Music nerds know two things: how to make best of/worst of lists and how to put together excellent mix tapes. Some call the self-directed compilation an art form, but it’s likely just a fanatical cry for companionship. It’s a way to reach out to each other and perk up new…
Tiefschwarz is the brainchild of brothers Basti and Ali Schwarz. Hailing from Stuttgart, Germany, the two have been in the electro dance scene for close to fifteen years. The name “Tiefschwarz” is a play on the brothers’ surname and literally translates to “deep black” — which, by no accident, is…
In late 1995, Portland, Oregon’s Dandy Warhols were generating big buzz for their debut disc on the independent Tim/Kerr imprint, but they didn’t yet qualify as rock stars. During a chat with Westword, however, Courtney Taylor, the band’s frontman, showed that he was well on his way to becoming one…
Mike Landers and Alan Johnson are driven. In February 2003, the Deux Process partners in rhyme — aka Vice Versa and Chief Nek — moved to Los Angeles, determined to land a record deal. It was a gigantic leap of faith for the Colorado Springs-bred MCs, who’d performed as Deux…
Half Charles Kuralt, half Jack Kerouac, David Dondero has been exploring the highways and side roads of America for fifteen years, turning his experiences and observations into raw, literate bursts of acoustic soul. The San Francisco-based songwriter spent time in Florida’s revered folk-punk troupe This Bike Is a Pipe Bomb,…
The brainchild of Kansas-born, Brooklyn-residing singer-cellist Melora Creager, Rasputina is like an Edward Gorey wet dream come to life: a captivating combination of chamber music, doomy goth-metal textures, corsets lifted from a Victorian boudoir and loads of twisted black humor. An in-demand session cellist who’s worked with the likes of…
All hail Big Poppa! Not only was the Notorious B.I.G. a master storyteller and MC, but he also has never humped a corpse. That may seem faint praise for such a legend. However, his lack of necrophilia sets Biggie apart from his friends and family, who have turned his moldy…
A band cannot live off shtick alone. Sooner or later the gimmick wears out, and the act is banished to the bargain bin. Enter the Darkness, England’s lost boys of arena rock, who time-warped the sounds of Queen and Foreigner on 2003’s Permission to Land. The album was real cheeky…
On a recent episode of his film-rating program, Roger Ebert awarded the Usher-starring In the Mix the “wagging finger of shame” because its makers refused to let reviewers see it prior to release — a sure sign that it bites harder than a half-starved gator with an extra row of…
As if M83’s output over the last four years hasn’t sufficiently shamed America for its post-9/11 tantrum of France-bashing, here’s another one-Gaul wonder: Jonathan Morali, aka Syd Matters. This eponymous double-disc collection compiles Morali’s two previous import releases, Someday We Will Foresee Obstacles and A Whisper and a Sigh. The…
On “Who You’d Be Today,” a slo-mo ballad from his new album, Kenny Chesney wonders what life would have dealt a handful of dead people if they hadn’t died. “It ain’t fair, you died too young,” he sings in weepy close harmony, “like a story that had just begun.” Penned…
The bio for this band, which headlines a December 17 CD-release party at Bender’s Tavern, mingles hardscrabble tales with two admissions: “We have been likened to Pearl Jam, Incubus, Korn” and “We probably sound like some of them.” Plan B. , which is both Vices I Admire’s previous moniker and…
Just ask the Vandals, SNFU or, if you must, Blink-182: Punk has always been obsessed with lousy, Mad magazine-level puns. Epoxy Lips Now!, the title of the third full-length by Denver’s Prescription, ranks right up there with the best of the worst. Fittingly, the album is a blast of classic,…
The Budos Band, The Budos Band (Daptone). After numerous releases of gritty soul, Daptone is back to its Desco roots with the Budos Band. The act’s debut is a tightly wound, sinewy slab of African-accented funk that owes less to Fela Kuti than to pre-fusion Hugh Masekela. Slithery bass, stinging…
Talk about courting preconceptions: On top of admitting that their group’s handle pays tribute to Patrick Swayze, the British duo of David Brown and James Taylor (not that James Taylor) named their 2002 album Dirty Dancing. Nevertheless, the two are more interested in au courant danceability than pop-culture tributes. For…
Hardcore is about release; metal is about control. Put them together and you get a contradiction with guitars. Most bands typically deal with that dichotomy by throwing their weight into one style and retaining only the veneer of the other. But not A Wilhelm Scream. On its latest effort, Ruiner,…
At times, Steve Kimock’s latest release, Eudemonic, edges warily toward well-executed, jam-flavored elevator music. Despite this limp studio offering, though, Kimock is no slouch. Having once gained a reputation as the late Jerry Garcia’s favorite unknown guitar player, he has systematically cleared his own path since his days with the…
Giving the modern jazz world a much-needed kick in the ass, Kneebody has assembled a quirky brand of improv-based crossover jazz that’s as refreshing as it is expressive. The New York/Los Angeles-based quintet’s sound, which borrows equally from traditional jazz, hip-hop, rock and electronica, is anchored by hard-hitting beats and…
The Indiana-based indie imprint Secretly Canadian has quietly grown into a powerhouse over the past couple of years, with signees as illustrious as Magnolia Electric Co. and Antony and the Johnsons. But a considerably lower-profile act on the roster, the Impossible Shapes, was responsible for one of the label’s best…
While many bands spend their careers exploring different musical styles and ideas, there’s something to be said for finding one thing and doing it well — you know, like the Ramones and AC/DC. That’s not to say that this Los Angeles-by-way-of-Omaha quintet exists on the same hallowed plane as those…
Between being a hot-shot photographer and a full-time rock star, Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs found time to remix a couple of songs this year: “Compliments,” by Bloc Party, and “People Are Germs,” by the slightly less- known Austin outfit Single Frame. But don’t let the group’s lack…
The moniker adopted by the All-American Rejects is half accurate, half not. The “All-American” part fits the quartet’s leaders, Oklahomans Tyson Ritter and Nick Wheeler, and it’s not a bad description of their music, a thoroughly domesticated variation on classic power pop. However, these self-proclaimed Rejects have been widely embraced,…
