The ten geekiest metal bands

Geeks love metal more than the computers on which they listen to it. They yearn for heavy metal that was forged by Orcs in the mountains of Mordor, smuggled halfway across the universe on Serenity and then discovered by Silver Surfer while scouting for delicious planets. These bands aren’t necessarily…

Meet Kev Kash, a promising new local rapper

Kev Kash is a rising talent from the local scene who has songs with the likes of Innerstate Ike, Myrical and Mr. Midas. Kash says 2Pac is his biggest influence, but he says his style is comparable to Lupe or Kendrick Lamar. We recently caught up with the rapper, who…

So what does Kind of Blue sound like to an admitted jazz novice?

A lifetime of music fandom and a voracious appetite for new things has given me a wide-ranging (if sometimes shallow) knowledge of musical styles, forms and history. Despite that, there are holes. Big holes. And some of those holes are, well, embarrassing. I’ve decided the time has come to fill…

Kylesa’s Phillip Cope talks about his favorite horror movies

Kylesa got its start in 2001 when former members of sludge-metal band Damad teamed up with guitarist and visual artist Laura Pleasants. From the beginning, this Savannah, Georgia-based band has shown no loyalty to a specific genre; as a result, the outfit’s discography has been fascinatingly varied. See also: -…

Tobacco of Black Moth Super Rainbow talks about his favorite haunted houses

Although Black Moth Super Rainbow’s dreamlike, psychedelic melodies sound like they could’ve been part of those ’70s era Sid & Marty Krofft shows, the band actually formed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2003 in the wake of earlier projects from the act’s singer and multi-instrumentalist, the unimonikered Tobacco (aka Thomas Fec)…

Esi Juey has a “hundred-round clip of hits”

Born Jewel Cameron III, Esi Juey was born in California, and he moved around as a child, living in places like Ohio, before eventually landing in the Mile High City. One of the most promising local rappers to emerge in recent years, he’s swinging for the fences. “I’m trying to…

Donna Grantis of 3rd Eye Girl on what it’s like to play with Prince

Prince became a household name after the release of his third album, 1982’s 1999. Over the years, his perfectly realized blend of rock, pop, funk and jazz has proved equally popular with audiences and critics. Throughout the ’80s, Prince released hit records that broke genre barriers, not just in terms…

Yngwie Malmsteen plays to impress himself first

Yngwie Malmsteen is a guitar god known for his supremely technical fretwork. The virtuosic guitarist burst into the world of international music in 1984 with Rising Force. At the age of seven, Malmsteen says, he saw a documentary about the death of Jimi Hendrix and was so taken by Hendrix’s…