Hmmm. Let’s see. Bay Area all-stars, check. Illmatic production, check. What’s not to love about Heroes in the City of Dope? From the intro, “Noon Time,” which interpolates Led Zep’s “No Quarter,” to the closer, “Badlands,” which mixes Yay Area slaps with exotic-sounding melodies, Heroes disproves the theorem that the…
Let’s face it: R&B needs a savior like a burning building needs a firefighter — and everyone’s pushing for a happy ending. On his latest album, Once Again, pianist John Legend once again strides that fine (and lucrative) line between vintage R&B and modern hip-hop chic. Admirably, he pursues distinct…
Kanye West may have delivered one of the biggest punches after Hurricane Katrina, but New Orleans rapper Juvenile took one of the biggest hits — his mansion was destroyed by the storm, forcing the former face of Cash Money Records to relocate to Atlanta. He expectedly took some shots at…
While most of us remember Russell Simmons’ HBO series Def Comedy Jam as the launching pad for dozens of black comedians, it’s easy to forget that it was also the show that launched the DJ as a pop icon. Every week, notorious scratch master Kid Capri revved the audience to…
Cleverness can turn unctuous at any given moment, which makes Greg “Soapy Argyle” Hill’s decision to build a band on that quality seem dangerous indeed. Somehow, though, Six Months to Live, Hill’s latest project, maintains its balance throughout this entertaining five-song preview of a long-player expected next year. “Eiffel Tower…
The roots-rock arena has become a crowded venue of late, proving it takes ample distinction to outpace the competition. Until now, Chris Knight’s chief claim to fame may have been the fact that his sophomore album, A Pretty Good Guy, was released on September 11, 2001 — certainly a dubious…
When I need to share a few brews with my buds, I look for a place that’s conducive to good conversation and has a dash of debauchery thrown in for good measure. Doc and Sean must have had this concept in mind when they opened Scallywags Lounge just two months…
His band has just completed its first national tour, signed a major-label record deal with an RCA subsidiary (ATO Records), and earned some impressive plaudits from the likes of Rolling Stone. So the Whigs’ Parker Gispert might be forgiven for letting success go to his head. But the recent University…
Tenacious D, the actor/musician duo of Jack Black and Kyle Gass, has been rocking audiences around Hollywood since its debut back in 1994. People here still reminisce about the days when the two “used to play that shitty bar.” Well, slots on Mr. Show and the pair’s own HBO half-hour…
The thinking-man’s-metal tag that hangs on Isis seems bad for business, but guitarist/vocalist Aaron Turner and his comrades don’t appear to mind. After all, the jacket of their new CD includes the quote “Nothing is true, everything is permitted” that inspired the album’s title, as well as a quasi-footnote conceding…
Pitbull’s newest CD includes lines like “Welcome to the real Miami/where we live to die.” Typical rapper throwdown boasts, yes, but that’s the only thing that’s typical about El Mariel. Cuban-American Pitbull mixes English and Spanish lyrics, Afro-Cuban rhythms, and hard-hitting hip-hop beats. El Mariel has several standout tunes, such…
Tom Waits cleans out the closet, holds a garage sale, and finds the crowd begging for more, more, more. Hence the 26 soundtrack/compilation/etc. familiars and 30 “new” songs that sound like all the old ones, spread over three discs that glibly and ably summarize the career thus far: “Brawlers” (or:…
In a region populated by alt-rockers, rappers, and an overabundance of like-minded cover combos, the Tunes and Tones’ homespun ramble and sway provides South Florida with a rare hint of an Americana attitude. Not that these four homeboys are big on down-home twang; aside from the backwoods strum of the…
If you’re lucky, you’ll learn about the connection between anal sex and the state of dental care in Britain at Wednesday’s Deftones show. If not, don’t worry — the answer lies on the band’s just-released platter, Saturday Night Wrist. We’re not going to spoil the surprise, but if you’ve gotten…
In the mid-1980s, Dwight Yoakum emerged and reminded us that the Bakersfield sound was the driving subgenre of country personified by Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. 2006 has Texan Sunny Sweeney to remind us of the gusto of Lone Star honky tonk. In less enlightened times, smug city folk would’ve…
Signed while still in high school, Slightly Stoopid’s Miles Doughty and Kyle McDonald were probably the “raddest” of all the “gnarly” dudes, smoking more weed than humanly possible and tossing out generic SoCal skate-punk. Nearly a decade later, the two may still love to party, but their sound has grown…
So the Who is back on tour, performing its only Florida date in Sunrise. Why should we care? Well, to start with, it’s the Who’s first visit since original bassist John Entwistle died in 2002, some 38 years after joining the band (which is now called “the Two” by those…
Every few years, rock and its malcontent subgenres start to suck — everyone knows that, or will soon enough. Thankfully, singer/guitarist Ted Leo maintains the oft-abused verities of punk — doing things his own way; expressing ideas in a supercharged, witty, engaging, and no-waxy-yellow-buildup manner; and combining seemingly unlikely influences…
It’s November. I don’t even know what I’ll be doing on New Year’s Eve, let alone next March. A lot can happen in the next four months. A band can form, record an album, play a few shows, and break up within that time span. Hell, if I could have…
Forrest Kline, vocalist and guitarist for power-punk stooges Hellogoodbye, might be dying. But probably not. He couldn’t come to the phone the other day — something about being sick — and he doesn’t sound much improved today. “Oh, [I’m a] little bit [better],” he says, still unable to pinpoint what’s…
“I don’t think we’re anybody’s second-favorite band,” says Chris Carrabba, the emo dreamboat who sits behind the wheel of Dashboard Confessional. “We’re either somebody’s most-favorite or least-favorite band” — and those who fit into the former category can get awfully obsessive. “It’s intense, and there’s an inherently scary nature to…
“Weird Al” Yankovic — of “My Bologna” and “Hey Ricky” fame — has a new record. It’s called Straight Outta Lynwood, and it’s completely beautiful. I always wrote off Weird Al as uncool, period. This was a complete misread. Totally beside the point. I didn’t understand until I realized (recently)…
