Just a few Fridays ago, in the broad lobby of U.S. Airways Center, I, along with another hundred or so other people, got to witness the latest fusion of turntablism and classical instrumentation envisioned by DJ Radar and his longtime composer and collaborator, Raul Yañez. This time, unlike the Concerto…
If, as he suggests with the title of his new CD And Now That I’m in Your Shadow, Damien Jurado stands behind his whisper-voiced folk brethren like Sufjan Stevens and Iron & Wine’s Sam Beam, he undoubtedly moves front and center when it comes to delivering the somber smackdown. Jurado’s…
In the opening track of What the Toll Tells, Adam Stephens of San Francisco’s Two Gallants plays the role of a murderer facing the gallows, yowling like a tortured young Black Francis over country-punk guitars while keeping counsel with the dead. He’s shot his wife and dumped her body in…
Alfred Weisberg-Roberts, a.k.a. Daedelus, looks like a man from another time. He adheres to a style he calls “Victorian dandyism,” and sometimes he wears clothes that make him look like an 19th-century British gentleman. He grows his sideburns thick and long to accentuate his appearance. He calls himself a romantic…
If you’re jonesing for some new local tuneage that isn’t hardcore metal, pouty skinny-boy rock, or indie folk, look no further than Chief Beef. Chief Beef — singer/guitarist John Lipfert, bassist Christine Lipfert (yes, they’re husband and wife) and drummer Stewart Alaniz — just might be one of P-town’s best-kept…
For a band named after a slang term for a Tommy Chong-sized spliff, Fat Rhabit doesn’t sound much like typical stoner rock. In fact, it doesn’t sound like typical anything. On its six-song, self-titled EP, which was recorded in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the band plays straight-ahead rock laced with every…
Life’s gotta be hard if you’re Jeremy Enigk. No matter what he does, the singer/songwriter’s new music will always be compared to his emo-core pioneering of ’90s Sub-Pop powerhouse act Sunny Day Real Estate, and The Fire Theft, which Enigk fronted shortly after SDRE’s demise. On top of that, World…
The band wears ghoulish masks and uniforms, has an eight-man lineup, and plays a metal mashup that incorporates elements of hip-hop, industrial, and hardcore. Sounds a lot like Slipknot. But people who write Mushroomhead off as a Slipknot rip-off probably haven’t heard the one about the time Mushroomhead (formed in…
The members of New York-based band Scissor Sisters admit they were feeling the pressures of a “sophomore slump” when they headed into the studio to begin recording Ta-Dah, the follow-up to the Sisters’ critically acclaimed 2004 self-titled album. One of the things that made that first record so outstanding was…
Like an indie-rock Bob Dylan, Decemberists front man Colin Meloy prefers a mythologized past to an uncertain here and now. While The Crane Wife touches on political and romantic issues, the war songs are set during the Civil War and the broken-down relationships spring from fables. On earlier records, Meloy’s…
The goofy band name may suggest they have mo’ ‘fro than any hippie band since Sly dissolved the Family Stone. But even if that were the case, it wouldn’t be what ultimately separates the guys in Mofro from their jam-rock brethren. No, where these two really stand out from the…
The Portland, Oregon-based duo of Pete Swanson and Gabriel Mindel Saloman effectively straddle the worlds of both freeform noise and more mainstream songwriting. As the Yellow Swans, they collaborate — with experimental noise artist John Wiese, among many others — tour, and operate their Jyrk label within the parameters of…
Dashboard Confessional frontman Chris Carabba has an understandable reputation as the father of contemporary emo, which he most likely earned by penning weepy, whiny songs about how much girls have messed him up. Listening to his albums is generally like flipping through the diary of a depressed 14-year-old boy, and…
Remember Quentin Tarantino’s sensational revenge flick Kill Bill Vol. 1, particularly when the Texas Rangers happened upon the gory, blood-splattered aftermath of a slaughtered wedding party? That’s probably what you’ll see near the end of Bloodfest 2: A Wedding Massacre on Friday, October 13. This red-drenched rave will feature a…
Northern California duo Panacea makes the kind of dreamy, mystical hip-hop that mid-’90s Bush Babees fans would find familiar. They make songs like “Ecosphere,” where producer K-Murdock makes soulful and yearning tracks that rapper Raw Poetic chops up with his edgy yet insightful vocals. “Stars, I count them, one two…
Thursday 12AZ 88: Mr. P-Body (synth pop, electro) Bunkhouse Lounge: DJ Doom (dance) Cash Inn: DJ Kat (country) Club Central: DJs Ernie G. (hip-hop, R&B) & Luis (salsa, merengue) The Door: DJ J Nasty (hip-hop, Motown, Top 40) Grilled Expedition: DJs Playboy, & JeX (Top 40) Harley’s 2303: DJ Juan…
“Wicked!” Richard Winn exclaims as he stands on Seattle Center’s Broad Street Lawn during Bumbershoot, expressing appreciation for the French band Nouvelle Vague. “That’s weird — I got goose bumps on that one.” He pulls up the sleeve of his blue sweat jacket to prove it. The bubbly 42-year-old British…
Woe betide the child who springs singing from the loins of a rock star. Sure, it might be nice to have Drew Barrymore and R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe for godparents, like Frances Bean Cobain. Or to have received your first guitar from KISS’ Gene Simmons, like Cher and Gregg Allman’s son…
Should a plumber receive a royalty check every time a toilet he’s installed is flushed? It’s an interesting question, posed by Led Zeppelin biographer Alan Clayson as he mounts a defense of what others have characterized as outright theft in the Led Zeppelin: The Origin of the Species DVD (released…
“This ain’t no history lesson,” snarls the opening line to the liner notes of Rockin’ Bones: 1950s Punk & Rockabilly (Rhino/Wea), an excellent four-CD boxed set. “It’s about attitude! This is where punk rock began!” To me, the first and last of those bold declarations are exactly wrong. Rockin’ Bones…
Fran Scianna, best known for playing in local rock band The Sciannas with his brother Dan, decided he wanted to make a “deeper, more psychedelic sound” and left to form his own band, Studying Stones, which takes its name from the Ani DiFranco song about digging through one’s family roots…
Never base your music on an identity crisis — just ask Chris Gaines. Don’t remember Gaines? In one of the greatest missteps in recent music history, Garth Brooks attempted to transfigure himself from paunchy Fortune 500 cowboy to pouty goth-rock singer Chris Gaines, proving that Brooks belongs in Nashville, not…
