If the music business were poker, singer-songwriter Jessica Sonner would be holding a straight flush. Her sound is a polished, accessible blend of pop, country and blues influences, and she’s blessed with a powerful, sultry voice that helps elevates her songs. It doesn’t hurt that she’s also a classic beauty…
From its humble beginnings circa the ’60s, dub has become one of the most influential subgenres in modern music, inspiring innovations in dance sounds, punk rock and countless other categories — and among contemporary practitioners of the art, no one’s been better for longer than Mad Professor. Born Neal Fraser…
Onetime Hollywood coffee shop the Hotel Cafe has evolved into what many feel is the best singer-songwriter haunt on the West Coast — mainly because of an influx of serious talent from around the country looking to catch the ear of movie and television music supervisors who stalk the venue…
On the Claudia Quintet’s latest genre-bending album, For, composer and percussionist John Hollenbeck dedicates each of the disc’s eight songs to different people, from Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek and Dick Cheney’s daughter Mary to Vipassana meditation teacher S.N. Goenka. While “I’m So Frickin’ Cool” may have been written for Austrian…
Though it’s certainly not the rule, every once in a while, good things do actually last. With its quirky 1996 debut single and video, “Novocaine for the Soul,” Eels had all the hallmarks of a one-hit wonder. Twelve years later, though, Mark Everett and company have earned a devoted following…
Although past Black Keys recordings featured post-blues minimalism at its finest, the rawness of one disc after another threatened to become a stylistic dead end. Enter Brian Burton, aka Danger Mouse, whose work on the Keys’ latest CD, Attack & Release, opens up new sonic vistas for the duo. Singer/guitarist…
File under: Fuck yeah! Although rumors have been swirling for a while now, it’s official: The five original members of the Fluid are getting back together for three shows, two back-to-back performances at Seattle’s Marymoor Park for Sub-Pop’s 20th Anniversary Festival on July 12 and 13, and one a few…
Sea Wolf, Nada Surf April 1, 2008 Bluebird Theater Better Than: A sound-check that lasts all night “Politicians are at their worst when they’re talking about politics,” my friend Brett said to me as we were leaving the Nada Surf show at the Gothic Tuesday evening. “Same holds true for…
You’d be forgiven if you thought that buzzing sound was the arrival of Africanized killer bees finally arriving as promised a decade ago, but it was actually indie internet darlings Vampire Weekend arriving April 1 to play a show at the Bluebird Theater. Enjoy this slide show review by Cory…
The April 3 profile of Daniel Johnston, as well as a complete Q&A accessible here, calls to mind a previous Westword piece focusing on the highly unusual artist. Back in 1995, Kathy McCarty, best known at the time as the lead singer of a first-rate cult band known as Glass…
Two decades ago, an outdoor amphitheatre was created in the heart of Greenwood Village. The gods saw that it was good and named it Fiddler’s Green. In recent years, it’s been known as Coors Amphitheatre — even though a great many stubborn locals still called it Fiddler’s. Well, good news…
Anybody catch the new CSI promos over the weekend? Evidently, after being on ice for the duration of the agonizing writer’s strike, the CSI crew is back on the case, and in honor of such a momentous occasion, CBS is running promos hyping its return with a trailer featuring “Are…
Here’s a selection of the best of last week’s music blogging from around the Village Voice chain: So, the Rutles, a Beatles parody/tribute from years ago, are revived to hop on the bandwagon pioneered by Spamalot. It’s produced by Eric Idle and Lorne Michaels, stars a real-life Beatles tribute band…
LOCALS ONLY In 2006 The Pirate Signal, consisting of rapper-producer Yonnas and DJ A-What, released a self-titled EP that brought a breath of fresh air to the Colorado hip-hop scene. But because the stagnation most hip-hop artists face here in the Mile High, Yonnas moved to Brooklyn, New York, with…
Slide Show X Tuesday, March 25 Bluebird Theater Better Than: Seeing X two decades ago. An hour before heading to the Bluebird I met a friend of mine who saw X in East St. Louis a few weeks ago. He said it was a great show, but he also mentioned…
B-52s Funplex Astralwerks 01:15-02:00 of “Pump” What the heck? Um, no seriously, what the heck? What made the B-52’s decide to release a record and, more importantly, why did they decide on the absolute stupidest album cover? You know, “Rock Lobster” is a great song that totally appeals to both…
Here’s a selection of the best of last week’s music blogging from around the Village Voice chain: Sate your nostalgia for the Aquanet-fueled halcyon days of hair metal with a look at this collection of vintage show ads from Minneapolis. My favorites are the many appearances by the oafishly named…
Diplo and Justice Saturday, March 22, 2008 Ogden Theatre Pulling off electronic music live is very tricky. The same tracks that can absolutely rock a dancefloor, a party or your headphones can fall completely flat when all there is to watch is a nerdy dude lit by his laptop. You…
Slide Show Beach House, Papercuts, Future of the Ghost, Bad Weather California Saturday, March 22, 2008, Hi-Dive Better than: not much. On the frigid, sloppy walk to the Hi-Dive, my friend John asked a question that had been renting some space in my mind of late. “When was the last…
Slide Show De Novo Dahl, the Jimi Austin and Vanessa Peters & Ice Cream On Mondays Thursday, March 20 Hi-Dive Better than: Watching the Grand Ole Opry on TV I was floored by De Novo Dahl’s set at Monolith last year, especially the Nashville-based band’s closer “Shout,” which I’m still…
Things for a lead vocalist to avoid when performing at a high-profile, multi-day music festival: 1) Cigarettes, 2) Booze, 3) Landing on your throat after attempting to do a flip from a low-hanging tree branch into a shallow river. You don’t have to be an otolaryngologist to deduce that it’s…
When music scenes turn moribund, tastemakers desperately flail about for something, anything, to fill the void — and a band that’s anointed as the Chosen One under these circumstances often goes from obscurity to ubiquity with quicksilver speed. Too bad even the strongest among them can drown while undergoing their…
