Jakob Dylan’s new album is artful and rough in all the right places

Jakob Dylan’s brand-new collection, Women and Country, is by far the most interesting release by the former Wallflowers frontman. It’s subtle, funny and intimate without being hermetic, not to mention a good contemporary take on the grand old country tradition. Likely first impression: “Wow, Jakob Dylan made the best Springsteen…

Filo and Peri at the Church

Something about warm summer nights makes them the ideal setting for high-energy, euphoric trance. Maybe it’s the energy boost you get when the heat finally breaks, or the side effect of too much sun that makes those insistent drums and soaring vocal breaks seem like such a good idea. Whatever…

Guitar amps in your pocket with new AmpliTube app for iPhone

Sure, there are guitarists who’ll say that no software will ever come close to emulating a ’65 Deluxe Reverb or a Marshall JCM800. But the folks at IK Multimedia have been doing a pretty good job emulating those amps as well as effects for a while now. Earlier this month,…

Red Bull Big Tune producer battle tomorrow

Ah, the producer. It’s one of the most thankless jobs in hip-hop. Apart from a few superstars like Danger Mouse and Timbaland, most producers are destined to be overshadowed by the MC on the track and displaced by a DJ in a club despite their vital role in the music-making…

Lady Gaga, queen of the cadavers? We hope not.

There’s one for every generation: the shock rocker. For those of us who grew up in the ’90s, it was Marilyn Manson. For our parents, it was Alice Cooper. For the current crop of young, impressionable minds, it’s, uh, Lady Gaga, apparently. As reported (and poorly sourced) by notorious U.K…

Westword Music Showcase 2010: Backbeat scribes’ travelogue

Here’s our massive, multi-page report/travelogue of the Westword Music Showcase from (in order) Tom Murphy, Cory Casciato, A.H. Goldstein, Jef Otte, Jon Solomon and Brian Frederick. Let us know in the comments what you saw and loved, saw and hated, or missed and hated yourself for missing. While walking to…

Thursdays arrive with a whomp at Sutra

Thursday nights at Sutra have been banging for a while and now they’ve got a spiffy flier to shout that fact at the world. The weekly event features some of the area’s best dubstep and drum and bass DJs, with a smidgen of fidget and breakbeat thrown in for good…

Erykah Badu, Brian Eno on our playlists this week

As people who think about, talk about, listen to and make music, the most common question we encounter is, “What are you listening to right now?” So whether you’re looking for recommendations, trying to get a feel for our individual sensibilities, or are just curious, we’ve compiled a list of…

Sing like John Mayer, win fabulous prizes

Do you work out the pipes in the shower singing your favorite John Mayer tunes? Are you known for your wicked karaoke version of “Half of My Heart”? Or maybe your friends are always telling how you much you sound just like everyone’s second favorite Mayer (after Oscar, of course)?…

It only looks like a prison bathroom

Don’t worry, none of us have been spirited away to some dank jail cell to pay for our crimes and send out the occasional dispatch in the form of a toilet pic. It only looks that way, based on this somewhat sketchy bathroom. Actually, we’re pretty sure jail toilets don’t…

Wanted: Fresh meat for Backbeat

Alright, now that the Showcase is in the rearview and things have started calming down around here for us, making this the perfect time for us to add some new members to our team to help us cover the scene even more thoroughly. With that in mind, we’re on the…

Keytar not ridiculous enough? Try the iTar!

Until now, if you wanted to look exceptionally silly playing an electronic instrument the keytar was your best bet. Not anymore. That’s all changed with the introduction of the iTar, a “Guitar/DJ frame” for the iPad sporting doofus with everything but a sense of shame…

’80s hair band Whitesnake now in the wine business. Really.

In possibly the strangest bid to return to relevance in the history of pop culture, Whitesnake, famed for its luscious hair, generic hair-metal anthems and Tawny Kitaen-filled music videos (see above), is trying to make a comeback. Not with a new album (god forbid) but with a delicious alcoholic beverage…

Meet Tennis, your new favorite band

Update, 11/08/10: See cover art and get other details regarding Cape Dory, Tennis’s eagerly-anticipated forthcoming debut on Fat Possum Records. Remember a couple years ago when the Young Coyotes first hit the scene and the almost deafening insta-buzz that followed? Meet Tennis, this year’s Young Coyotes — not to mention…