Athens may be best known as the brainy birthplace of quirk-pop outfits like R.E.M. and the B-52s, but the Georgia college town is also home to a whole different musical current. Athens’ forward-looking fusion scene has spawned well-known bands like Sound Tribe Sector 9 and Dubconscious, and the heavy-soul funk-hoppers…
So last month you had your shitkickers oiled up and your handlebar ‘stache all in line. You were all set to get off the barstool at Davie Junction and get down at the Tim McGraw show, maybe even catch some eye candy from his wife, the incomparable Faith Hill. Dagnabbit,…
There are two kinds of people in this world: the kind that likes Dave Matthews Band and the kind that likes good music. I’m not saying dear ol’ Dave is a bad person, but he was a much better person before he began believing his own exaggerated press. So for…
There was a point a few years back when hip-hop and hipsterism collided. It was inevitable: the music had spread from the inner city to the suburbs, and rather than turntables and old-school samplers, new acolytes took up laptops and actual instruments to voice their vision of hip-hop’s future. At…
Rising star Na’sha (Natasha Watkins) took over South Florida radio last fall when her DJ Khaled-produced “Turn It Up” became a favorite with local choreographers. Since then, the Ohio native and Ft. Lauderdale resident has signed to a local Sony subsidiary and become one of Shaggy’s primary collaborators. She trekked…
“Wake up, Mr. West!” Bernie Mac yells to open Late Registration, and the command is fitting — this album is an awakening. More raw than College Dropout, Kanye West’s sophomore release puts his vocals on center stage and further develops his identity as a socially aware MC. Sure, he’s still…
It’s been a brilliant year for the rejuvenation of British post-punk icons. First, New Order resurfaced with the surprisingly vital Waiting for the Sirens’ Call, and now Echo and the Bunnymen are back with Siberia, a rousing return that finds co-founders Ian McCulloch and Will Sergeant channeling their trademark angst…
The subtitle of this compilation, “Lost Songs and Loose Ends 1995-2001,” might very well be replaced by a big, blood-red “FANS ONLY” stamp. The 12 tracks collected here bring together the band’s stray seven-inch sides and unreleased tracks — a fact that, by design, will attract only the most obsessive…
If hip-hop is dead, somebody forgot to tell Little Brother. The North Carolina-based affiliates of the Justus League crew have gone from regional up-and-comers to nationally recognized stars, aided by the well-deserved critical acclaim for their 2003 ABB records debut, The Listening, and producer 9th Wonder’s work on Jay-Z’s Black…
At the head of the borderland movement of Tijuana, Mexico, is a group of musicians, VJs, filmmakers, and graphic designers known as Nortec Collective. Nortec’s name, like its art, is a fusion of First and Third World elements and explains the group’s approach to making music. Norteño is a form…
Sure, we could follow the lead of nearly every story ever written on Weezer front-man Rivers Cuomo and spout off about what a weird guy he is. The heralds at Rolling Stone even said so on their cover just a few months ago. Yeah, we could pile it on, maybe…
Long ago, in his biography of seminal jazz composer Jelly Roll Morton, my great-uncle Alan Lomax equated New Orleans’ contribution to American music to Florence’s involvement in the Renaissance. But another Italian city seems closer to the mark now. ”We’ve lost our city,” said Marc Morial, a former mayor of…
All the media attention that’s been heaped on pop-rockers Rilo Kiley since the release of their third album, 2004’s More Adventurous, may have induced a sense of déjà vu for the band’s two principals. After all, singer Jenny Lewis and guitarist/vocalist Blake Sennet established their showbiz cred as child stars…
The dance community may have a vaguely socialist aesthetic, but it still gets downright Nietzschean in the way it worships the übermensch: celebrity DJs. And for an up-close view of the will to power, just catch Los Angeleno DJ Dan. As part of Funky Tekno Tribe, Dan helped pioneer West…
Just because singer Stavros Polentas garbles his words like a shit-tanked, heartbroken Joe Strummer doesn’t mean Secret French Kissing Society sounds anything close to the Clash. On the contrary, despite Polentas’ obvious, loutish affectations, he writes profoundly powerful, cinematic, alt-rock vignettes, gothic tales of harsh life, harsher love, and unlikely…
There it is again, that staccato beat copped from Joy Division’s “She’s Lost Control,” which is rapidly becoming the “Funky Drummer” of indie dance rock. It’s the pulse behind Windsor for the Derby’s “Empathy for People Unknown,” which harnesses luscious synths and subdued vocal harmonies atop the familiar broken thump…
For the past couple of years, Hervé Salters has been the secret weapon of the Quannum crew, supplying vintage keyboard sounds for Blackalicious, Lyrics Born, and Lifesavas. Now, the French-born, Berkeley-based musician steps out front, releasing a solo album of playful, funky hip-hop, composed entirely with Clavinet, Hammond, Rhodes, and…
We rely on Black Rebel Motorcycle Club for pervasive distortion, a drone buzzing with feedback and dirt. But on the Cali trio’s third long-player, that entire train of thought has disappeared, replaced with a folksy blues sound packed with gospel undertones and country tendencies. Seriously. Initially, it’s an ugly shock,…
The recent passing of Six Feet Under, HBO’s morbidly profound funeral-home drama, brings an opportunity for reflection on our music scene’s vitality. For residents of the Mississippi Delta, religious pilgrims in Iraq, and felonious record moguls in Miami, it’s been a rough couple of weeks. But for right now, we’re…
It almost makes you wish it had always been this way: live music with 95-percent-nude babes dancing around! Thank you, Jesus, for Gumwrappers! Now, lack of a vestal virgin will not detract from the alternative-metal/dark-rock onslaught that Osiris Rising promises — and you can count on it, since the band…
The truly dedicated know that music is more than a means to good times and a little escapism — at its best, it can be a powerful unifying force and a conduit for a community’s conscience. This past spring, the local music scene came together to raise money and awareness…
Most of us have heard the cliché: “There are no second acts in American life.” But what of the Lazarus known as Meat Loaf? The Loaf, whose mama calls him Marvin Lee Aday, virtually ruled the AM airwaves in the late ’70s with hits “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad”…
