Mellowing inevitably occurs with age, and Scotland’s onetime indie-rock answer Idlewild seems like it’s going prematurely gray. The quintet showed promise on its two previous albums, as lead singer Roddy Womble’s literature-informed lyrics collided with the band’s post-punk assault. Time, or mainstream ambition, however, has dulled Idlewild’s punk-rock blade. The…
On his sophomore turn, Fabolous sounds as if he’s sleepwalking through his Street Dreams. With a languid, stoned flow reminiscent of a less God-fearing Mase, Fabolous’ rhymes are hypnotic and enveloping at their best. But the 23-year-old Brooklyn MC and would-be Tupac incarnate seldom lives up to his potential here,…
Casual listeners, most of whom don’t normally delve deeply into the Delta blues, are almost always convinced, like so many blues “scholars,” that Robert Johnson was the be-all and end-all when it came to that mysterious Mississippi sound that crept up during the first half of the 20th century. But…
The uninitiated need only follow this recipe for a Molotov cocktail: Make a blend of Cypress Hill grooves, Rage consciousness, Chili Pepper outrageousness and Clash sensibility and pour into a petrol-filled Mexican Coke bottle, then use your cool uncle’s sweat-stained CBGB tee shirt for a fuse and voilà! The Mexico…
In the wake of Rolling Stone’s dramatic cover story about a former Nirvana cover band, Kurt Cobain becomes a modern-day media footnote in the evolution of a batch of fab Australian rockers. Admittedly, the Vines have procured a branch on the one-hit-wonder family tree with “Get Free,” but their elevation…
Bob Hoag loves to rip on Nickelback. “They suck!” shouts Hoag, high-profile Valley producer, musician and Technicolor oddball. He whips off his horn-rimmed glasses, flares his nostrils and launches a dead-on impression of Chad Kroeger, the grunge band’s dawn-of-man- looking lead singer. “And this is not for real, you’re wasting…
So when’s that new Gang Starr album gonna drop? In May, now that you mention it. Hip-hop fans have been waiting impatiently since 1998’s gold-selling near-classic Moment of Truth and the 1999 retrospective Full Clip (one of only a few truly essential hip-hop compilations) for rapper Guru and the progressive…
Follow heavy metal’s primary syllogism: Do you like to rock? Yeah! Do you want to rock? Hell yeah! Then let’s rock! You can laugh if you want, but concepts don’t come much more Zen than that. Rock ‘n’ roll, even in its most unbearable, screaming caveman form, doesn’t die, and…
It’s nearly impossible to believe now, but there was a time when the music this man made felt urgent, necessary, even. As front man of British stargazers the Verve, singer and cheekbone-booster Richard Ashcroft piloted the group to musical I-won’t-say-riches that made more ephemeral baubles by Blur and Suede seem…
Funny thing about being a mentor: The young genius you help today may be nipping at your heels tomorrow. No need to tell that to storied R&B producer Teddy Riley. Riley, in his umpteenth entry into the black-music market, has re-formed his doo-wop group Blackstreet, choosing to release its latest…
Soundtracks are usually little more than product packaging for the studio or the label, an effort to attach extra marketing to what might only be a successful motion picture. This one’s different. As a movie, The Slaughter Rule made a name for itself in 2002 at festivals, and last month…
Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger have chosen to relight the Doors’ fire with a “reunion” tour, with the Cult’s Ian Astbury stepping forward in Jim Morrison’s spot. But the two might have known problems would crop up, since, well, people are strange. Already, drummer John Densmore, who declined the tour,…
Iron and Wine’s Samuel Beam may be able to take advantage of beaches in his hometown of Miami, but his lo-fi, home-recorded debut disc on Sub Pop, The Creek Drank the Cradle, has more in common with pasty-skinned shut-ins like Lou Barlow, Will Oldham and Nick Drake. A screenwriting and…
Displaying more Southern hospitality than in his other gig with south-of-the-border escapists Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers, former Dead Hot Workshop and Ghetto Cowgirl guitarist Steve Larson has plenty of answers for those of you pondering “what’s so good about being a good ol’ boy?” Striking a vocal resemblance to…
Phoenix trip-hop gurus Lulu in Hollywood lay down a tempting vibe when they’re not subconsciously attempting to turn their music into math equations on Bedlams, their second album. Dark lyrics grace jazz veteran Syl’s loungey saxophone lines and Michael Wheeler’s space-age hip-hop keys, which are sifted through the break beat…
Singer Jamie Monistat VII takes his name from a vaginal cream. The drummer goes by the equally crass moniker Hugh Jass. The band’s name, of course, is a take on the Waco cult tragedy of a decade ago, and its album art takes a not-so-subtle dig at former Attorney General…
There’s an old barroom joke. It goes something like this: “He was the greatest bluesman that no one ever heard of.” Bob Corritore may just know that guy. Heck, with Corritore’s uncanny knowledge of traditional blues, he probably knows the musician’s second cousin, too. He can tell you all about…
“Cute little band. We do okay. We play Sundays. People clap. Everybody goes home. Nobody gets hurt. But it’s really a good opportunity for me to learn the music.” That’s Bruce Connole’s modest take on Busted Hearts, the bluegrass band he formed with Glass Heroes/Beat Angels guitarist Keith Jackson that’s…
Estéban has taken the classical guitar further than anyone ought to be able to nowadays. Even he admits that. “Not many people listen to classical music, let’s face it,” says the Valley lounge icon from his business office in Long Island, New York. “But I’ve always loved jazz, and I’m…
Art Alexakis isn’t a happy guy. He’s the poet laureate of falling apart, and his Everclear’s latest album, Slow Motion Daydream, is no exception. But while the bandleader’s hymns to broken souls (“Science Fiction”), disintegrating situations (“New Blue Champion”) and a world gone wrong (“New York Times”) tread a narrow…
Self-confidence rules on indie-folk tsunami Ani DiFranco’s latest release, the aptly titled Evolve, as she ends her journey with a five-piece band and speeds back toward her roots as a solo singer-songwriter. Now 14 years into her career, Ani’s finally got the art of intellectual musing with her heart on…
Last week marked the return of Mardi Gras to New Orleans, as well as the crawfish, beads and liquor being poured in bar after bar along Bourbon Street. It also meant a musical palette of the region’s wonderful blend of zydeco, soul, funk and blues, and five successive nights of…
