Music

Chic beats, A Certain Ratio riffs and David Bowie allure? Few bands in the so-called death-disco explosion of this millennium have straddled such disparate elements with the grace and glamour of Glass Candy and the Shattered Theater. Anchored in a punk ethic that’s more Bikini Kill than Blondie, the Portland…

In Brazil, Bebel Gilberto has been in front of the public’s peepers since her childhood, thanks to the fame of her performer parents, Micha and Joo Gilberto, and she made her recorded debut way back in 1986. In contrast, she was little known here until 2000’s Tanto Tempo, a Latin…

Strike up the ticker-tape parade: After almost a year of being lost in space, Thank God for Astronauts is re-entering the atmosphere. Singer/guitarist Kent Phillips, guitarist Alisdair Rich, bassist Steve Jones and drummer Bryan Feuchtinger were last seen on stage together last summer; overwhelmed by outside stress and obligations –…

Nearly two decades after breaking up, the Smiths have become one of the most beloved acts to come out of the ’80s. Heralded groups like Bright Eyes, the Postal Service and Interpol owe a massive debt to Morrissey and company, who were named the most influential band ever by the…

We threw a bunch of stuff together. And it was really fun.” Even though Butchy Fuego just succeeded in reducing the origins of his band, Pit er Pat, to a two-sentence punchline, it’s an apt simplification. The Chicago-based ensemble of drummer Fuego, keyboardist Fay Davis-Jeffers and bassist Rob Doran came…

In a sense, artists have a duty to be as selfish and arrogant about the way they make their music as they can,” declares Porcupine Tree vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Steven Wilson. “I don’t believe Picasso made his paintings for anybody else, and that’s the way I think a true artist…

“We started out as a rhythm-and-blues/blues cover band,” recalls Todd Park Mohr. “It was basically a hobby. It was fun. We were too realistic to think that we’d end up doing it for the rest of our lives, for sure.” That’s because when Big Head Todd and the Monsters formed…

News flash: Critics who liken System to Yes in Mezmerize reviews are idiots. Not only do such comparisons unfairly raise the hopes of Jon Anderson fans who’ve waited decades to hear fresh lyrics about faeries, but they obscure salient points about the new disc’s less obvious attributes — like, for…

Four Tet’s Everything Ecstatic is the latest entry in the annals of kitchen-sink electronica, an ever-expanding genre that cuts and pastes together bits of ’60s psych, jazz fusion, hip-hop, folk and all points in between. Devoid of normal song structure or the usual sonic reference points, Ecstatic recalls the cluttered…

If you’ve been waiting for Dave Matthews to release a recording capable of justifying his massive popularity, keep waiting. His latest isn’t so much terrible as typical — a minor variation on the college rock he’s been making since his first batch of supporters actually were in college. Progress? None…

For those who’ve longed for the poetic license of Morrissey crammed into the keyboard-tinted riffs of the Cars, leave it to the limeys to satisfy the demand. Maximo Park has already received panting preemptory praise and A Certain Trigger actually bears out much of that premature ejaculation. “Apply Some Pressure”…

For the acutely sensitive among us, self-image is often defined by what one doesn’t want to be. With Making Beds in a Burning House, the new full-length by Troubled Hubble, the Illinois quartet makes it absolutely clear what kind of trendy genres it rejects: rock revival, dance punk, post-hardcore, freak…

On Triple P, Detroit-schooled renaissance men Saadiq and Waajeed, known collectively as the Platinum Pied Pipers, have unleashed a satisfying soul-hop debut that should instantly moisten hipster panties everywhere. On an album chock-full of stunning mellow rhythms and prototypical Detroit-styled arrangements (keys, horns, soul-sister singing), unexpected guest-vocal spots put the…

Not to be confused with the Riverside, California-based satirical punk outfit that shares the same name, Sentimental Hitmen hails from Boulder and specializes in a hard-edged brand of alternative soul. Created by singer/saxophonist Will Baumgartner and guitarist Tyler Burba, the jazzy five-piece shilly-shallies between funk, psychedelia and Latin roots without…

Calling Jeep MacNichol the most musically interesting member of the original Samples lineup is to damn him with faint praise. He’s got an idiosyncratic streak and a taste for sonic adventure that’s felt throughout Mr. Anonymous, a pop-reggae production featuring stellar guests from Jamaica and beyond. Contributors include Barrington Levy,…

With the success of jamfests such as Bonnaroo, roots-music gatherings continue to dot the countryside like mushrooms after a summer rain. Now the Denver area boasts its own Woodstock-inspired revel, in nearby Strasburg. Stir Fried (featuring pedal-steel master Buddy Cage) and the venerable David Nelson Band will headline May Daze…

The saving grace of any good cover band is to not go for the all-too-obvious hit. Credit Motor City’s turbo-sleaze outfit the Detroit Cobras for limiting their self-penned material with the full understanding that they’ll never write songs as soulful or enduring as the ones by Otis Redding, Bobby Womack…

The Washington, D.C., punk scene centered around Dischord Records is notorious for its incestuous family tree. The Medications, one of the newest outfits on the imprint’s roster, fits right in. Guitarist Devin Ocampo and bassist Chad Molter constituted the core of the underrated Dischord act Faraquet, and Ocampo beat skins…

“In Bed All Day.” “Sad for a Day.” “Sad Sad Song.” Titles like these might lead you to believe that Omaha’s Tilly and the Wall are purveyors of some serious suicidal gloom — or at least a little teenage cutting. Of course, it’s kind of hard to beat out a…

A quiet, half-baked side project for Coachwhips veteran John Dwyer, OCS avoids chaotic garage-stomping in favor of stripped-down, acoustic folk tunes infused with electronic-noise collages from co-conspirator Patrick Mullins. Touring in support of its latest double disc, 3&4: Songs About Death and Dying and Get Stoved, both on the Narnack…

Montreal’s often-chilly climate is apparently perfect for incubating intriguing bands. The Arcade Fire has received plenty of acclaim in Canada as well as south of the border, and the Dears are equally notable: an ambitious pop combo with a penchant for big melodies, dramatic juxtapositions and pungent lyrics. Singer and…