I like to get excited about music. I mean, really excited; like “tell everyone else about it, can't wait for the show, want, no, need the new record right now,” kind of excited. Whether it's the Beatles, Bowie or Iggy Pop; punk rock or bar bands; the Rolling Stones in a football stadium, Elvis Costello in a theater or the Dead Boys at CBGBs, I've usually been able to find something to be thrilled about. But lately, it's been getting...
The first, most obvious thing that both Mixhell and its debut album prove beyond the shadow of a doubt is that life can be full of surprises. Don't think so? Well, who could have expected that former Sepultura drummer Iggor Cavalera would just spontaneously decide to quit the band one day? Not only that, who would have seen it coming that whatever he did next would be an electronica outfit? For a lot of metalheads (and – let's be honest...
John Fogerty has re-recorded a number of his biggest hits, with some of today’s biggest superstars, and I have to ask “Why?” Is he trying to cash in? Just having fun? Or can he not write a good song anymore? Fogerty was, of course, the leader of Creedence Clearwater Revival, one of the most popular bands from the late Sixties. They are still hugely popular, at least among the classic rock crowd; at least half the songs on this album...
Hearing that Thom Yorke and Flea have collaborated on an album together certainly sounds like an intriguing, with lots of creative potential. On AMOK, they team up with Nigel Goodrich, Joey Waronker and Mauro Refosco to produce some very spaced out jams. Unfortunately, the results are not nearly as interesting in fact as they are in theory. Influenced by Afrobeat, the album primarily consists of Yorke’s breathy vocals over stuttering beats and washes of electronica. The problem is there’s just...
Hey junky, Good ta see ya – ya addict. I ben missin' youse, sorry I ben gone, but the pickin' fer fresh SWAG's ben pretty lean lately; I dunno what's up, but tryin' ta pull a bag tagetha's ben no easy feat – ya know? I got some fo' ya though, annit's pretty friggin' primo. I nabbed a new tune from the upcomin' Dinosaur Bones reckid, annit's friggin' tight! The guitars an' drums are hittin' hard here, annat's guaranteed ta...
While calling it a genuine reunion might sound a little logistically dicey (to date, drummer Chris Mars hasn't signed on, and who will fill the lead guitarist's seat is still up in the air), every fan within earshot is guaranteed to get excited at the announcement that Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson have reunited under The Replacements' name for a few shows. The band is confirmed to appear at Riot Fest in Chicago, as well as in Toronto and Denver....
Sometimes, even when you know something's coming, it's still pretty exciting to hear when it's getting close. That was the case when, late last year, singer Chris Cresswell announced that The Flatliners were working on new material for a new album to be released "in Spring of 2013." The announcement instantly generated excitement among the band's fans, but that was really all the information that the singer let slip; no name was given for the new album, no song titles,...
Author and Pulitzer Prize winner Pearl S. Buck once said that (to paraphrase) the creative mind is an abnormally sensitive machine. To the possessor of such a machine, “a touch is a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god, and failure is death. Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create – so that without the...
"I know some of you thought 'What the fuck is this?' when we started this band!" Aesop Rock is right – because the Uncluded is definitely one of the more bizarre musical collaborations to come along of late – but as Jon Spencer once said, "Rock N Roll is supposed to be weird." Their album Hokey Fright is one odd little album to wrap your head around as well, yet it sounds exactly like its individual parts; not necessarily creating...
Stagnation breeds decay. It's a ground rule of any social contract; regardless of whether you call it a band, a business or a marriage, things begin to break down when they languish too long. Trying to play up your old tricks and pass them off as something fresh is tantamount to loading the pistol for your own undoing because, in the end, the bottom line is that no one can effectively fool themselves for long. .38 Special put it best,...