Kathleen Hanna helped pioneer the “riot grrrl” movement during the early ’90s in the group Bikini Kill, which melded feminist politics with punk-rock fury. Since disbanding Bikini Kill in 1998 and founding Le Tigre, she’s sort of come full circle. Certainly, Le Tigre’s music is of a different ilk. While…

Richard Buckner and Damien Jurado are scheduled to
perform on Thursday, November 4, at the Old
Brickhouse.

Radiohead gets more press, but the best band in England is actually the Delgados. Not only have they made five terrific albums, but they began the Chemikal Underground label, leading a Scottish pop explosion with releases by Mogwai, Bis, Arab Strap, and Aerogramme. While they began as something of a…

Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers are scheduled to perform on Monday, November 8, at the Rhythm Room.

The opera I Pagliacci may have spawned the murderous harlequin, but ICP elevated it to, well, something similar to an art form, if you count merchandising and marketing. The homicidal Juggalos’ combination of predictably cartoonish rap-metal and lowbrow performance art owes obvious inspiration to KISS (or maybe Spinal Tap), but…

Like a bastard little brother, Megadeth has lurked in the shadow of the band singer/guitarist Dave Mustaine helped found in the early ’80s. Both Metallica and Megadeth have experienced great success, but while Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, et al., became a multiplatinum megalith whose songs are played during baseball games,…

Joe Cartagena, a.k.a. Fat Joe, is one of mainstream hip-hop’s few Latino rappers, as well as the rare bird able to establish a decade-long track record of success. Hailing from hip-hop hot spot the South Bronx, Joe came out of the box swinging, scoring the number one rap single, “Flow…

One of indie rock’s most enjoyable new bands, Rilo Kiley’s led by former child actors Blake Sennett and Jenny Lewis — though it’s the latter’s sexy singing and thoughtful lyricism that truly elevates the band. Saddle Creek released 2002’s The Execution of All Things, a stunning album that mixed country…

While NYC’s Native Tongues posse was kicking off “conscious rap” with acts such as A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul, Aceyalone was inaugurating the West Coast alternative, Freestyle Fellowship. Nowhere near as successful as the aforementioned groups, nonetheless it planted the seeds for later groups such as Jurassic…

Often it’s less about creating the sound than crystallizing it. By the time Taking Back Sunday released its first album, 2002’s Tell All Your Friends, emo had been around for years; in fact, guitarist Ed Reyes was in the popular early adherent Movielife. TBS had all the requisite moves –…

There aren’t but a few guitarists from the ’80s underground with the skill of Dave Alvin, and none with the versatility. Whether leading punkabilly rockers The Blasters, playing with gothic-punkers The Flesheaters, standing in for Billy Zoom as guitarist for L.A. punk originals X, or forging his own catalogue of…

It’s difficult to overstate the impact of De La Soul’s debut release, 3 Feet High and Rising. Spawned by a thriving New York scene with artists such as KRS-One, Kool Moe Dee and Big Daddy Kane, De La Soul took rap in a different direction, eschewing the heavily funk and…

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, and the ascendancy of edge-sanded, pop-friendly punk has sent underground iconoclasts into the grimy garage sound that was one of punk’s main inspirations. With a raw primitive attack, The Husbands’ Sarah Reed and Sadie Shaw deliver surf-guitar thunder with gale…

Like Sloan, the Tragically Hip’s massive success in Canada and anonymity here is more vexing than Alanis and Celine’s popularity here — and that’s saying something! Like Sloan, the Hip have a rich, arena-ready sound that captures the power-pop punch of Cheap Trick. But unlike the Beatles-inflected Sloansters, the Hip…

— Chris Parker

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