When Oakland band the Locals discovered they weren’t the first ones to come up with their name — a Chicago band led by an Yvonne Doll already had dibs — they had no choice but to change it to something, um, less shitty. Rechristened the Matches, the punk-rock band in…
Last year, jazz legend Herbie Hancock hit the studio to record an album of duets called Possibilities with some of today’s most respected artists, including Sting, Paul Simon, Annie Lennox, Christina Aguilera, John Mayer, and Damien Rice. Considering the fact that this is the keys master who helped Miles Davis…
A few nights ago, Jamie Cullum was set to celebrate the birthday of his older brother, Ben. The younger Cullum was even going to cook, but according to the breakout Brit pianist/singer/songwriter, both siblings “managed to come down with something.” The situation was so grim that Cullum tried to cancel…
Age, they say, brings wisdom. It also brings Social Security checks, which Delbert McClinton will qualify for when he turns 65 next month. Hell, the Texas-born singer is so unapologetic about growing older that he’s adorned the sleeve of his latest CD, The Cost of Living, with past driver’s licenses…
Just the other day, an old friend called me out of the blue and confessed his part in the fate of my UB40 “Can’t Help Falling in Love” cassette single that vanished during my junior year of high school. Of course, he didn’t call only for that — he wanted…
Gathered around the low, round hotel table, four booze-broken musicians out of Orange County, California, lean forward with goofy but tired smiles and introduce themselves to the tape recorder that stands before them. “Hi, my name is Robb.” “Hi, my name is Patrick.” “Hi, my name is Justin.” The fourth,…
Actor Jared Leto (Requiem for a Dream, Fight Club) has been fasting for four days. Except for water, fresh lemon, and cayenne pepper, he expects to eat nothing anytime soon. This isn’t one of those trendy Los Angeles diets, though; he’s burning off the staggering 62 pounds he packed on…
It might not be cool to say, but missing out on seeing Freddie Mercury perform live is one of the great musical tragedies of my life. I’m always struck by the regret I feel at this fact, and attempts on my part to compensate — namely, rewatching Queen’s Live at…
With their 1998 debut, the boys and girls of Nashville Pussy declared Let Them Eat Pussy. Seven years later, they’re still all about the muff. Their latest album, Get Some!, opens with the holler, “Well, all right, who wants some pussy?” The quartet’s two superhot, supercrass female members, guitarist Ruyter…
Attending an Aimee Mann show is no different from flipping a coin. Some nights, she’s on — clouds part, angels sing, souls are saved. Others, you’re left scratching your head as to why you didn’t just order takeout instead. Let’s hope the recent release of The Forgotten Arm will provide…
It’s hard to imagine Panic! At the Disco has much to panic about, considering how much ridiculously good fortune has befallen the band in the past few years. Shortly after forming and naming themselves after a line in the Name Taken song “Panic,” the high school-aged, Las Vegas-based fourpiece posted…
Back home in Michigan, way before he nailed Pam Anderson, Kid Rock had a tatt-spangled stooge — lackey, flunky, bitch — (you get the idea) in Uncle Kracker. His first major-label release, 2000’s Double Wide, did little to change that image, but his second, with its tone-deaf rendition of Dobie…
Poor Loudon Wainwright III. In less than a decade, his son Rufus has achieved more success than he has in 35 years, and his daughter Martha wrote the title track of her debut, Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole, about him. Seems his kids have a penchant for personal confession in their…
When asked about favorite Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa memories, most people remember the good times. You know, the stuff they write songs about to get you in the holiday spirit — deck the halls, fa la la la, and all that jazz. Now, ask a musician the same question and,…
“I don’t know that music’s role is always to promote social change, though it can,” John Legend says about the deficit of political activism in hip-hop. “At the end of the day, our job is to entertain people. Certainly we can inform and educate, but mainly, you guys just want…
Coheed & Cambria plays with Mewithoutyou, Dredg, and Blood Brothers at 5 p.m. Saturday, October 29, at Revolution, 200 W. Broward Blvd., Fort Lauderdale. Tickets cost $19 in advance, $22 the day of the show. Call 954-727-0950.
You gotta wonder if maybe Billy Idol invested in the patenting of hair gel, since there are few who’ve done as much to bolster its sales as he has. The only time he veered from his trademark peroxide-blond spikes was in ’93, for his techno-informed Cyberpunk, and the dreadlocks that…
Age, they say, brings wisdom. It also brings Social Security checks, which Delbert McClinton will qualify for when he turns 65 next month. Hell, the Texas-born singer is so unapologetic about growing older that he’s adorned the CD sleeve of his latest, The Cost of Living, with past driver’s licenses…
Remember that time you made out with the chick that was really a dude? The Brazilian Girls are that sort of gender switcheroo times three. Although singer Sabina Sciubba definitely has ovaries, the rest of the New York-based group are, ironically, not girls. Nor are any of them from Brazil,…
Pelican has pounded out instrumental epics for a few years now — power-drone rock orchestrations built out of bottom-heavy riffage, downtuned vibrations, and good ol’ feedback. Instrumental rock is rarely done right, though, and even when it is, it’s wholly dependent on repetition, repetition, repetition. The Fire in Our Throats…
