All hail that doe-eyed siren known as Fiona Apple. Though she can be pretentious and sometimes seem unstable, these are faults we can forgive. No, we do not fatwa Apple, even though her last album title had twice as many words in it than a standard Ramones song. We like…
The Thrifty Ear shamelessly confesses he waited until every Who and Kinks B-side was exhausted before inspecting the impeccable Hollies’ album discography. Since he’s never met anyone with Hollies albums to borrow, he’s had to dig into his pockets on many occasions to pick up the slack for the rest…
Beyond obvious nostalgia (and having the same first name), this pairing of classic rock veterans makes a certain amount of sense. Consider that both drink from the well of rich American musical styles: country, bluegrass, folk. Remember that both got undeservedly overshadowed by their higher-profile peers — Springsteen and Petty…
Pieced together by an all-star team of producers (RZA, Raekwon, Mark Ronson) and bolstered by guest vocalists like Missy Elliott, Macy Gray, and fellow Wu-Tang alumni Ghostface and Method Man, A Son Unique feels more like a posthumous tribute to the late Russell Jones than an actual ODB album. Even…
It takes some patient, ear-to-the-speaker listening before Jamie Lidell’s off-kilter, glitch-funk tendencies come to light on Multiply, but that sultry subtlety makes the album a repeat-play sleeper. Straight out of the box, Multiply bubbles with Stax/Volt soul, easy, husky and heartfelt, Lidell’s affable vocals colored a vibrant shade of Otis…
Thursday 1 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 (dance) Barcelona: DJ Rob (dance) Draft House: DJ Dave outta NYC (hip-hop) e4: “Eve” Ladies’ Night in the Earth…
I know a thing or two about riding mechanical bulls. Exactly two, in fact: the brutal dual blasts of pain in my testicles after I rode one a few years back at the state fair. I was instantly convinced that cowboys must wear protective cups to pull off this feat…
If you’ve ever wondered why there are so many cryptic jabs at Arizona on The Simpsons — from Homer’s nixing of a Grand Canyon State vacation (“Arizona smells funny!”) to Ned Flanders’ unforgettable decree, “Looks like Heaven’s easier to get into than Arizona State” — a proclamation from Governor Janet…
Here’s a cultural riddle: Take an icon of a major pop movement and pretend the movement never happened: Ice Cube without gangsta rap, Ken Kesey without LSD, John Lydon without punk. What’s left? Would we ever even have heard of these guys? Like Lydon, Joe Strummer rose with punk and…
One stands, one sits! Both sing, rock and overextend themselves! It’s a simple winning concept that every minimalist duo without a bass player has employed to great personal gain, but few have excelled with greater zeal for multi-tasking and whimsy like James Karnes and Chris Pomerenke. Living on opposite ends…
The lifeblood of ska has always been struggle and adversity of some sort. Songs like Desmond Dekker’s “007 (Shanty Town)” and Dandy Livingstone’s “A Message to You Rudy” embody the hardships of unemployed Rude Boy youths of 1960s Jamaica turning to a life of crime to survive, while The Specials’…
Anyone silly enough to believe that music journalism is populated exclusively by deep thinkers will be quickly disabused of the notion after thumbing through the Jucifer clip file. Most articles about the combo mention that it sprang from the same Athens, Georgia, scene that produced R.E.M. — an act that…
Veda’s hometown of Kansas City was immediately sold on its early sound — a soaring, loose, emo-operatic, naked-soul-baring tidal wave fit for washing over today’s tragic versions of when Andrew McCarthy met Molly Ringwald. Most endearing of all was Kristen May’s trained voice, applied with tearful precision to the drifting,…
What Death Cab for Cutie does best on its major-label debut, Plans, is capture flashbulb moments of melancholy — the dissolution of a summer romance, growing apart from a lover, being dumped by an egotistical jerk — and analyze them with astounding honesty. Take the tear-inducing “What Sarah Said.” Solitary…
These Scots seem destined to be the U.K.’s odd men out, a fate that’s tragic but fitting. Unlike conquering heroes Coldplay, this quintet wears a disgruntled sense of defeat even in its most defiant moments, such as on 2000’s melodic, punkish 100 Broken Windows. Since Windows’ failure to break the…
If hip-hop is dead, somebody forgot to tell Little Brother. The North Carolina-based affiliates of the Justus League crew have gone from regional up-and-comers to nationally recognized stars, aided by the well-deserved critical acclaim for their ABB Records debut, The Listening, and producer 9th Wonder’s work on Jay-Z’s Black Album…
Besides the White Stripes, the Volebeats might be the best band the Motor City has to offer. Like the Jayhawks drenched in reverb, they make classic folk-rock that’s part Everly Brothers harmonies and part Byrdsian 12-string jangle. Firm believers in quality over quantity, the Volebeats have released only six proper…
Who needs freakin’ DJs anyway? Unless they’re scratching, beat juggling, or throwing down mash-ups, they’re just playing songs — you know what you wanna listen to better than they do, right? If you think so, and you’re bourgeois enough to own an iPod, bring it down to AZ 88 on…
1. Mt. Eerie, No Flashlight vinyl with CD (P.W. Elverum and Sun, Ltd.) 2. Sufjan Stevens, Illinois (Asthmatic Kitty) 3. New Pornographers, Twin Cinema (Matador) 4. Fruit Bats, Spelled in Bones (Sub Pop) 5. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (self-released) 6. Holopaw, Quit +/Or Fight…
Bands: Chicago/Earth, Wind & Fire Date: Saturday, August 27 Venue: Cricket Pavilion Ticket Price: $20-$65 Selling Point: These horn toads are survivors. Chicago survived the exodus of Peter Cetera, the fall of jazz rock and many insipid David Foster ballads. EW&F survived guest appearances on Phil Collins albums and that…
Musically, the ’90s boil down to this: In January 1992, Nirvana knocked Michael Jackson out of the No. 1 position on Billboard’s album chart. And for the next eight years, alternative was the word, and the airwaves were unusually diverse. Taken one tune at a time, the just-released Whatever: The…
You just can’t hate Chris Martin. Oh, you can find him overrated and his tunes sappy, but aside from the occasional run-in with a photographer, Martin is that rare gentleman rock star with a modest mouth. He married a glamorous Oscar winner, he named his kid Apple, and yet the…
