Music

Far too many MCs use a lot of syllables to say virtually nothing. Fortunately, Bdbeyond and Yonnas, the Pirate Sygnl’s main mouthpieces, are exceptions to this rule. Their socially conscious, furiously political declarations make Norma(l) a rap album in which the raps actually matter. Neither Bdbeyond nor Yonnas has a…

You’d think most bands, attention-starved as they are, would jump at the chance to get interviewed by the local paper. But when just such an offer is put to Pariah Caste guitarist Chuck Coffey, the only thing jumping up is his eyebrow. “Why do you want to write an article…

It’s amazing for a club night to last six months, let alone six years,” says Eric Kozak, better known as DJ D.ecco, as he faces the upcoming final night of Breakdown, a club phenomenon that he and partner Steve Blakley, aka DJ Fury, have helmed since the late ’90s. “You…

Revisionist history has painted the original psychedelic era as something sunny, paisley-printed and oozing with love. But really, a lot of the music of the late ’60s bent minds toward the darker realms of cosmic consciousness: confusion, phobia, neurosis and, fuck, even Satan. The members of Comets on Fire –…

There’s something downright annoying about two dozen neo-hippies in robes singing “Hail to the sky! The trees wanna grow! Grow! Grow! Grow!” Yet Tim DeLaughter’s eco-minded choir somehow gets away with it. When the former Tripping Daisy frontman isn’t leading his shiny, happy zombies through symphonic ELO-verload, he’s resurrecting the…

The Roots’ new record is the result of a collection of jam sessions over a span of several weeks. Gone are the experimentation, the abstract sounds and the neo-soul. Tipping Point is straight-up raw, unadulterated hip-hop. Over the course of the album, the players primarily lie back in the cut…

The Fiery Furnaces’ Who fixation was hard enough to swallow last year, when the brother/sister duo cited Pete Townshend as an influence on its hotly hyped debut, Gallowsbird’s Bark. Unfortunately, Blueberry Boat drifts even deeper into the desultory waters of rock-opera entropy. Coming across as cute attempts at avant-garde wackiness,…

Yeah, yeah, so she’s fourteen years old and has a set of pipes. What else is new? Unfortunately, nothing much. JoJo’s self-titled debut is yet another run-of-the-mill pop album that any would-be alum of American Idol — or in JoJo’s case, America’s Most Talented Kid — would record in order…

Alto saxophonist Greg Osby is a legitimate rarity in jazz: a major-label artist who makes challenging music. Public was cut live at New York’s Jazz Standard during two nights in January, but it’s no throwaway souvenir. Despite the club setting, the sonics are superb, and the playing by Osby and…

Marc Benning earned his name in the underground with 34 Satellite, a band that’s still afloat. But after hooking up with a pair of veterans from the Kansas combo Panel Donor — guitarist Brandon Aikin and drummer Kliph Scurlock, who also keeps time for the Flaming Lips — Benning decided…

With artwork that bears a vague resemblance to the cover of the Eagles’ One of These Nights, Ghost Buffalo’s six-song debut looks like it might be a throwback to 1970s West Coast country rock. And it is, sort of: Singer/guitarist Marie Litton sounds linked in psychic and sonic empathy with…

Kid Rock is a tool. But like a broken watch that’s right twice a day, every now and then he displays the wisdom of King Solomon. In one recent television interview, for example, the Kid revealed why he started rockin’ in the first place. “Chicks,” he said, cutting to the…

When James Sharp moved to Los Angeles last year, Denver lost one of its most creative, colorful and ahead-of-the-curve DJs. Operating for the previous eight years under the alias DJ Quid, Sharp co-founded two Snake Pit residencies, Quid and Shaggy Robot, that introduced new genres such as Brit pop and…

Long before the members of !!! had even gotten their periods, Tim Kerr, of the legendary punk outfit the Big Boys, was flirting with funk and R&B. Now, after doing time in a steady progression of kick-ass bands across almost three decades, the guitarist has hit upon the quintessential clusterfuck…

Hailing from a corner of the globe better known for the breezy sounds of samba and the bossa nova, Brazilian speed-metal sensation Max Cavalera logged plenty of hard miles fronting Sepultura for twelve years. But following the mysterious death of his beloved stepson Dana Wells in 1996, the dreadlocked showman…

Seattle’s These Arms Are Snakes is responsible for one of last year’s most exciting debuts, the blistering and elaborate This Is Meant to Hurt You EP. This fall, Jade Tree will unleash the band’s full-length followup, the enigmatically titled Oxeneers or The Lion Sleeps When Its Antelope Go Home. If…

It’s a familiar story. Indie band builds rabid following for its distinctively weird music; popularity leads to a major-label contract; demands for greater accessibility water down the band’s sound; changes piss off longtime supporters, yet fail to entice enough new fans; disillusioned and frustrated, the band breaks up. Camper Van…

After nearly thirteen years of almost non-stop rocking and touring, Clutch has yet to repeat itself. The Maryland-based outfit continues to put out creative, unpredictable music pulling from influences such as Led Zeppelin, the Who, John Coltrane and Chuck D. From the aggro-hop of Transnational Speedway League to the spacey,…

Steven Adler kicked his addiction several years ago, thanks to the help of a methadone program. But apparently the original Guns N’ Roses skinsman is still a bad boy — or at least bad enough to be part of the Bad Boys of Metal tour with fellow bad seeds Kevin…

Out in the middle of nowhere, the horizon seems to drop away as the stars ascend and fill the heavens with a cold, blue, almost baptizing light. Grab your telescopes and get ready to hold your breath, because you’ll feel the same sense of awe hearing Bear Vs. Larger Bear…

Chris Fortier is one of the few truly old-school DJs on the circuit today. A pioneer of the Orlando sound, along with Icey and Kimball Collins, Fortier held a residency at the infamous Aahz club in Florida in the early ’90s. His night was the first to host the likes…