Be a working musician for as long as Iggy Pop has been (about forty-three years, if you didn't know) and keep a regular touring and release schedule for about the same amount of time, and it's likely that a pretty sizable bank of legally questionable releases will begin to accumulate. Some of those bootlegs have even been known to take on a celebrated status with the passage of time; some continue to reappear perennially because there was “this moment during...
Although the current incarnation of Sepultura is a far cry from the line-up that delivered some of thrash metal's finest moments with records such as Morbid Visions and Beneath the Remains, the band rolled into San Francisco last week and proved that they can still deliver the goods after all these years, without a doubt. Hitting the stage and ripping into "Arise,” Sepultura had the crowd worked up to a frenzy within a matter of seconds. Singer Derrick Green paced...
What's a musician to do when the limelight has faded completely? Granted, The Supersuckers were not the single greatest band to come rushing out of Seattle (by way of Arizona – in this band's case) in the 1990s, but they at least drew passing favor as a solid, journeyman band and their stellar work ethic has kept them going for years after the wheels fell off and the hype wore out. The Supersuckers have taken themselves as far as they...
As good as some stories might be, one must ask if they're really so good that even the post-scripts need to be recounted. That question deserves asking as one listens to the reissue of South Saturn Delta; originally released in 1997, SSD was the first compilation released by the Hendrix family after they put out First Rays Of The New Rising Sun (the album left unfinished by Jimi Hendrix at the time of his death in 1970). Fans found satisfaction...
When the Guantanamo School of Medicine (GitSOM) released The Audacity Of Hype in 2009, singer Jello Biafra accomplished what many assumed to be impossible: he managed to get the whole world (all of it – not just punk rockers) to begin looking at him as a musician again – not just as “that outspoken social and political critic/satirist Jello Biafra.” He fired all of his guns at once on Hype and the result was phenomenal, but even he would admit...
LA band Dawes keep good company. Their 2009 debut North Hills was born out of informal jam sessions with Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst, the Heartbreakers' Benmont Tench, The Black Crowes' Chris Robinson and Wilco's multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone. More recently, Robbie Robertson selected them to be the backing band for his public appearances in support of his new record, How To Become Clairvoyant, on which singer/guitarist Taylor Goldsmith also guests. Their sophomore effort Nothing Is Wrong again features Tench and sees...
Compared to the average working practices of most other bands in the last ten years, OFF! must have just run back into the studio following the first promotional tour they embarked upon in support of their First Four EPs release. Granted, a new seven-inch from the band isn't so shocking as it would have been to see another full-length offering, but the pair of songs presented on this single already imply growth and betray the fact that the band members...
The Felice Brothers have returned with Celebration, Florida – an album that is sincerely sinister, oddly beautiful and creepy, at times. It is an album that begs for repeated listens and may be their best to date. I was first introduced to the Brothers with their 2008 self-titled release and immediately fell in love with their ramshackle Americana sound. Their self-titled album was a raucous experience – full of tall tales and gritty characters – and it makes for great...
Yr. ship done come in junky! Whenna boat hitsa beach, it don't mess around, does it? This week, I gotcha ova SEVENTY little bits o' SWAG ta calm yer nerves an' make everything alright. Some of it's pretty good too. I gotcha the new Mayer Hawthorne single (which might help me get well too, las' time I included one o' his tracks, I got me a subscription ta SPIN Magazine), a Hella song so new, it DON'T EVEN HAVE A...
The Killers’ Ronnie Vannucci will release his debut solo album, Big Talk, on July 12th via Epitaph Records. Produced by Joe Chicarelli (The Strokes, My Morning Jacket), and mixed by Alan Moulder (U2, Foo Fighters), Big Talk sees Vannucci step out from behind the drum kit of one of the biggest bands of the past ten years to show us what he’s got. The album's first single, "Getaways" will be available on iTunes May 10th and fans are invited to...