All hail Doctor Demento, who has carried the torch of the novelty song for many years. For we are not some dour Radiohead fan who requires stone-faced “important” music. But novelty can be taken too far, and Universal Records has abused the idea with its new album, Crazy Frog Presents…
Oh, gracious. These days, hard rock is a most denigrated genre of music, is it not? With all those Mudvaynes and Slipknots besmirching the landscape, how can any self-respecting individual bang his head without feeling a wee bit peevish? Luckily, the clouds occasionally part for such honorable acts as Monday’s…
After a two-year absence, Broadcast returns with Tender Buttons, a searing, minimalist pop record. Seeing how the band has gone from six members to two, Buttons’ theme of “letting go” makes sense. Vocalist Trish Keenan and her only remaining bandmate, James Cargill, have toyed with the Broadcast concept a bit,…
The seventeen tracks on this CD/DVD combo — combining the 1995 best-of comp Eternal E with all his videos and a new track by his son, Lil E — are charmingly clunky things by today’s standards, all teeth-chattering 808 beats clashing with the sound of things being slapped, rattled, and…
Modern Machines are hardly the first young band to take early Replacements’ drunk-punk and stumble with it. But while so many others have gotten the fucking-around part down pat, this Milwaukee quartet captures the melody and muscle as well. At eight tracks, Taco Blessing is more densely packed with lilting…
Thursday 15 Acme Roadhouse: College Night with DJ J. Alan (Top 40) Ain’t Nobody’s Bizness: DJ Suzy (hip-hop, dance) Anderson’s Fifth Estate: Area 51 with AKA (gothic, industrial) Axis/Radius: Ladies’ Night with DJ Josh Royal (dance) AZ 88: DJ P-Body (jazz fusion, funk) Barcelona: DJ Rob (dance) Dos Gringos –…
1. Kanye West, Late Registration (Roc-a-Fella) 2. Death Cab for Cutie, Plans (Atlantic) 3. Against Me!, Searching for a Former Clarity (Fat Wreck Chords) 4. Between the Buried and Me, Alaska (Victory) 5. Dane Cook, Retaliation (Comedy Central) 6. From Autumn to Ashes, Abandon Your Friends (Vagrant) 7. Common, Be…
Major labels haven’t had a lot of success marketing singer-songwriters (unless they sound like Dave Matthews), and given that their target audience isn’t advertisers’ favored demographic (18 to 25), it might be questioned how much interest they can generate. Duncan Sheik produced the enormous hit “Barely Breathing” (which sounds a…
American music is a rich tapestry of historical elements, often evident in contemporary music. The White Stripes channel Delta blues with Detroit garage; bluegrass elements figure into almost every alt-country (or y’all-ternative) outfit’s output; New Orleans jazz is co-opted by post-prog rockers like the Mars Volta. But rarely do you…
Let’s just get this out of the way right now — the Redwalls are derivative, and what’s more, the bands they derive from are not hiply obscure. Hell, neither are the songs. So don’t expect to look like an authority when you play “spot the influence” with the tunes on…
Seems like gangsta rap has come a long way since the days of Casiotone beats and Jheri curl hairdos. But really, things haven’t changed at all. Take 50 Cent, who last week rereleased his so-so The Massacre not six months after its initial March launch. The new version features DVD…
While it burst from the same U.K. post-punk explosion that produced other such earnest and humorless flag wavers as U2 and The Alarm, New Model Army’s continued to mine the battlefield long after the former dropped politics for messianic introspection and the latter proved to be just an excuse to…
The Posies loved Big Star so much that they became the band. Front men Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer became the backing for Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens when they reunited Big Star for the first time in 1993, and have just finished a new Big Star album with them…
Phew, can you smell that? No, we’re not talking about the stench of decaying pabulum emanating from the Top 40 charts. This particular pleasing aroma wafting its way into our proboscis originates from across the pond, courtesy of the Seatsniffers, a foursome of Belgian hellcats who specialize in blending all…
While not unique, the songs on 32 Leaves’ Welcome to the Fall would be ideal sandwiched between 3 Doors Down and Dark New Day on mainstream modern rock radio. By far the standout member of 32 Leaves is singer Greg Norris, whose beautiful vocals bring serenity to the sound and…
At 25, Milton Campbell is a generation between generations. The Flatbush, Brooklyn, native known as Ohmega Watts borrows the beat structures and b-boy swagger of predecessors — you could easily believe The Find was released in ’95 as much as ’05. The producer/MC is accustomed to living between worlds, crafting…
Hundreds — more likely thousands — fondly remember the good ol’ days with a monkey on their back; in this instance, RedMonkey, the long-reigning, irregularly held house music celebration thrown down by infamous local DJ Pete Salaz. Wave your Tootsie Pops in the air, because RedMonkey’s making a comeback. Back…
The Emerald Lounge: open since 1949, an ironworkers bar turned black pool hall turned premier local music venue turned . . . another lovely parking lot? Another corporate retail space? File this under “I can’t believe it’s happening again,” but come September 15, the Emerald Lounge on Seventh Avenue and…
The Thrifty Ear wants to thank all you Little Stevie Hawkings out there who dutifully reminded him he hasn’t been deducting sales tax on all of the items he purchased last month, leaving him with a deficit this week of about, oh, 10 dollars. Bah! After serving you with a…
Being a good emo/pop-punk band these days is like being a natural blonde in a sea of peroxide. It’s easy to get lost in the waves, but these bands have distinguished themselves as two of the better acts in a crowded pool. Hidden in Plain View is a New Jersey…
Tired of Not Being Away From Here has the same signature style as other Before Braille records — powerful rock with gut-wrenching lyrics — but with this latest effort, the Phoenix band has spread its wings a bit wider, building more harmonies and instruments (including a notable trumpet on “Well…
Riviera Broadcast Group, the new owner of The Edge (KEDJ-FM 103.9), did a curious thing on August 18, when it fired Marc Young, the program director who’d boosted the alternative station’s share of the Phoenix radio market by more than 60 percent since last fall. It was Young, after all,…
