Punk rock (one could say the right kind of punk rock) has had a shinier-than-usual spotlight put on it these days, partly because of what bands like Fucked Up are doing. I say “bands like” out of formality because, to be honest, I should say it’s simply because of Fucked Up. Their latest album David Comes To Life is so ambitious, offers so much, and works on so many levels that it’s the perfect album to divert an average non-punk...

Some shows just feel like they are destined to become released as live recordings. The set list, sound engineering and an otherwise indescribable atmosphere that is somehow able to work its way onto the recording all contribute to what makes a memorable live record. These great albums, which don’t come along very often, are captured moments in time – shared events that take on a distinctive quality for those who wish they could have been there and also for those...

Ever wondered what the smaller names in great big bands do while they wait for their more recognizable bandmates to get to work on new material? They don't just sit on their thumbs; everyone's got bills to pay, so musicians will often try and find other things to do which (they hope) will sustain them through the intervening months and/or years between “big artist” releases and tours. Such “extra curricular” endeavors are typified by Zenith Myth and its self-titled debut...

At what point is it safe to call a project which was once regarded as a silly sidebar operation a serious new endeavor that deserves serious attention? Such is exactly the question that Tool/ A Perfect Circle/ Puscifer fans will be asking themselves when they hear “Conditions of My Parole,” the newest, most creatively forthright and most well-rounded  album by Maynard James Keenan's Puscifer project. Founded in 2007 as Keenan's release valve away from Tool and A Perfect Circle, Puscifer's...

Over the last ten years, singer/guitarist Charles Thompson (a.k.a. Black Francis, a.k.a. Frank Black) has seemed intent on proving to his fans that the scope of sound he's capable of creating is limited only by his imagination – but the catch is that not everything he has recorded necessarily merits release. Since 2001, Thompson has put out fourteen albums of new material but, for every gold nugget he has presented (like Devil's Workshop, Honeycomb and Bluefinger), there have been as...

It's been an incredibly busy year for Dave Grohl. In addition to celebrating the twentieth anniversary of Nirvana's Nevermind album and granting a few interviews for the reissue (Jon Stewart's Q&A with Grohl and Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic was a phenomenal moment), the Foo Fighters singer has also found time to release Wasting Light and embark upon a massive world tour which has already covered the United Kingdom,...

On listening to the first few tracks of Peter Gabriel’s new album, New Blood, my knee-jerk reaction was, “Oh no, Peter’s gotten old, really old, and has resorted to the "symphonic background" method of music making to popularize his old hits.” It was a chilling thought which didn't thrill me in the slightest but, happily, by the time I heard the fourth and fifth tracks on the album, I knew I was wrong in my assumption. I suspect that the...

Wilco kicks off their eighth studio album, The Whole Love, with the type of musical experimentation that we have come to love from the band, but what follows throughout The Whole Love is an album which wants to give listeners the chance to finally take in all that Wilco has given them over the past seventeen years. The lead-off track from the album, "Art of Almost," hits with a vibe almost reminiscent of Radiohead at first until it staggers into...

You may not even like "progressive rock". You might think prog is pretentious, ostentatious, discordant, anal retentive, or any other number of disparaging adjectives, but you'd be turning yourself away from a demonstration of some of the finest musicianship in the world.

Ever.

The presentation of the "2 of a Perfect Trio" tour that I caught on October 18, 2011 was astounding on numerous levels. Most of the musicians have toured the world, some of them several times. Most of them have...

I must admit that I was a little surprised when I first heard that Incubus was headlining a show at Raley Field in West Sacramento last week. Sure, they can still be heard on local radio stations with moderate regularity, but most of the songs which do get play must be a decade old at this point. "Pardon Me" and "Wish You Were Here" were decent hits in their time, but are they enough to draw an audience in 2011?...