The more things change, the more they stay the same: Just when you thought local hip-hop/rock/reggae outfit Cousins of the Wize was in the ‘Nix’s history books, here they are celebrating their eighth anniversary, a major milestone for any local outfit. With DJ Needles holding down the turntables, Jah Sonora…
“Welcome back to The Insider, I’m Pat O’Brien! Thanks to The O.C. , indie rock is hotter than ever! And nowhere is it more sizzling than in, get this, Nebraska, where upstart Saddle Creek Records is home to several acts on the verge of stardom. One of them is a…
The buzz from this year’s Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Southern California was about the second coming — no, wait, make that the third coming — of Bauhaus, which stole much of the spotlight. Bauhaus — Peter Murphy, Daniel Ash, Kevin Haskins, and David J. — was first around…
The recent success of Mae is proof positive that nice guys don’t have to finish last. In fact, they can get the girl and manage to open for Weezer. Not bad for a quintet of good ol’ boys from Norfolk, Virginia, who are currently preaching the gospel of spiritual piano…
You don’t exactly picture Joan Jett writing free-verse poetry in black horn-rimmed glasses. So emo-ish album title aside, it’s no surprise that The Vacancies play just the kind of unpretentious rawk you’d expect Jett to champion with her label Blackheart. A Beat Missing or a Silence Added, the Cleveland quartet’s…
Argue if you will about screamo’s artistic merit — if you were 16, growing up in an environment of Incubus and Limp Bizkit, you’d have a lot of outrage, too. Victory Records has emerged as the SST of this genre, which is to say that the Chicago indie’s got the…
On April 13, 2003, two-time New Times Music Showcase “Best Pop Band” winner Haggis found itself nominated in the “Most Entertaining Live Show” category, which necessitated a big, dramatic finish — like breaking up onstage! Singer/guitarist Brian Talenti recalls, “It was the end of the set, something wasn’t sounding right,…
New Wave was a joke two years ago, and probably will be in two more, but in the meantime, bands like The Killers and The Bravery are milking it for every penny they can. The Epoxies, on the other hand, dish out something that feels new . . . er…
Great Xenu’s ghost! Didja know Beck Hansen’s a Scientologist? That’s correct, alt-rock’s favorite shabby-chic troubadour is a Dianetics-following, E-meter-reading Hubbardite — not that it factors into his music or anything. Nope, despite shout-outs to folks like Jenna Elfman or brother-in-law Giovanni Ribisi in the liner notes of Guero, his latest…
Anyone who’s been following Atmosphere — the Minneapolis indie hip-hop act comprising MC Slug and DJ Ant — over the past 10 years likely isn’t too surprised by the sarcastic title of the duo’s fifth full-length, You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having. In the conflict of man versus…
Power chords, catchy riffs and introspective lyrics make the six tracks on Mourning Maxwell’s latest effort ready for modern-rock radio. Maybe that’s why the Tempe rock band’s tag line on MySpace.com reads, “Music even your Grandma likes.” While your grandma might not be familiar with these guys, she’ll surely approve…
Bobby Bare’s always recorded a blend of country, folk, pop and singer-songwriter material that kept fans guessing. The Moon Was Blue is no exception, a combination of country and pop classics that give Bare a chance to show off his weary, soulful vocals to great advantage. “Everybody’s Talkin'” combines a…
Bury Your Dead is one of those New England hardcore bands that always puts on an energetic live show and gets the crowd to dance up a storm. So Victory Records decided the best thing to do was offer up a live CD: Alive, a CD/DVD combo of 12 brutal…
So let’s get the obvious out of the way first: Yes, Jahcoozi’s singer is from Sri Lanka, the group does play a glitched-up brand of electro, and (perhaps as a concession) all of its label-sanctioned press materials mention M.I.A. by name. But the similarities between the two artists are, as…
Jazz lizards are righteously euphoric these days on the news that Blue Note Records just released a previously unknown 1957 Carnegie Hall recording that pairs saxophone legend John Coltrane with his onetime mentor and fellow genius Thelonious Monk. Such rarities seem to surface about once every decade, so it’s startling…
Boy, oh boy. Just in time for Halloween, one of the spookiest-lookin’ characters of the past few decades is coming to town to pick up one of Phoenix’s infamously cheap eight-balls of blow. Oh, and Boy George will be DJing, too, for the kickoff of the 5th Annual Ghost Ball…
If his rhymes were weapons, he’d be a 30mm chaingun, eviscerating the landscape with enough unrelenting wordplay to make the New York Times’ crossword seem childishly quaint. Francis got his start slapping his salami on the counter (metaphorically), working the battle rhyme circuit, and beating down other MCs throughout his…
Merle Haggard can’t sleep well at night knowing what’s become of his beloved country music. Every time Kenny Chesney sashays across a stage, ol’ “Hag” has to want to dig out a revolver and make it all go away. Can you blame him, though? This is the guy who finished…
He’s lean, he’s mean, he’s a — well, he’s got a nice hat. But Dwight Yoakam is more than the sum of his style and practiced scowl. He’s a closet beatnik and he eats tofu and will discuss goofy-ass shit forever, once you get him revved. His new album, Blame…
Dear God, Blag Dahlia here, from scum-punkers The Dwarves. We’ve been around 20 years and I’m getting a little older now, so there’s a few things I think I need to get square with you. I’m sorry for putting blood-splattered naked women and a midget holding a dead rabbit on…
1. Broken Social Scene, Broken Social Scene (Arts & Crafts) 2. Silver Jews, Tanglewood Numbers (Drag City) 3. Explosions in the Sky, How Strange, Innocence (Temporary Residence) 4. Boards of Canada, The Campfire Headphase (Warp) 5. Animal Collective, Feels (Fat Cat) 6. Ryan Adams & the Cardinals, Jacksonville City Nights…
Now that Lady Sovereign and Dizzee Rascal have conditioned enough ears to accept the kind of flow that rhymes “garage” with “carriage,” German electro-queen Quio isn’t going to seem like such an anomaly. Wisely ditching the “MC Looney Tunes” moniker she used in her early days as a sideshow in…
