Since the ’70s, Devo has specialized in subversion, and the more twisted, the better. Early on, for instance, the band prompted unwitting fans to offer mock Hitler salutes during in-concert renditions of “Praying Hands” — a Triumph of the Will-like gag that demonstrated how easily groupthink can mutate into fascism…
Jack White’s new look and persona give us a few clues as to Who he’s trying to be these days. Take a look at these facts about the White Stripes frontman and see if you can figure it out: 1. He’s traded in his minimalist attire for that “bizarro dashing…
All hail the mighty compact disc! That piece of technology that let you listen to OK Computer without having to sit through “Fitter Happier.” While we know that no audio format lives forever — someday the CD will ascend to take its place next to hallowed eight-track cassettes — that…
From the moment my head hits the pillow until I drift off into the tranquil land of all-you-can-eat pizza served up by Kathy Sabine in a whipped-cream bikini, I spend countless hours staring at the glow-in-the-dark star pattern on my ceiling, wrestling with life’s nagging profundities. If I spend my…
Joel Peterson, aka Broken Spindles, logs plenty of miles as the full-time bassist for Beep Beep and retro-dance supergroup the Faint. As a minimal solo artist, the Omaha native also makes time before and after shows for what seems to be his favorite pastime: self-interrogation. In this third installment of…
As its moniker implies, Twin Cinema essentially doubles the theatricality of previous Pornographers efforts. While the title track constitutes hooky indie pop, the album as a whole conjures images of a Rent-like musical, with most numbers custom-made for cast members to belt toward the balcony. The shifting ensemble assembled by…
Pieced together by an all-star team of producers (RZA, Raekwon, Mark Ronson) and bolstered by guest vocalists like Missy Elliott, Macy Gray and fellow Wu-Tang alumni Ghostface and Method Man, A Son Unique feels more like a posthumous tribute to the late Russell Jones than an actual ODB album. Even…
With MPs and blogs disseminating and then commenting on new music at a nearly instantaneous rate, young bands can find themselves thrust into the spotlight before the ink on their discs is even dry. The self-released debut by Brooklyn’s Clap Your Hands Say Yeah — with no label or publicist…
Fate can be a sick fucker. As a founding member of Immortal Dominion, former bassist Stephen Sherwood helped forge some of the most brutal and unflinching metal Colorado has ever seen. On August 3, he shot his wife and then himself, killing them both, after returning from service in Iraq…
Pristinely recorded at the Blasting Room in Fort Collins, More Than Medium’s eponymous debut is as polished and by-the-numbers radio-friendly as it gets. If ever there was a formula for igniting a heated Love affair with broadcasters, this quartet has followed it down to the letter. In the span of…
Banjo & Sullivan, The Ultimate Collection 1972-1978 (Hip-O Records). A marketing ruse created to hype horror show The Devil’s Rejects, this amusing but raunchy novelty disc chronicles the make-believe musical ascent of two slaughtered hayseeds. Written and performed by Jesse Dayton (marinated in Jim Beam, trucker speed and nipple pie),…
Bands are like bats. They make noise, let it bounce back at them, and then use these reverberations to form a picture of their environment and their own place in it. Take, for instance the Ebb and Flow — drummer Sara Cassetti, guitarist Sam Tsitrin and keyboardist Roshy Kheshti –…
Love him or hate him, George Acosta has become a staple player in Denver’s dance-music scene. His latest mix CD, The Lost World, is a one-off of his infamous radio show of the same name. The mix is solid, starting off a bit dark and edgy and working itself into…
If Reckless Kelly were a transmission, it would be a five-speed. The Austin quintet’s latest effort, Wicked Twisted Road, captures its music in all gears, from the quiet, low-gear country folk of the title track to lilting second-gear love-song ballads, from drunk-and-stumble alt-country Irish travelogues to off-the-speedometer Allman Brothers rumblers…
Depending on cultural stigma, a person born with albinism can end up being regarded as a divine messenger or someone who belongs in a circus sideshow exhibit. For Jamaican Winston Foster, this rare pigment deficiency (estimated to occur in one in every 17,000 people) invited hostility and scorn to a…
The lead singer gets all the chicks. The lead guitarist gets all the props. The drummer gets all the mystique. The bass player getsŠwhatever’s left over. Seriously. When’s the last time somebody talked about knighting Bill Wyman? Everyone drools over Mick Jagger or the crypt- keeper formerly known as Keith…
Brothers and sisters, let’s talk about the Lord. Like many of us, perhaps your faith in the higher power(s) is lapsed, questionable, agnostic or even non-existent. My fellow wanderers in the wilderness, welcome to the flock of those who might believe but haven’t found a church or sect that feels…
The rock duo is the new quartet. The White Stripes, the Dresden Dolls, the Black Keys and many more have proven that two people with the right raw mixture of talent, originality and balls can rawk far harder than bands twice their size. North Carolina’s Des Ark is rock’s latest…
The Backstreet Boys! Yeah, we know. You’re supposed to tell the joke before you get to the punchline. In 2005, though, the Backstreet Boys are both. The mere mention of Orlando’s most popular export conjures up images of a pop juggernaut crashing under the weight of its own excess, leaving…
In a recent interview on Today, Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams described the decision to bust up Destiny’s Child following their current farewell tour/victory lap as a mutual one — and host Matt Lauer proved his professionalism by not breaking out laughing. Remember that group manager Matthew Knowles,…
The title of Jett Black’s latest disc, To Hell and Back, might as well be a direct reference to frontman Jeff Arnold’s life over the nine months. The last time we heard from Arnold (aka Jett Black) this past January, he had just watched his club, the Velvet Underground, which…
Seb Fontaine insists he never wanted to be a DJ, but it seems he was almost predestined for the profession. His mother was a DJ, and he was conceived in Ibiza, the world’s electronic-music party mecca. Although he grew up in London’s 2-Tone ska scene and still fantasizes about being…
