Back when simple-minded slogans like “Just Say No” inspired more laughter than allegiance, the Butthole Surfers charged head-first into the dilated eye of the storm, conjuring nightmares of Nancy Reagan breast-feeding the Pope with her hair on fire. Ah, the early days, when a live Surfers set guaranteed strobe lights,…
If rock critics were hunters, it’d be Scissor Sisters season right now. Ever since its flamboyant self-titled debut went platinum in the U.K. earlier this year, the Gotham-based quintet has been the target of just about every brush-off and put-down in the music-journalist arsenal. To set the record straight: Yes,…
If anyone knows the evils of the music business firsthand, it’s Ike Reilly. A dark-humored singer-songwriter originally from Libertyville, Illinois, he spent the better part of a decade kicking around the Midwest in groups that were never able to translate their local fan base into widespread popularity. He had set…
In a parallel universe where musical adventure has as much cultural cachet as action-adventure, the soundtrack to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (remember, the one with the huge snake?) might have been composed by Rope. This Chicago-via-Poland outfit’s free-jazz-flavored, no-wave noise paints spooky pictures filled with intense bass…
We’ll break this to you gently: Twenty years before Shania Twain kicked up her cowboy boots, Juice Newton crowned charts with her crossover classics. The Queen of Hearts (and crooner of a few heartbreakers) may not have penned the majority of her hits, but she reigned over every tune she…
Does Mark Udall rock? Unless he’s been hiding a secret AC/DC fetish from his constituents, it’s doubtful. Nonetheless, the Democratic congressman from Boulder is scheduled to be on hand for Revolution Rockfest ’04, a multi-act fundraiser on Thursday, September 16, at the Gothic Theatre. Sponsored by Wake Up Colorado, which…
Tall Paul broke into London’s club scene in 1987 at the age of sixteen, playing house sets at Turnmills, which was owned by his father. When Turnmills became the first club in the city to obtain a 24-hour music and dancing license, Paul took over Saturday nights. It was a…
Back in the day, the idea of the faceless DJ was sort of a reaction against the rock star and the rock lifestyle,” says Darin McFadyen, better known as Freq Nasty. “The raves of the late ’80s and early ’90s were about people coming together and dancing and enjoying one…
I think of myself as a very small link in a very big chain.” Jazz may get a bad rap as something complicated, esoteric, maybe even a bit snooty, but you wouldn’t know it talking to Charlie Hunter. Speaking early in the morning from his home in Brooklyn, he sounds…
From Pussy to penises, Sally Timms really covers all her bases. The English-born, Chicago-based performer has played the roles of musician, author, actor and activist since joining the legendary Mekons in 1986. Pussy, the King of the Pirates was the Kathy Acker-inked lesbian opera that Timms starred in nine years…
Transglobal debauchery rears its exotic horns when Ukrainian gypsy Eugene Hütz takes a break from fronting Gogol Bordello to mix together the sounds of an underground discotheque. Balkan, Turkish, dancehall and flamenco collide with Bhangra, Rai, Klezmer and international kitchen-sink stylings to produce an altogether foreign strain of Fellini-approved combat…
Everyone loves a kick in the ass, the thrill of slashed guitars, the exhilaration of a fat bass beat. Even slow music can have a tension that triggers the adrenaline as readily as the speediest hardcore track. But the guys in the Six Parts Seven (appearing Saturday, September 11, at…
Amateur psychologists have a ready-made theory to use in analyzing the gorgeous, evocative music made by New Jersey singer-songwriter Erin Moran. She shares a moniker with the actress who played Joanie Cunningham on a ubiquitous TV sitcom, but her songs seldom concern themselves with happy days. Erin/Eddy, who lists herself…
It’s always hotter when the lights go down. Afterdark: New York City is a seductive, low-light reminder of the soul-scorching power of good house music. This double-disc package comprises songs from two of NYC’s finest labels: Distant Music (with CD one mixed by label head Jon Cutler) and Central Park…
What would Lucifer do? Theologians assert that the Prince of Darkness would likely do the most damage by appearing as a man of the cloth to mislead the flock. But according to the Retrosic, Abaddon has a penchant for black latex and manufactured beats; his devastating return will coincide with…
A certain funky charm guides Denver’s Log through an energetic long-player that combines relentless stoner logic with propulsive, industrial grooves. And while several seemingly unscripted interludes regarding stolen Pop-Tarts and lost umbrellas pad the album’s overall total of 25 track listings, its wealth of noise, texture and rubbery bass lines…
There’s enough memorializing going on this week already; no need to downplay real tragedy by making a big deal about some local band breaking up. Still, the Risk is playing its final show this Saturday, September 11, at the Climax Lounge — and Denver doesn’t even know what it’s losing…
This summer, Brad Corrigan reunited with his bandmates to play a final farewell show in Boston. Yeah, I know, bands break up every day. But get this: The gig reportedly outdrew Phish’s swan song in Coventry, Vermont, by 50,000 people or so. And ever hear of a little festival called…
Naming your band after another band’s song is one thing. Actually sounding like that other band is kind of pushing it. And yet, the Seattle quartet known as Shoplifting actually pulls off appropriating both its moniker and method from England’s dance-punk pioneers the Slits. Not that Shoplifting is a straight-up…
The Beastie Boys’ first three albums each redefined pop music, and Ad Rock, Mike D and MCA haven’t known what to do since. Ill Communication simply copied the sarcastic live hip-hop of Check Your Head and wound up perfectly in sync with the Lollapalooza zeitgeist. But the electronic experimentation of…
Like the decade of the ’80s itself, too many of today’s retro-electro bands value style over substance and irony over originality. Santa Barbara’s Kissing Tigers are delightfully free of that. Their debut long-player, Pleasure of Resistance, features mature songwriting, lyrical depth and infectious melodies that just happen to be realized…
It’s been an eventful stretch of time since the release of Engine Down’s last record, 2002’s blisteringly gorgeous Demure. In the last two years, the group has signed to mega-indie Lookout Records, hit the road with huge bands like Thursday and Sparta, and seen its side project, Denali, get super-popular…
