The parties taking place this week in conjunction with the NBA All-Star Game promise to be epic — and while he’s hardly the biggest name heading to town, DJ Clinton Sparks is the glue that’ll hold three of the most widely anticipated bashes together. But spinning for celebrities as high-profile…
We’re just a wandering band of comedians.” You might expect such a statement from the stooges in Barenaked Ladies or, at the very least, Ween. But coming from Matt Pike, singer/guitarist of Oakland’s High on Fire, the confession sounds seriously hilarious. After all, the trio — Pike, drummer Des Kensel…
A little after five on a sunny Saturday afternoon, Cassidy Bednark, aka DJ Bedz, is holed up in the Coors Light booth high in the rafters of the Pepsi Center. Tipoff is still two hours away, but Bedz, the official DJ of the Denver Nuggets, already has his game face…
There are headphone albums — and then there are albums that can only properly be heard through the telecom inside the helmet of a spacesuit. Feathers, Dead Meadow’s fourth studio full-length, is exactly the latter. The problem is, you shouldn’t have to be shuttled into orbit for a psychedelic record…
London’s Maya “M.I.A.” Arulpragasam has received one of the most dubious honors in hip-hop: A two-page piece about her recently appeared in the New Yorker, which is to cutting-edge rap coverage what Condoleezza Rice is to party girls. That’s no reason to dismiss her new disc, though. Arular won’t tempt…
It’s hard to shrug off the genius of Neil Diamond. In fact, he only truly sucks when he’s being channeled through someone else — especially someone once famed for having such a distinct and idiosyncratic voice. Yeah, we’re looking at you, Eric Bachmann. Since the ex-Archers of Loaf songwriter formed…
The beauty of James Murphy’s early LCD Soundsystem singles like “Losing My Edge” was the way they simultaneously awarded him hipster credentials and mocked the indier-than-thou attitude that came with such a rarefied reputation. This knowing irony of being an outsider tapped for inner-sanctum inclusion permeates the first song on…
If Outkast’s Andre 3000 made it safe for hardened hip-hop heads to embrace their inner (and sexually ambiguous) Prince, will Canadian import Buck 65 open the floodgates for cowboy hats and Hank Williams cassettes? Hip-hop may run through his veins and into his rhythm section, but Buck’s clanky acoustics and…
Naming his band’s live album Nobody’s Watching Nobody’s Listening sums up the wry humor of Joe Pernice, who remains forever genial about the Pernice Brothers’ freedom from big-label maneuvering and mainstream concessions. Still, this live document of a 2004 Mercury Lounge show in NYC demonstrates that members of the Boston…
Why is a CD-release party taking place for an album that originally came out in 2003? Because Inspiration, which is being celebrated by Denver-based clarinetist Payne during a Thursday, February 17, show at Dazzle, is hitting stores in the States over a year after it reached Brazil, where it was…
You can just picture it: Four children of the ’70s kicking it in the basement, inadvertently huffing poorly capped bottles of paint thinner and plowing through wobbly renditions of all their classic-rock favorites. Then punk comes along and, instead of giving them tunnel vision, actually opens their eyes. After five…
Nashville, believe it or not, is still capable of pumping out the kind of primal American essence it was originally known for. Case in point: Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers, who will wheel their cranium-cracking sideshow to the Larimer with the Trailer Park Playboys and the Skulls. Drawing from, but not…
In an age in which the concept of women fronting punk bands is still (frustratingly) a cute novelty, Tsunami Bomb defiantly transcends gender and style. Blame this on the swift evolution of the Bay Area quartet, over the course of two albums and a smattering of EPs, from a Gwen-Stefani-fronting-the-Misfits…
Thirteen years ago, Bettie Serveert released Palomine, a record whose jangly guitars, infectious melodies and bittersweet lyrics helped define the sound of ’90s college rock. After a string of disappointing releases that never quite recaptured the verve of that debut, this year’s Attagirl is a refreshing change. But don’t call…
Omaha’s Saddle Creek Records is getting loads of attention thanks to Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst, who’s lately inspired the sort of gushing capable of making Old Faithful jealous. Too bad the label’s roster is filled with baby bands in danger of being lost in the flood. A prime example is…
As integral to SoCal’s rock heritage as the Beach Boys or the Doors was the incestuous Hollywood punk class of 1977: the Screamers, the Weirdos, the Zeros and especially the Germs, whose legendary valedictorian, Darby Crash, ushered in the end of a brief but historical West Coast scene after overdosing…
As artistic inspirations go, nothing tops the exquisite bitterness and self-awareness that come from a painful breakup. When the Comas’ Andy Herod parted ways with Dawson’s Creek star Michelle Williams, the result was the North Carolina band’s masterpiece, 2004’s delicately beautiful Conductor. On the opening track, Herod sets the tone…
Tragedy and loss have inspired some great songwriting throughout history — as well as some great performances. But at the hi-dive on Tuesday, February 22, it won’t be breakups or rainy days that are moving the musicians; instead, a cadre of local players will join voices to raise funds for…
L.A.’s DJ Hive made his mark on the underground dance scene in the late 1990s with “Ultrasonic Sound,” a catchy little track he produced; it’s got a ferocious breakbeat built around a sample lifted from Bad Brains’ “Reignition.” “Ultrasonic” ended up being included on the soundtrack for The Matrix, and…
From a doctor’s waiting room somewhere in Manhattan, Benjamin Curtis sounds upbeat for a guy who can’t get an Ambien prescription. The Secret Machines singer/guitarist isn’t having trouble sleeping. He just likes taking the neurological sedative because, he says, “It makes your brain think that you’re dreaming.” Given the heavy,…
On August 1, 1981, MTV broadcast its first video, a blast of tuneful Technicolor called “Video Killed the Radio Star.” The band that sang it, the Buggles, went on to accomplish absolutely nothing and has been immortalized primarily on the back of Trivial Pursuit cards. The second video MTV aired…
“You’re either with me or you’re in my fucking way.” There’s no stopping Melissa Ivey. Sprawled out on a jade couch in the green room of Bender’s Tavern, the fiery 22-year-old singer-songwriter sips a Coors Light and discusses her recent West Coast tour. Over a grueling thirty-day stretch, Ivey and…
