Critic's Notebook

Bryan Webb, the singer and guitarist for Canada’s Constantines, profiled in Westword’s July 3 edition, is a naturally introspective fellow – but he opens up in his songs, and in the Q&A below…

Here’s a wrap-up of all the great coverage you missed this week on Backbeat Online while you were digesting the news that Amy Winehouse’s emphysema may end her singing career (and, eventually, her junkie career as well…)…

In 2006, Gnarls Barkley, the subject of a June 26 Westword profile, scored with what to most ears was the song of the year – a little single called “Crazy.” Although lead singer Cee-Lo Green makes it clear in the Q&A below that he never attempted to repeat this feat,…

Cobra Starship, a June 26 Westword profile subject, is among the more unlikely passengers on the runaway train known as the 2008 Warped Tour – a band whose members didn’t truly come together until after a song released under its name was already well on its way to becoming a…

Here’s a wrap-up of all the spectacular coverage you missed this week on Backbeat Online while you were transfixed by Ice T’s calling out Soulja Boy for ruining hip-hop and telling the young star to “eat a dick” …..

Here’s a wrap-up of all the great stuff you missed this week on Backbeat Online while you were busy speculating what kind of family dust-up could lead Madonna’s younger brother to write an unauthorized, tell-all biography. We’re betting he didn’t get what he asked for last Christmas…..

Metalocalypse, which is in its second season as part of Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim program slate, chronicles the misadventures of Dethklok, a death-metal band that sprang from the imagination of Brendon Small and cohort Tommy Blacha. However, the group comes to life, sort of, during a Thursday, June 12 gig…

Ra Ra Riot, one of the national acts joining the local talent at the Westword Music Showcase on Saturday, June 14 (click here for more details), is a band on the upswing. Wes Miles, the outfit’s frontman, traces the road to its rise in the funny and revealing Q&A that…

The Backbeat section of Westword’s June 12 edition is dominated by updates and details about the annual Westword Music Showcase, as well it should be. But strange as it might seem, there are other notable musical happenings taking place around town during the week, including a Saturday, June 14 performance…

Here’s a wrap up of all the exciting stuff you missed this week while you were goggling in amazement at Metallica’s insistence that a blogger take down his preview of their upcoming album, thus demonstrating the group’s continued lack of anything resembling a clue when it come to these here…

Finnish dance-music producer Ville Virtanen, better known as Darude, scored a giant hit with his first release “Sandstorm,” a track that’s sold close to two million units worldwide since its release. While he’s never managed to replicate the success of that initial monster track, he’s managed to carve out a…

Hayes Carll’s always been known as an animated performer – but these days, the description can be taken literally. In “Crystal Beach Memories,” a clip accessible at Will Ferrell’s FunnyOrDie.com site, he looks like the image above as he talks about his life and times – topics that dominate a…

It’s one thing to record an album that you hope is going to take you places. It’s another thing to have that record shelved and not see the light of day until thirty years later. In this extended Q&A, Bettye LaVette talks about going back to Muscle Shoals and working…

Who: Sarah Marcogliese Dossier: Former member of Drop the Fear. In Her Words: “Fun… sometimes…. pain sometimes. Forgiveness, hope, love, distruction, reconstruction, connection… music for the feelings you feel that felt sometimes like feely… really.”…

Here’s a wrap up of what you might have missed this week on Backbeat Online while you were transfixed by the dustup between Radiohead and Prince over whether or not Prince has the right to cock block the release of video of his performance of Radiohead’s “Creep” at Coachella…..

In conversation, singer-songwriter Erykah Badu, the subject of a May 29 Westword profile, sounds regal and all-knowing even when her words seem to defy space, time, logic and just about everything else. It’s a neat (and fascinating) trick, which she demonstrates throughout the Q&A below…

The Q&A below starring Roots drummer Ahmir ?uestlove Thompson, whose band opens for Westword profile and Q&A subject Erykah Badu, represented a first for yours truly. Never before had I conducted an interview with an artist who spent the first portion of the conversation on a treadmill. But Thompson is…

Here’s a run down of what you might have missed this week on Backbeat Online while all eyes were on R. Kelley, who was undoubtedly ruing the day that he gave in to his body, which was evidently telling him “yes,” while his mind was telling him “no”…..

Rachael Pollard likes roller skates. A lot. She got married with her skates on, played a few gigs with them on and even skated in the pivot position for the Red Riding Hoods roller derby team for about nine months. It might be something to keep in mind when listening…

Because one feature is never enough when it comes to a band like the Breeders, in addition to this week’s profile by Rob Trucks, we bring you the following extended Q&A with Kelley Deal by Andrew Fersch…

Musical success in one country is no guarantee of triumph in another – particularly not the United States, which, despite the downturn in the domestic record industry, remains the place that separates regional luminaries from global superstars. Australian singer-songwriter Missy Higgins, who’s profiled in the May 22 Westword, understands that…

The May 15 Westword profile of Maya Arulpragasam, who performs as M.I.A., is built upon the foundation provided by the following Q&A, conducted on April 28, the day after the end of the 2008 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, where her set turned the heads of fans and fellow…