For as much sadness and turmoil as there’s been in the Stereolab camp these past couple of years — the death of singer/keyboardist Mary Hansen following a bicycle accident in 2002; the divorce of founding members Tim Gane and Laetitia Sadier shortly before — you’d never really know it from…

Quannum Projects (originally called Solesides) is like the Paul Masson of hip-hop collectives (“We’ll sell no beats and rhymes before their time”). Fans of the esteemed Bay Area crew know that many moons may pass before its charter members turn out new music: Lyrics Born’s recent Later That Day …

For a while there, it seemed like Britain’s Squarepusher, a.k.a. Tom Jenkinson, would never show his face around these parts. One full-scale U.S. tour was aborted shortly after its launch, and another was scrapped entirely, all for unspecified reasons. It only added to Jenkinson’s long-standing reputation as a mad IDM/drill…

We laughed at your tales of hazing former bassist Jason Newsted. We screamed when you cut your hair and helped shut down Napster. But now it’s time for us to be wholly and quietly attentive for the official “Very Special Episode” in the long-running heavy metal series you call Metallica…

Oof, tough times for nü-metal these days, huh? Skinny, Schmotz, Pig Benis, and the rest of the Cleveland octet Mushroomhead may be feeling a bit like Donnie, Joey, Jordan, Danny and Jon circa 1992, but that just won’t stop these masked, malevolent misfits — these punk-thrash provocateurs — from soldiering…

In space, no one can hear you scream, so you might as well chill the fuck out. That’s been the modus operandi of London’s Laika, named after the Russian dog that rode Sputnik II into orbit in 1957. Since the early ’90s, the band has offered a seductive and cosmic…

Yes, the rumors are true — Spiritualized leader Jason Pierce has sworn off rock ‘n’ roll excess. But we’re not talking about a 30-day stint in rehab followed by an allegiance to yoga. Rather, there’ll be no more symphony conductors on speed. Big gospel choirs, begone! Fiddling with massive overdubs…

Tattoos fade, piercings close, bad attitudes mellow — every punk’s gotta grow up. Unfortunately, the shoulders of the punk-rock highway are littered with the rusting remains of many a veteran outfit that refused to surrender their thrashy, sloppy, wanna-be-youthful fuck-all approach even after it had veered well into the caricature…

Believe it or not, the Exploited is nearing a quarter-century of cutting a crusty swath of anarchist destruction across the globe. Rest easy, though — with such ditties as “Fuck the System,” “Fuck the U.S.A.” and “You’re a Fucking Bastard” to their credit, one can pretty safely assume the corrosive…

Any emo-band front man who decides to bare his soul via the acoustic singer-songwriter route has much more to contend with than David St. Hubbins’ fine line between stupid and clever. There’s an even finer line between wrenching and retching. Fortunately, Seattle’s Rocky Votolato has the proper tools, primarily the…

For all of his lovelorn songs, it’s not Lou Barlow’s wife that’s left him. It was his bandmates in Folk Implosion, a gifted side project if there ever was one. Longtime Sebadoh foil Jason Loewenstein opted for life in Kentucky (and as a solo act) over preserving the group’s waning…