Everyone has a different definition of grace. To some, it’s Joe DiMaggio effortlessly roaming the spacious center-field grounds of Yankee Stadium. To others, it might be Mikhail Baryshnikov pirouetting onstage at Carnegie Hall. Basically, you know it when you see it. Few who saw this year’s MTV Video Awards could…
I’m not one of those millennial fear mongers who believes that some artificial calendar calculation is reason to start panicking. Basically, the year 2000 holds no special meaning to me, aside from that it’s an Olympic year and all the guys from Hanson should hit puberty by then. But if…
“Independent.” As with the word “corporate,” “independent” (or “indie” if you’re under 30) is just a word describing a socioeconomic fact, not an idealization or a canonization of the band or record label it’s applied to. As much as self-described “indie rockers” would like it to, the term doesn’t guarantee…
A definition of irony proved to be too enigmatic for Lelaina Pierce (Winona Ryder) in the alterna-classic movie Reality Bites. She tells her would-be employer that she “knows irony when she sees it,” but such an answer denies her any chance of being hired for a position in the newsroom…
Their psychedelic melodies glossed over self-indulgent lyrics might make you think of the Velvet Underground. Their cutesy band-name pun on the king of pop art suggests a group of Brit-fop art-school dropouts. But the Dandy Warhols, an elegantly wasted foursome from Portland, Oregon, transcend the novelty aspect of their name,…
Paul Simon Songs From the Capeman (Warner Bros. Records) Forget Happy Days. Rock ‘n’ roll and doo-wop pounded through the commercial and racial barriers of the ’50s because turmoil churned beneath America’s placid Leave It to Beaver surface. Racism, drugs, unemployment and juvenile gangs plagued the life of urban teens…
Near the back of Pita Jungle, there’s a modest wall of fame. Here you can find a photo montage of local celebs and favorite customers of the trendy Tempe eatery. Prominently displayed right now among the festive Polaroids is a publicity shot of The Pistoleros. Trunk Federation used to be…
“Chupa” means “suck” in Spanish, and the motto on the fliers for Phoenix’s defunct but legendary underground dance spot of the same name used to read: “A club never sucked so good.” From the fall of 1994 to the spring of ’96, Chupa sucked long and hard, every weekend, all…
X, the Replacements, and the Pixies. Innovative ’80s bands that changed the rock side of pop music from the underground up. Disparate characters from various sides of the country–X the proto-West Coast punks, the Replacements the standard in Midwestern garage bands and the Pixies a textbook Eastern college-rock act–who nonetheless…
Al Casey is rocking. But the 61-year-old guitar legend isn’t plugged into an old Fender tube amp. His custom Gibson L-5 guitar is nowhere in sight. No, he’s idly swaying on a swing in front of Papa’s Place, the preeminent–and possibly only–diner in Cordes Junction, a ghost of a trailer-park…
Xanadu. It was the colossal palace that Charles Foster Kane built as a monument to himself in Orson Welles’ masterpiece Citizen Kane. Xanadu was staggering in scale, and absolutely breathtaking in its devotion to lavish excess. But, despite Kane’s persistent efforts, it was never finished and never supplied anything but…
I confronted the want ads this morning. Help wanted. Yeah. The agony. If I ever commit suicide, there’ll be a newspaper open to the want ads somewhere near my dead body. One ad read: Yo-Yo technician, assembly and stringing–no experience necessary. Drug test required. Another: Circle K offers career opportunities…
Tito & Tarantula Tarantism (Cockroach Records) Tito Larriva is the very definition of a rock ‘n’ roll journeyman. His stints with influential but obscure L.A. bands like the Plugz and the Cruzados long ago established his credentials as a roots-rock true believer, a guy long on heart if a bit…
Ivy Apartment Life (Atlantic Records) What exactly is pop music? When Van Morrison was asked about the term in 1984, he said that to him it meant the pre-rock recordings of people like Rosemary Clooney. Pop is such an amorphous term that it can be applied to Barry Manilow one…
When longtime saxophone legend Grady Gaines thinks of Sam Cooke, his aged, raveled voice softens. “Sam Cooke was one of the most beautiful people that I ever worked for,” Gaines says from his home in Houston. “In every way. Being nice, being there for you. He was just a wonderful…
Mary Timony sounds confused. The singer/guitarist for the Boston trio Helium knows she’s supposed to be calling someone, but she can’t quite recall the name. “Umm, is Shawn there?” she asks in her soft, reedy voice, revealing an absolute lack of confidence. Before she can be told that no one…
Thirty years ago, no male in the Western world could have been blamed for wanting to be like Mick. Living the life of Jagger at that time meant you had fame, wealth, looks, great drugs and glamour. It meant you were the toast of swingin’ Carnaby Street and you had…
So-called “ethnic” bands face a perpetual dilemma. If you unite with other bands and organize a movement, you’re likely to be marginalized, seen as a hyphenated artist. If you downplay your ethnicity and try to win acceptance on strictly musical terms, you’re likely to be ignored altogether by wary radio…
Don’t utter his name in vain. The Artist–or whatever he chooses to call himself–is once again part of a revolution. The Minneapolitan maestro has moved into a brave new world, and he sends a message: For fans, The Artist still wants to party until 1999 with his new concert tour…
It’s an unusual story. A reputable hard-core label signs a pop band recommended by another band. The pop band tours, releases a shittily produced LP and becomes the darling of the American indie scene. So the band goes to a better studio with a better producer. The label releases the…
The Beach Boys The Pet Sounds Sessions (Capitol Records) A few weeks ago, VH1 aired a documentary on the making of some Fleetwood Mac record–it was either Tusk or Rumours; it hardly matters which. Lindsey Buckingham sat behind the console, fiddling with knobs and dials until he managed to separate…
Portishead Portishead (Go! Beat/London Records) Portishead’s 1994 single “Sour Times” was one of those rare tracks so arresting and so original that it makes other musicians slam on the brakes and rethink what they’re doing. While nothing else on Portishead’s debut album Dummy scaled those steep heights, the album sustained…
