The Dickies than The Vandals, whether blazing their way through the holiday... More >>

• The Blasters

  published December 14, 2006

  By the time they emerged from the shadow of Disneyland and L.A. punk with a tough little self-titled record on Slash, The Blasters were the... More >>

• That '70s Sound

  published December 7, 2006

  "Just standing in front of an amp as though you're being bathed in fuzzy volume is quite a nice feeling," says bassist/organist Chris Ross of... More >>

• Back and Black

  published December 7, 2006

  With 1988's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Chuck D and Public Enemy positioned hip-hop as "the CNN of black culture,"... More >>

• Panic! At the Disco

  published December 7, 2006

  Voted most likely to bring an accordion and dance-punk beats to the emo-kid table at lunch, the exquisitely dressed young men of Panic! At the... More >>

• Plant Medley

  published November 30, 2006

  Five of the 11 tracks on Robert Plant's first DVD, Robert Plant and the Strange Sensation (Rounder/Zoe), are new performances of old Led... More >>

• Calexico

  published November 30, 2006

  They've always been known for the Southwestern flavor they bring to the indie-rock table — mariachi horns, spaghetti Western ambiance, the... More >>

• Lady Sovereign

  published November 23, 2006

  Lady Sovereign may not seem as revolutionary as the last great British hip-hop export, M.I.A. In fact, at times, her record feels a bit like... More >>

• Rooney

  published November 16, 2006

  Ben Lee may be headlining the "Fun! Fun! Fun! Tour," but the artist most likely to live up to the spirit of that tour name is Rooney, a band whose... More >>

• Celluloid Elvis

  published November 16, 2006

  Despite the best efforts of several generations of right-wing extremists, it's impossible to watch this DVD, Elvis Presley: The Ed Sullivan... More >>

• Queen of Blackhearts

  published November 9, 2006

  It's the Fourth of July at Cricket Pavilion, and kids wearing tee shirts that pledge their allegiance to every band from Anti-Flag to Less Than... More >>

• The Who

  published November 9, 2006

  Pete Townshend's clearly playing to the school of thought that says Who's Next is better than The Who Sell Out here. And it goes... More >>

• Come Out and Play

  published November 2, 2006

  It wasn't easy getting Ian Metzger off his ass to play some rock 'n' roll again. He'd burned out on the band life early, when his high... More >>

• Bloodshot Eye Candy

  published November 2, 2006

  If you followed alt. country's flirtation with finding an audience bigger than the readership of No Depression in the '90s, then you'll need to... More >>

• Sean Lennon

  published November 2, 2006

  No rock-star kid ever made a more endearing record than Sean Lennon's 1998 debut Into the Sun, a Double Fantasy for hipsters... More >>

• The Rolling Stones, and Alice Cooper

  published November 2, 2006

  The Rolling Stones and Alice Cooper? Can a classic rock bill even get any better than that? The Stones, of course, are still amazing live, still... More >>