With the help of international hip-hop superstar (and former Fugee) Wyclef Jean, Colombia’s greatest legally exported gift to the United States, Shakira, has created an epidemic of her own with the dangerously addictive single “Hips Don’t Lie.” Just like the cash crop of her native land, the potent single has…
Bob Dylan once referred to Smokey Robinson as “America’s greatest living poet.” Though many often countered that Jim Morrison was the rightful owner of that title, the argument hasn’t been made since Morrison croaked in 1971. And so Dylan was right — Robinson was one of the reasons Motown enjoyed…
Iko-Iko is the name of a ’50s pop song written by James Crawford that quickly became a folk/blues standard, covered by countless legends. It’s also the fitting name of the Miami-based blues quartet founded by Graham Wood Drout, a vocalist/guitarist/percussionist who’s worked with anyone from Sheryl Crow to Bruce Springsteen…
I found myself at a bar on lesbian night recently because I’d been whisked away (long story) from a house party packed with womyn planning a feminist revolution (longer story). Elements is nearly hidden; it’s an unassuming storefront without a sign. I passed seven bucks over to the doorman for…
It was Labor Day morning, and I was labored out (Fats-speak for “I didn’t feel like lifting an arm”). Either way, I did little more than read my e-mail and MySpace account for any last-minute goings-on I might want to check out. After denying the tenth friend request from a…
When the purveyors of pop culture want to know who’ll be hot the next year, they usually look to the dubious cast of characters known as experts. But that title gets thrown around like dollar bills at a strip club. The chance that they’ll be on the money is usually…
Listening to “Showtape ’91,” the nearly 12-minute compilation of self-deprecating concert intros that closes the bonus disc of demos, remixes, and outtakes that’s part of the recently reissued/remastered/expanded version of Sebadoh’s III, is good for a load of laughs. Revisiting the 23 tracks that appeared on the original 1991 album…
If we’re all caught under the penny loafer of Christian fascism sometime soon, the Thermals’ vision of a hectic dash for the Canadian border — one in which we’re pursued by evangelical thought police — will be vindicated. As it is, The Body, the Blood, the Machine comes off as…
Oh, to be Dave Navarro. Shortly after announcing his split from the famously pneumatic Carmen Electra, Navarro was reportedly keeping company with porn icon Jenna Jameson. This guy needs to write a guide to hooking up immediately. If only the Panic Channel’s debut were that intriguing. Navarro’s new group seems…
While Rick Rock, Droop-E, and EA-Ski are often cited as the Bay Area’s premier slap-nicians, Traxamillion’s dope-ass album suggests that the San Jose-based producer is just as responsible. Trax has the basic slap formula down, but what makes his knocks so habit-forming is his use of keyboards to create a…
Six Feet Under? What is this, a traveling version of the HBO series about a family that works at a funeral home? Is this a family affair? Well, not quite, unless your idea of a wholesome time is to spend the night with Chris Barnes, former mouthpiece for gross-out kings…
In case you haven’t noticed, Roxanne’s on Main is becoming quite the safe haven for all manner of underground music in Fort Lauderdale. A quick peek into the club’s weekly calendar yields the punked-out sounds of Attacked on Thursdays, the indie/avant/electro mesh of Phoenix on Fridays, and the dark-wave craze…
The Hi-Beams’ take on twang is decidedly retro. Halden Wofford has that high-and-lonesome vocal sound down cold, and instrumentalists such as dobroist/pedal-steel expert Bret Billings and upright-bassist Ben O’Connor swing in ways that modern Nashvillians eschewed long ago. Fortunately, though, the combo’s latest disc is anything but musty. Country music…
Call it shoegaze, call it indie pop, call it ambient rock… whatever. The simple fact is that the lush sounds emanating from As Tall as Lions’ self-titled sophomore album are as calming as watching a Joy of Painting video (Bob Ross, RIP). What makes it work is the band’s ability…
Before there was Beck, there was — ahem — Beck. Not the smooth-crooning hipster but rather Jeff Beck, the guitar god extraordinaire, who courted rock reverence by virtue of the searing fretwork that defines his signature style. Whereas early contemporaries Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page were cast in the company…
Beenie Man has been a hurricane force in Jamaican music since the tender age of 7, when he unleashed his first single unto the Rasta masses. Since then, he’s gone on to become a profitable and controversial figure — the self-proclaimed “Undisputed King of the Dancehall.” Well, maybe there is…
Talk about bad form. It was the last Wednesday of August. The Poor House is hosting the monthly Art of Moving Butts, an underground hip-hop night put on by Counterpoint Garments’ Paul “Gnu” Jennings. But this wasn’t an average night. Not only was local rhyme ruler Butta Verses headlining the…
I first met Don in February, when he was slinging the highest-quality beers from around the world at the Upstairs Lounge of Beach Bar. He left to find a home base that could offer him more freedom and fridge space to spread his passion for microbrews. Many months passed, and…
Eight years ago, Chicago-based pop-punkers the Smoking Popes found themselves signed to Capitol Records and touring with no lesser bands than the Goo Goo Dolls and Green Day. The Popes had sold out countless venues and garnered a glowing reputation for their fusion of punk rock with a big-band sound…
Cast of characters: Queensrÿche (progressive metal band on tour again after 25 years of activity) Geoff Tate (vocals) Michael Wilton (guitar) Mike Stone (guitar, vocals) Eddie Jackson (bass guitar, vocals) Scott Rockenfield (drums) Two unnamed fans Two homeland security officers [Act one: Two fans are entering the stadium eagerly anticipating…
Soundtrack might not be the right word for this CD from the film of the same name, since this hourlong romp is delivered as an overt “we aren’t breaking up” response to rumors of the past few months. In the wake of the Speakerboxxx/Love Below split, cohesive isn’t the right…
Eureka! Scientists just discovered that Comets on Fire is the missing link in rock ‘n’ roll evolution. The hard-hitting noiseniks provide the connection between late-’60s vintage Grateful Dead and Paranoid-era Black Sabbath, long theorized but until now never established. A few savvy researchers, including Comets themselves, saw this coming: The…
