Music

Playing the Angel’s first cut is called “A Pain That I’m Used To.” Its second is called “Suffer Well.” And the disc’s back cover bears the epigraph, “Pain and suffering in various tempos.” We get the idea. Yes, pain and suffering are spelled out — if never actually conveyed –…

You might recognize Lisa Shaw’s voice as the Lexus of deep-house divas, a staple collaborator for the artists of Naked Music, a label that specializes in tripped-out soul music, downtempo grooves with a Millie Jackson flavor. Shaw is like the Stephanie Mills for a generation of Portishead fans, where the…

Is this CD the first rap infomercial? Does it take musical product placement to a new extreme? And if so, is that bad? The answer to each of these questions leans toward “yes.” Nevertheless, this joint effort by Danger Mouse and MF Doom, two of hip-hop’s quirkiest experimentalists, is also…

The cover of I’m Sooo Screwed features a crude cartoon of a man begging for change on a street corner with a sign that reads, “I Wrap 4or Booz.” Surrounding said gristled man are cheap, unoriginal sight gags such as a condom trying to pick up a whore, a stale…

The Trampolines’ no-frills brand of acoustic rock is as indistinct as it is predictable: The songs swell and crescendo on cue, the lyrics follow an earnest singer-songwriter template and the guitar lines are melodic but routine. So it’s easy to beat up the act’s self-titled debut — but like a…

John Coltrane, One Down, One Up: Live at the Half Note (Impulse), Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane, At Carnegie Hall (Blue Note). It’s semi-embarrassing that two of this year’s best jazz discs feature a man who’s been dead for 38 years. Then again, the artistic fearlessness that the late…

The retro-thrash movement continues apace. Bay Area pioneers Exodus released Tempo of the Damned last year, and although that album didn’t suck outright, neither was it the triumph required to measure up to the band’s legendary pedigree. In contrast, Shovel Headed Kill Machine, the act’s latest and perhaps best effort…

It’s pretty routine for aging rockers to name-check hip young bands as influences. And though the thought of John Cale air-guitaring to Bloc Party is kind of gross, his newfound interest in everything from dance-punk to hip-hop carries some weight. For forty years, ever since he forsook classical music in…

In the world of instrumental rock, Saxon Shore has little in common with the onanistic, sonically soulless noodling of Eric Johnson or the spaced-out, loosely constructed noise rock of Mogwai. For its latest album, the ensemble teamed with producer Dave Fridmann to produce ten tightly structured, richly layered instrumentals –…

Chicago’s Carl Mitchell, aka Twista, isn’t a musical or lyrical innovator, but he’s got the fastest tongue in hip-hop, and his quick spitting — and the collaborators he’s attracted as a result — help explain why his career’s on the upswing after nearly a decade in the game. His verbal…

Strange wordplay has long been a requisite for bands that want to get the attention of eccentric Bay Area label Anticon. Hell, even the label name has two variations (Anti-con or Ant-Icon, whichever way you see it). So it’s fitting that Why? calls Anticon home, despite the fact that it’s…

Okkervil River makes happy music for sad people. The act’s lo-fi indie rock is alternately cheerless and hilarious, fragile and burly, beautiful and dissonant. With largely acoustic instrumentation, touches of Americana and a notebook full of reflections on love, loss and longing, primary Okkervil auteur Will Sheff crafts the kind…

Broken Social Scene sounds like driving down an open highway on a sunny day in a car packed with people all chattering over each other. What a ride — if you’re in the mood for sonic and scenic overload. Building on the critical buzz from 2002’s You Forgot It in…

It looks like all those idle assembly lines in Detroit have been put to a new use: pumping out scruffy garage bands soaked in high-octane R&B. But unlike some of its tougher, woman-fronted neighbors such as the Paybacks and the Detroit Cobras, the Hard Lessons crams pure pop into its…

There are easier ways to make a hip-hop living than the one chosen by Chief Xcel and Gift of Gab, the duo behind Blackalicious. These longtime partners, who’ve been together since the early ’90s, have plenty of charisma, and if they employed obvious samples and slung the usual crime rhymes,…

The Motet, an eclectic, Boulder-based, genre-twisting act, is known for bringing down the house this time of year with its drum-driven brand of blender groove. While past Halloweens have seen the band delving into authentic Afro-beat, flights of fusion-esque fancy and even last year’s Prince tribute, the group’s devoted fans…

Although technically a Canadian who now resides in Berlin, Richie Hawtin helped put Detroit techno on the map in the ’90s. As Plastikman, he found massive success in America’s underground rave scene and throughout Europe’s thriving dance scene. Always on the cutting edge technically and sonically, Hawtin is regarded as…

I like it,” says Alan Andrews, “because it’s not about punching.” No, it’s about dancing. And Andrews, singer/guitarist with the Photo Atlas, and his bandmates — guitarist Bill Threlkeld, bassist Mark Hawkins and drummer Devon Shirley — are at the vanguard of the Mile High City’s recent dance renaissance. They’ve…

Talk is cheap. Well, not that cheap, according to Brice Hancock, guitarist for Rubber Planet. He just bought DenverMessageBoard.com — lock, stock and flaming posters. And while Hancock won’t divulge the actual purchase price, he does say that in order to close the deal, he had to take out a…

In his videos and appearances on VH1’s seemingly endless parade of pop-culture nostalgia shows, singer-songwriter Jason Mraz comes across as bubbly and effervescent. Today, however, he’s apparently lost his fizz. Granted, he’s got his reasons. His visit to scenic Rochester, New York, has been interrupted by an interview, and because…

Cameron Crowe recalls how, in 1982, he had to fight with Universal Studios execs over the soundtrack to a little movie he had written called Fast Times at Ridgemont High. The studio wanted a conventional score — strings and things, very old-fashioned. Crowe demanded something the SoCal kids in the…