It is the year 2029, and old Mr. Wibly is attic-bound again. This time he’s trying to jump-start his dusty Gerard turntable with a digital microchip AC converter he bought at Radio Shack. “Goddamn those Tandy people! Don’t they ever make anything that works?” he grumbles, just as grandson Kyle…
Liz Phair Whip Smart (Matador) Just because her first album was Exile on Main Street with a Tampax doesn’t mean this is Phair’s Goat’s Head douche. If anything, “Super Nova” and “May Queen” are what “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” might have sounded like if Lesley Gore had been singing instead of…
And you thought Ticketmaster was evil! Hey, just because it wants to add a ticket “service charge” that’s almost as high as minimum wage–just ask Eddie Vedder, he’s plenty mad–the ‘master ain’t all bad. It’s sponsoring the second annual Ticketmaster Music Showcase on Saturday at Minder Binder’s in Tempe, featuring…
Their writing has all the sensitiveness an’ feeling that makes music cool to listen to you will probably call it contemporary blues– it could be that if you want it to be it doesn’t matter just let it pass through you. Those are just some of Donovan’s groovy liner notes…
Random Reviews Various Artists You Got Lucky–A Tribute to Tom Petty (Backyard) You can’t polish a turd, as Eleanor Roosevelt used to say, and that’s one of the main problems with so many “tribute” albums these days. Sure, the Carpenters had a couple of great, ultralite pop songs, but most…
For my name, just call me lonely For my past, just say it’s bad For the story I’m about to tell you Might sound a little sad Well, I never had nothing All I’ve ever owned was me I was about to lose myself And then I met Mary –“Lonely…
Though you’ll probably never hear titles like “We’re a Scandinavian Band,” “Sweet Home Nawasaka” or “The Haarlem Shuffle,” more than a handful of cunning linguists have slipped through the predominantly English Only world of Top 40 hits. Here are a few. 1956: An octet of French vocalists scat-sing George Shearing’s…
Ever get that, you know, not-so-fresh feeling about an artist? It’s probably because you’re associating that artist’s music with a separate, unpleasant experience. For instance, I know this gentleman who has a deep-rooted resentment of Henry Mancini, simply because someone threw up on him in a car when “Moon River”…
Rolling Stones Voodoo Lounge (Virgin) It’s the Stones. It’s great. Buy it. Little Jimmy Scott Dream (Sire) America is a wonderful place. A country that, no matter how much misfortune comes your way, no matter how much you just plain fuck up, if you hang around long enough, things just…
All right. Before we dive into the always controversial and titillating world of local reviews, let me tell you this: I went to see rockabilly shouter Robert Gordon at the fine establishment that is the Rockin’ Horse the other night. Some of you were there, too, a handful of Gordon…
By now, almost everyone has seen those nauseating beer commercials. They feature twentysomething slackers with thirtysomething memory banks rattling off their favorite TV shows, cultural artifacts and popular music from the Sixties and Seventies, with nary a receding hairline or beer gut in sight. The worst one to date offers…
Why did it take so many tries to figure out the magic recipe for serving up Meat Loaf again? The all-telling cover art provides us with the necessary clues! Note: Every ignored follow-up is missing the three essential ingredients, in tandem: a muscle-bound boy, his bike and that darned bat!…
Felix Cavaliere remembers it vividly. One day in early 1966, he was walking down Madison Avenue in Manhattan and first heard the Young Rascals on radio. “Somebody had a transistor radio and told us that Cousin Brucie, who at that time was the disc jockey in New York, was going…
Wanna know what’s wrong with the CD single? Get a copy of Belly’s new CD maxi-single, Moon. If this were a vinyl 45 release, the A-side would be the group’s recent cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Are You Experienced.” The snazzy take of Tom Jones’ “It’s Not Unusual” would be the…
Willy DeVille Backstreets of Desire (Forward) Since DeVille’s last effort, Tower Records stopped stocking vinyl, Doc Pomus passed away and John Cougar went Mellencamp. What hasn’t changed is DeVille’s voice (except it’s got a lot more phlegm in it now) and his overriding passion for Brill Building songwriting (he dedicated…
Okay, folks, it’s that time once more. Get out your six-packs and handkerchiefs and prepare to get steeped in local color, but first this: You may want to check out the Smoking Popes, coming to us all the way from Chicago. If the band’s Get Fired CD is any indication,…
The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black Mason Jar June 19, 1994 Maybe it was when the topless woman with the purple body paint, blacked-out teeth and twisted fright wig stood on her head with her back to the audience and her legs spread, and a smaller, chubby girl painted orange…
Have you ever wondered if there was a real Peggy Sue? A real Lovely Rita, Meter Maid? An actual Girl From Ipanema? Well, there isn’t. And now, joining this illustrious bevy of nonexistent beauties is Kim the Waitress, the heroine and namesake of Material Issue’s current hit. But that would…
If I owned an enormous, influential, major label, a lot of things would be different. For me, anyway; a bigger bank balance, more yes men, the finest aspirin money can buy, and–for the Beat Angels–there’d be a big, fat recording contract. This is one of the few tapes I’ve come…
Blow Pops American Beauties (Get Hip) There was an old Saturday Night Live joke between Chevy and Gilda that went like this: “Knock knock.” “Who’s there?” “Babs’ uvula.” “Babs’ uvula who?” “I don’t know, Babs . . .” That’s sort of the way I feel about this album. Not because…
Shonen Knife The Roxy May 19, 1994 They were cute! They were funny! They were endearing! They rocked! They were Naoko Yamano, Michie Nakatani and Atsuko Yamano–Shonen Knife–in Phoenix for the very first time, all the way from Osaka, Japan. Before we continue, this is what you need to know…
You’ve waited four long weeks for this, I know you have. Yes, it’s time again for more local reviews, kids. Get em while they’re hot. By the way, I don’t know if we’re running out of bands that actually have tapes or folks just aren’t sending anything in because they’ve…
