No Cities Left is the best Brit-pop album of 2004 — only the Dears are from Montreal, not Manchester. But don’t hold that against them: The symphonic sextet is human and needs to be loved, just like everybody else. In fact, they wanna be adored, and should be. Their new…
There’s just way too much that you can read into this album. Yes, this month marks the anniversary of Elliott Smith’s tragic suicide — not that his death came as a huge surprise to fans of his music. But even as bitter as Smith’s songs could be going down, they…
R. Kelly is the Bill Clinton of R&B — a man who deals with scandal by tenaciously forging ahead. This two-CD package is enjoyably tuneful from a musical standpoint, but even better at remaking Kelly’s image in the wake of child-porn charges. Far from spelling the end of his career,…
Mobb Deep has been rapping about the same thing for ten years. And it’s gotten tired. While songs like “Got It Twisted,” “When You Hear theŠ” and “Neva Change” conjure up images of dark, wet New York City streets and back alleys with a sound that we’ve come to love,…
With the notable exception of Charo, mellowness generally comes with age. This adage helps explain why the latest CDs by Jarrett, Peacock and DeJohnette, who played with Miles Davis during his most electric period, and Haden, the bassist on Ornette Coleman’s early skronkfests, walk on the quiet side. Yet the…
Gigantic. Huge. Massive. Although those words aptly describe the production on Love.45’s latest, they’re also a perfect descriptor of what this act will be in a year. Love.45, slated for release on November 9, is a program director’s wet dream, with at least a half-dozen potential singles (which explains why…
After making a significant amount of noise in Denver’s hip-hop scene for the past few years, Break Mechanics have finally released their debut album. Without question, Paas, Q-burse and Lo are dope MCs. And drummer Darren Hahn, bassist Casey Sidwell and keyboardist Greg Raymond are among the most talented musicians…
In this section just four months ago, I went on and on about how Carolyn’s Mother had “a new lease on life.” That June 10 issue had been on the stands less than 48 hours when Rhett Lee, Carolyn’s frontman, informed me — at the very show I’d hyped, no…
Smartasses on VH1 have had a great time ripping “Lean Back,” the ubiquitous hit single from True Story, Terror Squad’s latest CD, but most of them fail to grok its conceptual brilliance. Hell, even the macarena required a certain amount of coordination, albeit of the preschooler-doing-the-Hokey-Pokey variety. “Lean Back,” on…
Blind Marky Felchtone grew up in the Ozarks, where Grandpa owned a still and raised a field of corn. But for Felchtone, a rowdy guitar slinger who now calls Seattle home, backwoods Arkansas summons other golden memories: the Benton County Speedway, Schmidt value packs and a small house on cinder…
When the Trashcan Sinatras released their 1990 debut, their brand-new songs already seemed retro, pining romantically for the best U.K. guitar pop of the early ’80s. On 2004’s Weightlifting, the Scottish quintet sounds like it’s finally caught up to 1994. Once again, the Sinatras — playing and singing in top…
Truly original music is always better than a pastiche — unless, that is, the truly original music chomps and the pastiche is particularly inspired. Such is the lesson taught by the Ponys, a Chicago quartet that sucks up influences from across the width and breadth of the indie era, then…
With rookie metal-core acts popping up out of nowhere like a bad case of ass acne, it’s great to see the hard-bitten, decibel-scarred troops of Converge still soldiering on. Since its inception in 1990, the Boston-based battalion has been a study in sustained bloodletting and violent contradictions. Sinewy yet sensitive,…
Jim Chandler once whacked the skins in a slew of Colorado outfits, from the punky Social Joke to the fuzzy Down-n-Outs. But even after moving to Seattle to join Sub Pop garage troupe the Makers, he wasn’t prepared for the drum throne he was offered last year — the one…
With its horn-filled ska and good-time beats, Fishbone may not be swimming in the mainstream — but it’s the mainstream that’s missing out. Since the then-junior-high-schoolers formed this band in 1979, its musical underbelly has always been rocking rhythms layered with alternative-tilted tracks. A saxophonist-singer further defined the group’s funky…
“To escape landlord land, we created Landlordland.” So reads a part of the vaguely Situationist diatribe that adorns www.landlordland.com, the Denver outfit’s website. Formed in 2002, the foursome of Sylas Cooley, Dan Zmolek and stepbrothers Darren Dunn and Rich Sandoval plays music much less cryptic and obscure than its manifesto…
Female DJs are often regarded as, well, female DJs. Seldom given the same respect as the old boys’ network that dominates clubs and festivals, many rely on certain physical attributes to gain any attention at all. Sandra Collins is the exception — and has been since the day she first…
The Moths’ Jason Cain is a known bullshit artist. Just ask the subscribers to his group’s weekly e-mail updates who are treated to regular doses of his bizarre, non-sequitur humor and schizoid rants. There are the top-secret schematics involving pieces of potato bread and bright-red yarn. And the “wee dead…
Montreal’s Sam Roberts is looking forward to performing in Colorado, even though the state is associated with a pain that’s lingered within him for the better part of a decade. As he readily admits, he was crushed when, during the mid-’90s, goalie Patrick Roy deserted Roberts’s beloved Montreal Canadiens in…
“This is so indie,’ says Isaac, the leader of one of the nation’s most recognizable indie-rock bands, as he grabs his guitar and takes a stool on the makeshift stage in Regis University’s cafeteria. “And that’s all I gotta say: This is so indie.’ Behind all the clanging trays, you…
Ever notice how hilarious Nick Cave is? Seriously, the guy’s a scream. Take, for instance, Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus, the goth maestro’s 666th release since leaving the mythic gloom-punk group the Birthday Party over two decades ago. This double disc is infested with every ghoulish punchline and macabre cliche…
Pinback’s third disc is crammed full of bipolar mood swings. Balancing precariously between tightfisted intensity and big-hearted affability, the duo of Zach Smith and Rob Crow juggles gorgeous melodies, numinous lyrics and lush instrumentation. Full of mysterious fragments and unanswerable questions, “Fortress” is driven by a dorky drum machine and…
