Listening to the latest from Icelandic chanteuse Björk, can feel like stepping through the curtain to enter an audio/visual piece at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. At first it can feel jarring, disorienting as the music pulses with what may seem at times like several different pieces of electronic music at once, and…
B.B. King once told an interviewer questioning how long he could continue to record and tour, that “the Blues do not retire.” The King, who died at 89 may have actually kept performing a few years after “The Thrill (Was) Gone,” but at 80 he still had a lot on the ball. And, at 78…
One of the challenges when your band’s the second highest grossing touring band of the year, is “Getting Out of Your Own Way.” Of course, that’s a problem most working bands would love to have, but Irish rockers U2 have been such a big deal for so long, that nearly everyone on the planet has…
Most of the time you don’t know when something will be your last time. When I took my son to see Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers last May, I didn’t know we’d never get another chance to see that band. There have been rare exceptions – like Warren Zevon, David Bowie, and Leonard Cohen. They all…
St. Vincent’s eponymous 4th solo album, released in 2014, was easily her most accessible, while also delivering some pretty amazing songs packaged with electro-pop polish, and marked by her unique guitar playing. And it paid off big, landing her on dozens of “best of year” lists and winning that year’s Grammy for Best Alternative Album,…
On their 25th studio album, The Church maintains the sense of revitalization that developed from the band’s 2014 release, Further/Deeper. Longtime Church fans universally recognize the band’s breakthrough radio single, “Under the Milky Way” from 1988’s Starfish, but from there the band’s strongest efforts are up for debate. I’m prone to the early 90’s albums…
Fleet Foxes return to Australia over New Years 2017-18, with national performances at the Falls Festival and a sideshow at Palais Theatre in Melbourne where they’ll be joined by Gordi. The visit follows their appearance as part of VividLIVE in May 2017. At VividLIVE, the band returned from a five-year hiatus for a series of performances at…
Following on from their first round announcement last month WOMADelaide have now dropped their entire 2018 program – and it’s absolutely huge. Joining the likes of Le Vent du Nord, Rodrigo y Gabriela and Yirrmal next year will be Scottish neo-Trad quintet Elephant Sessions, country-blues favourites Hat Fitz & Cara, roots collaboration Mama Kin Spender,…
You can’t say Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo doesn’t wear his influences on his sleeve. On last year’s self-titled (White Album) everything pointed to the Beach Boys, from “California Kids” and “L.A. Girls” to “Endless Bummer,” and that Brian Wilson spark can still be heard on Pacific Daydream. On “Beach Boys,” Cuomo admits it’s a hip hop…
Phases follows last year’s My Woman which landed in our top 5 of 2016. So it may be easy to initially take this rarities release as a fans-only, hold-you-over journey. But jumping to conclusions is never a good idea because this record provides great evidence of Olsen’s range that shines regardless if the songs are…
