“There’s no culture in the United States like New Orleans,” says Papa Grows Funk’s John “Papa” Gros. And he would know. Since forming in 2000, the quintet has been a fixture on the New Orleans music scene, drawing raves for its relentless jams, boundless energy, and Meters-quality funk. On tour…
The sun wasn’t even down, but there was already a sizable crowd of punk rock types pouring into Fort Lauderdale’s Revolution. It was going to be an early show, but she-it… it was only 7 o’clock! Didn’t people understand that punctuality was for losers? It wasn’t like the show’s main…
Less than 60 seconds into Don of All Dons, his comeback album and alleged swan song coming out next week and Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell is already knee-deep in raunch. “How many ladies’ pussies smell good?” he coos to his unseen (and likely nonexistent) female audience. “Give yourself a round…
“I’m sorry I’m drawing so many blanks,” offers Pinback guitarist Rob Crow, en route to a show outside of Cleveland. “I woke up at 3:30 this morning and didn’t fall back asleep.” He sounds tired — of getting little rest, of being on the road, of humoring inquisitive journalists over…
Behold, Pearl Jam! Mighty, embattled purveyors of enduring Major League Rock, quixotic political crusades, and crap album art. Released on the band’s own imprint, Pearl Jam features cover art that’s hellaciously ambiguous, poorly executed, and just plain dumb. So dumb, in fact, that the clip-art avocado adorning the package is…
When George W. Bush’s domestic-wiretapping program went into effect, you can bet that Boots Riley of the Coup was at the top of the surveillance list. But a lot has happened since Tuesday, September 11, 2001 — the day the Coup’s Party Music was released, bearing a cover that portrayed…
After listening to Taking Back Sunday’s third album, it’s quite clear why the band’s fan base consists mainly of adolescents. Like its prone-to-conformity teenaged admirers, the Long Island quintet prefers to let outsiders dictate what it sounds like — and hasn’t yet cultivated a unique identity. Whereas producer Lou Giordano…
Orthodox Funkateers worship the Four Forefathers of Funk: James Brown, P-Funk, Sly Stone, and the Meters. From these sacred outfits, born in the heyday of the late-’60s, every strand of funk-inflected music can be derived, from acid jazz to gangsta rap to Lenny Kravitz. Lefties Soul Connection, then, can be…
Just in time for the subtropical splendor that is springtime in South Florida, Tiki Torch Night returns to the Mai-Kai in Fort Lauderdale. After the venerable, ready-made paradise took a nasty hit from Hurricane Wilma, avid tikiphiles worried that the Mai-Kai had hosted its last luau. The storm damage, it…
It was recently brought to my attention that there’s a strong element of ambivalence in the stuff I write. Not of the apathetic variety but the kind that’s anxious with powerful, contradictory feelings pulling in opposite directions. Right on. It’s been my goal to use this space to genuinely validate…
Ach, laddie — it’s time fer some bonnie jigs an’ reels with Scotland’s kilt-wearin’ crazies, the brogue-spewin’ boyos knoon as Hagus Magagus! Actually, though they’re named after the traditional Highland dish of stuffed sheep’s stomach, this insanely talented trio is from Broward, not Blairgowrie, and their speciality ain’t exactly fiddler’s…
Many folks maintain that jazz is the one uniquely American form of music, but what about bluegrass? Perhaps its connection to what some perceive as “hillbilly culture” keeps it slighted, but bluegrass, an earthy and complex music, was born of American confluences of Irish and British folk ballads, early country…
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…
She’s been branded everything from tortured and bruised to moody and difficult, but right now, Fiona Apple just has a case of the sniffles. Talking on the phone from her Venice, California, home, the much-praised, much-embattled singer/songwriter/pianist is lying low, preparing to embark on the biggest concert tour of her…
The career of Frederick “Toots” Hibbert predates reggae — in fact, he’s the guy most often credited with naming the genre. But the music’s reigning patriarch isn’t a museum piece just yet. Last year’s True Love — an album that found the 60-year-old Hibbert and an all-star cast of supporters…
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…
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…
In a past life, the arena-striding Goo Goo Dolls were thought quaint by their critics and artsier alt peers: too in love with their punk heroes, too working-class sentimental, too straight rock. Well, they got the last laugh when the money rolled in. But while re-creating the success of the…
Some things don’t lend themselves to snap judgments. From the start, it’s obvious that Mobile’s main focus isn’t easy accessibility. Expect to be challenged whether you know Kotche as the drummer from Wilco, Loose Fur, or Fred-Lonberg Holm. Thanks to the album’s meandering ambiguity, it’s virtually impossible to form a…
While the current British Invasion is wearing a bit thin — particularly when the bands are seemingly interchangeable and all apparently worship at the altar of Ian Curtis — the very British foursome the Rakes aren’t so tiresome. The London band’s ADD-influenced, punk-tinged tracks on their debut contain a raw…
Some listeners will interpret the Girls’ third disc as the sort of mainstream move currently being attempted by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs — but the alterations in their sound seem inspired more by creative concerns than by commercial calculation. Instead of replacing former guitarist Nathan Thalen with another ax-wielder, the…
