Email Author John La Briola

2006 Stories by John La Briola

• The English Beat

  published July 20, 2006

  Any '80s-era ska-revival fan worth his or her checkered glad rags remembers the English Beat's cheerful way with a politically charged song --... More >>

• Trainwreck

  published July 20, 2006

  Blame Tim Robbins. Sometime during Ronald Reagan's second-term nap, while recruiting talent at UCLA for his experimental Actors' Gang Theatre, the... More >>

• Alexi Murdoch

  published July 13, 2006

  If you don't recognize the name Alexi Murdoch, chances are you've heard his voice: a soothing lilt of Scottish-bred earthiness that shows up in... More >>

• Moist Boys

  published June 22, 2006

  All over the map stylistically, the Sound of Urchin boasts dual stunt guitarists, à la Slayer, and champions cheesy hair metal, sugary pop,... More >>

• Shaw Business

  published June 15, 2006

  Before launching a singer-songwriter career, Virgil Shaw co-helmed San Francisco's Dieselhed in the early '90s with members of Camper Van... More >>

• Man Man

  published June 8, 2006

  For Philadelphia's notably disheveled Man Man, hackneyed comparisons to Captain Beefheart and Tom Waits must be flattering, but they're hardly... More >>

• Baaba Maal

  published June 8, 2006

  If socially conscious worldbeat star Baaba Maal hadn't followed his heart, he might have ended up a humble fisherman, or -- God forbid -- a... More >>

• Neil Young

  published June 1, 2006

  Fresh off a brain aneurysm, Neil Young gives the right wing an earful, clobbering our befuddled Decider-in-Chief with a righteous bitch slap that... More >>

• DJ Z-Trip

  published June 1, 2006

  Heavy is the head that wears the crown. But until criminally ambidextrous DJ Z-Trip (whose mixtapes fetch as much as $200 online) abdicates the... More >>

• His Name Is Alive

  published June 1, 2006

  Conceived while insanely prolific Warren Defever played guitar for shockabilly outfit Elvis Hitler circa 1989, His Name Is Alive embodies... More >>

• Charlie Musselwhite

  published May 25, 2006

  Charlie Musselwhite's rural innocence and Anglo complexion made him an anomaly when he left Memphis at eighteen to educate himself at the foot of... More >>

• IZ

  published May 18, 2006

  Maybe for his next trick, illusionist David Blaine will arrange to have himself sewn up in the rotting carcass of an elephant. He could eat... More >>

• Rahim

  published May 11, 2006

  The number of pasty young men with petty post-rock ambitions could populate a small city. Behold Mopetopia, where overly sensitive souls while... More >>

• Cordero

  published May 4, 2006

  Lovelorn Southwestern ballads permeate Cordero's endlessly romantic repertoire -- little surprise, given that the Brooklyn-based act has embarked... More >>

• Gutbucket

  published May 4, 2006

  Even though the four members of New York's all-instrumental Gutbucket are trained jazzbos, they're just as comfortable bouncing between klezmer,... More >>

• Parts & Labor

  published April 13, 2006

  Aggro-prog noiseniks with an ear for pop music, the three members of Parts & Labor churn out a melodic but confrontational sound characterized by... More >>

• Scattershot

  published March 2, 2006

  If anyone said, 'You can have a time machine and travel to play with any band ever,'" declares Machine Gun Blues guitarist Josh Terry, "I'd... More >>

• Dead Kenny G's

  published February 9, 2006

  If there's any justice in the great beyond, a celebrated wuss like Kenny G will end up working the men's room in hell, force-fed a never-ending... More >>

• Meditations

  published January 26, 2006

  Every roots-reggae outfit has paid homage to R&B legend Curtis Mayfield -- including the Meditations, a harmony trio that spun out of rocksteady... More >>

• Zup's On

  published January 12, 2006

  Cooking has always been one thing that I love to do," says Armando Zuppa. "In Italy, my mama taught me everything she knew. I still do a lot of... More >>