The kings of desert rock, Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri of Queens of the Stone Age, return with a third album that whips up a sandstorm of epic rock proportions. These dudes fuel themselves on alcohol and drugs, construct mighty psychedelic soundscapes, write some bitchin’ guitar riffs and handsome harmonies…
Maybe the Dixie Chicks dared to undertake this acoustic, bluegrass-flavored album in order to kill the dumb-blonde image they’ve always teasingly courted and never seriously deserved. Or maybe the astounding success of the tradition-soaked O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack has finally been acknowledged in Nashville’s corporate halls. Or maybe,…
If Beenie Man weren’t still smashing it on the ragga circuit, as he has been for nearly a decade, his crossover success in U.S. markets might taint his street cred. But instead, his lyrical skills and charisma just translate, making him a pioneer in bridging the long-puzzling disconnect between Jamaican…
Dwight Yoakam is the unsung champion of today’s alt-country movement. His 1986 debut, Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc., made both country music and cowboy hats cool for rockers and punks alike. Listeners craving substance and soul found both in Yoakam’s timeless, gritty sound. Through him, many discovered the songwriter’s own influences,…
Pharrell Williams wasn’t supposed to be at the MTV Video Music Awards on August 29. According to his busy itinerary, Williams and the other members of the rock band N*E*R*D, the super-successful producer’s ambitious little side project, were supposed to be enjoying a day off between their Holmdel, New Jersey,…
Those looking for a mix CD that represents everything that’s right with dance music today need look no further. Trevor Jackson, the man behind last year’s popular Playgroup LP, has compiled and mixed a collection of groovers that spans the past two decades. Jam-packed with ’80s production, DJ Kicks best…
After Def Jux Records released Cannibal Ox’s The Cold Vein last year, hip-hop heads dying for a new direction in the art form began clamoring for more stuff that mixes ambient noise with East Coast rhymin’. RJD2 has stepped in nicely, but all hail the real kings of warm, noise-drenched,…
Did you ever hear the one about how the young George Gershwin, hoping to break into show business, was sent packing by Sholom Secunda, an established songwriter in the then-vibrant Yiddish theater? Secunda slammed the teenage Gershwin for being “too American” and said he’d never make it with the Catskills…
It’s been 25 years since Augustus Pablo released what most reggae lovers consider his masterpiece, East of the River Nile. Now the good folks at Shanachie are using the anniversary as a reason to reissue the album — with much-improved sound and a half-dozen killer bonus tracks. Still, one has…
Pink wants everyone to know that she isn’t Britney Spears. She’ll yell it from the rooftops. She’ll tattoo it on her washboard midriff. She’ll hold a high school principal hostage just so she can scream it over the intercom during morning announcements. She’ll even sing it. Her latest album, M!ssundaztood,…
There are 26 bands, 114 dudes and one woman performing at this year’s Ozzfest, the annual headbangers’ bacchanalia where the queasy mix of Coors and Coppertone often feels like one prolonged Maalox moment. Amid all the tanning lotion and testosterone, Otep is the lone woman. “It’s like being a diaper…
When Morphine front man Mark Sandman died from a heart attack onstage in 1999, he left behind friends, loved ones and an exceptional body of musical work. He also left behind a curious batch of crudely rendered cartoons drawn on everything from cocktail napkins and bowling score sheets to fancy…
It’s like a wacked-out comedy sketch from an All That episode. The four hot young hunks of R&B boy band sensation B2K are hanging out backstage after their set in London, clowning around in their matching electric-blue tracksuits, exchanging high-fives. Onstage, headliner and special guest Destiny’s Child is finishing up…
He may be a bald, vegan, gospel-loving peacenik, but ask him the wrong question, and Moby turns into one touchy little dude. Witness this exchange: New Times: So, new record, new songs, new live show. What can we expect this time out? Moby: Well, when I make the records, it’s…
If El Tri’s Alex Lora gets his way, after the nuclear holocaust, his band will be kicking out the jams for the cockroaches and Keith Richards and continuing to be a voice for the Mexican people. It’s hardly an inconceivable proposition, given Lora’s unnatural career longevity, which can be attributed…
Nearly four years after they joined forces in the tiny mountain community of Nederland, Colorado, life is mighty good for the members of Yonder Mountain String Band. But bassist Ben Kaufmann and his mates can’t take all the credit for their rapid rise in the jam-band universe. “There’s always been…
Giving heads up to a musical hero in a band name is asking for trouble, like a guitarist calling his band Jimi Hendrix’s Pick Guard. But after Johnny Cash went against his own attorney’s advice and gave the Bastards his blessing — and his legitimate heir John Carter Cash produced…
If The Willies is any indication, Bill Frisell could probably make “Achy Breaky Heart” sound like a walk in the clouds. Here, the rangy jazz guitarist, banjo player (and Bad Liver) Danny Barnes, and bassist Keith Lowe revisit the terrain Frisell explored on 1995’s Nashville, spinning a handful of folk…
It was bound to happen. One by one, all of your hipster friends started breeding like rabbits. Suddenly they traded in their Dickies and Doc Martens for onesies and booties, and showed up at parties with sippy cups instead of six-packs. Then, as their little replications began to walk and…
To most casual fans, the name Jazzy Jeff conjures up images of Fresh Prince’s bubblegum raps — and it’s true, Jeff Townes was the man behind the turntables and the beats on most of Fresh Prince’s early work (save the classic “Summertime,” produced by Hula and Finger). But Jazzy Jeff…
Golden is the most modest indie supergroup imaginable. The band sports an impressive underground pedigree. Alex Minoff, who splits singing and guitar-playing duties with Ian Eagleson, has logged time in Six Finger Satellite and the Make Up; drummer Jon Theodore has worked with Royal Trux, Palace and Mars Volta; and…
“‘The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down’? Quite a loony selection for a bunch of drunken reprobates!” Christopher Lloyd uttered those lines to said bunch of drunken reprobates as he ripped the gramophone needle off a 78 in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He was referring to that merry melody that launched a thousand…
