What separates truly gifted entertainers from (insert yawn) merely competent ones? It’s the ability to wrench liabilities into assets, turn catastrophes into calling cards. It’s the difference between merely recognizing chance and running chance down a dark street, then slapping it upside the head until chance screams for mercy. Chance…
Jim Andreas pauses for a moment. The Trunk Federation singer/guitarist knows that his band only has a couple of minutes left before curfew considerations force it to wrap up its set. He reminds the packed crowd that tonight’s show is being taped for a live CD, and half-jokingly suggests that…
Ben Folds Five Naked Baby Photos (Caroline Records) In these days of instant nostalgia, we often want our memories before we’ve even compiled the necessary experiences. Of course, this also extends to music. These days, bands will put together career-spanning retrospectives even before they’ve bothered to muster a career. At…
Moonlight. Mark Olson is staring at the moon, now hovering low in the early evening sky above the desert floor of Joshua Tree, California. He’s staring, unshaven and in rumpled khakis, not to howl or scratch or bay or even to contemplate, but to find Mars and Saturn, brightly flanking…
I never thought I’d cut a record by myself. But I’ve got something to say, I wanna say it for Cher and I hope I say it for a lot of you. –“Laugh at Me” by Sonny Bono, 1965 Because Sonny Bono played such a convincing stooge, folks always credit…
Late last year, the American music press declared 1997 to be the Year of the Woman. Rolling Stone founder/editor Jann Wenner stated in RS’ “Women in Rock” issue, “It became obvious to us that the major music story of 1997 was the rise of women artists,” while Spin’s “Girl Issue”…
Rakim The 18th Letter/The Book of Life (Universal Records) In 1967, when American boxing commissions stripped Muhammad Ali of his license to fight, he was an unpopular champion widely denounced for his religious beliefs, unwillingness to serve in the military and tendency to toy with inferior contenders. By 1970, when…
On the day before holy International Western Commerce Day (Xmas), I awoke with undigested La Tolteca burrito bits glued to my face and hair whilst my head was aswim in Canadian whiskey murk courtesy of Marty, my jolly/drunken new neighbor from Canada. The previous day (December 23) was to have…
When Wyclef Jean starts talking about his music, a funny thing happens. Every time the multitalented hip-hop icon waxes enthusiastic about his various upcoming recording projects, he keeps using the word “we.” As he weaves from one topic to another, it becomes a bit difficult to determine just who he’s…
Steve Naughton was getting a bit worried. The president and self-described “show doctor” for Medical Presents had spent four years building an Arizona following for the band Hepcat, bringing the band to the Valley when few people knew who it was. Last month, as Naughton worked on booking another local…
Maybe you heard. Most likely you didn’t. Jon Norwood, the original drummer for local glam-poppers the Beat Angels, died last month. It was cancer. He was 43. In life, Norwood, whose quick smile and easy manner gave him an enigmatic, pixielike quality, was, pound for pound, the best rock ‘n’…
Many people would object to being called a journeyman. The very word often carries the whiff of mediocrity, of solid but unspectacular achievement, of competence without inspiration. But to a blues connoisseur, journeyman means something very different. It implies a respect for tradition, a willingness to learn from the masters,…
Aaah, the new year, when music critics’ hearts turn to thoughts of Top 10 lists and year-end recaps–a vacation unto itself. The last year gave indie rock a face-lift, ringing in new heroes and ditching some of the bad guys. From California to the Pacific Northwest to the Midwest and…
Some people can maintain their composure in a burning skyscraper. But the average record-company exec, faced with a few months of flagging album sales, is liable to run naked through the nearest strip mall, brandishing an AK47 and screaming threats in some twisted form of pig Latin. So, in 1997,…
At the heady peak of his career, Frank Sinatra’s vocal mastery was so absolute that his pop peers simply called him “The Voice.” In the emo-punk wing of the local music scene, there can be no question that Yolanda Bejarano is “The Voice.” As leader of the squalling, powerhouse quartet…
Although Pie Gomez is too humble to admit it, his band was initially conceived–much in the tradition of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein–as the local MC’s personal creation. Six months ago, this local lyrical mad scientist awoke from musical hibernation and pieced together seven musicians–each from unlikely and unrelated circumstances–to spawn a…
Prince Paul psychoanalysis (what is it?) (Tommy Boy Records) “As long as I can remember, people have hated me.” With that repetitive sample, Prince Paul sets the tone for his first solo album, psychoanalysis (what is it?). Beginning with that first track, “why must you hate me,” the listener is…
Why do they still bill James Brown as “The Hardest-Working Man in Show Business”? He’s barely broken into a cold sweat since dodging the police in the ’80s. Once, you could’ve given Dick Clark that title, but clearly someone behind the scenes must’ve forced him at gun point to give…
No matter how fast Phoenix grows, there are times when living here can feel like being stuck in a sequence from Footloose. We all remember that hugely successful cinematic monstrosity, in which a conservative small town led by preacher John Lithgow bans dancing, creating a redneck teen population of ticking,…
Phonoroyale Radio Flavored In pop music, context is everything. Five years ago, when guitarist Jack Randall and singer Mary Katherine Spencer decided they wanted to form a vintage jazz combo, the idea seemed like pure novelty. In 1997, musical tastes have caught up with–or slowed down for–Randall and Spencer, and…
Here’s a hellish scenario. You’re given the choice to sit through the mercifully fictitious It Ain’t Broke: A Musical Tribute to The Fixx, or else rupture your eardrums by jabbing pencils into your head. Tough call? Not really. Consider listening to “Saved by Zero.” Now consider Richard Marx and Kenny…
I was taking out the trash when I watched them swing around in that horrible pickup truck and park in front of the single-wide next to mine. I could recognize that prison tat anywhere. One can’t forget a neck-adorning swastika, especially when stuck on an abomination like him. Nor could…
