Concerts

As the second wave of grunge washes across the country and the globe — whinier and wimpier than the first — the world’s metal mavens have begun to scurry to their corners to formulate survival strategies. Increasingly, these Mad Maxes look to past heroes for salvation and inspiration. Among them…

The post-stoner sounds made by Atlanta’s Zoroaster can be described in extremely simple terms — “loud” and “heavy” among them. But the band’s seemingly basic approach still leaves room for aural weirdness by the truckload. “Tualatin,” from the combo’s 2007 disc Dog Magic, provides the template. The track begins with…

Welcome to the first installment of Snob Talk, where we ask different writers to wax philosophic, and self-indulgent, about a new topic each week. This week, we had folks write about bands that they’re pretty sure people laud more than listen to. I’m astounded by how much of Stereolab’s music…

British Sea Power Do You Like Rock Music? Rough Trade 02:20-02:55 of “Waving Flags” Hmm, yes I do like rock music. I appreciate it when bands ask me questions. It makes me really feel like I’m involved in their creative project. It’s kind of like when an author tells me…

Welcome to the first installment of Snob Talk, where we ask different writers to wax philosophic, and self-indulgent, about a new topic each week. This week, we had folks write about bands that they’re pretty sure people laud more than listen to. Every hipster—who’s as mysterious and obscure as the…

Super-hero and Miami electro guru Otto von Schirach this weekend asked a crowd in Denver that age-old question: would you rather have your ears twisted or have a dance-party-orgy? Find out what the answer was with this slide show review by Cory Casciato…

Here’s a selection of the best of last week’s music blogging from around the Village Voice chain: The Next Big Thing has been sighted by Tom Breihan; prepare yourself for the onslaught of sensitive white-boy robo-soul…

On February 10, the Grammy Awards marked their fiftieth anniversary with a program so misguided and wrongheaded that it perfectly encapsulated all of the music industry’s current woes. Following a suitably embalmed duet with the thoroughly dead Frank Sinatra, appearing in stock footage, Alicia Keys declared, “We honor our past,…

Locals Only: DJ Bedz Joins XM Radio DJ Bedz has been handling business with Denver on his chest for quite awhile now. From spinning the weekend mixes on KS107.5, to reppin’ as the official Denver Nuggets DJ, to mixtaping the heck out of the Mile High City and even appearing…

Slide Show DJ Shadow + Cut Chemist, Kid Kiola Thursday, February 7, 2008, Ogden Theater Better than: Dancing with the waitresses at Tom’s Diner. A long long time ago, 1996 to be exact, some sage named Beck surmised that the one key to any party was “two turntables and a…

I’ve always promised myself that I’ll quit this gig — or at least seriously re-evaluate things — the minute I feel myself becoming jaded. After nearly five years of covering the same beat and sorting through band after band, day after day, I figure it’s bound to happen at some…

The romantic mix CD: Every man has made at least one. It’s one of the most sure-fire ways to woo a woman or, if your goals are more base, get laid. With Valentine’s Day just a week away, as a public service, we present a list of songs that you…

When Abracastabya first formed in 2004, guitarist Geoff Brent and vocalist/pianist Willow Welter never intended to perform live. Before long, though, the two realized that their collaboration had evolved, and they enlisted cellist Lauren Langley and drummer David Grimm to round out the lineup. Last year the band entered the…

Red Holloway’s storied career had auspicious beginnings. While playing in DuSable High School’s big band in Chicago in the mid-1940s, Holloway and fellow saxophonist Johnny Griffin were sometimes visited by jazz royalty, such as Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton and others, who would stop by the school and sit in with…

If you’re a (really) nice girl between the ages of six and sixteen, you probably get twitterpated at the very thought of the Jonas Brothers, the latest commercial triumph from the marketing geniuses at the Walt Disney Company. Unfortunately, none of the journalists who participated in a January 29 teleconference…

Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni ba, Segu Blue (Out Here). Taj Mahal calls Bassekou Kouyate — who plays the ancient West African lute seen here — a genius. And listening to Segu Blue, it’s clear that the statement has some validity. Kouyate, who’s collaborated with U2 and Carlos Santana, approaches African…

Since it opened two years ago, Aqua (925 Lincoln Street) has gone through a few transformations — some inspired by the market (see “On Ice,” June 7, 2007, and Second Helping, August 9, 2007), and others by the neighbors, who complained about the booming bass radiating up from the back…

Even though a new wave of shoegaze has been coursing languidly through the musical landscape, with the exception of Radiohead, it has never quite taken hold with the stereotypical mall-crawling, moneyed suburbanite crowd. Roger, Roll comes close to bridging that gap with driftily hypnotic songs and gently lilting cadences that…

Like so many rock kids curious about “this techno thing,” one of my first introductions to the world of electronic music came via Warp’s incredible Artificial Intelligence compilation. Along with the early Orb and Orbital releases, it was my first taste of what became a lifelong love affair, and two…

While today’s hip-hop is supposedly all about collaborations, a lot of performers who share tracks don’t even record their contributions at the same time or place, much less work together on a shared vision. In that sense, Dojo is a throwback — a collective in which artists truly combine forces…