F. Scott Fitzgerald once declared that there are no second acts in American lives. Had the novelist ever met Will Baumgartner, however, he might not have been so quick to make such an assertion. The Action Figure 8 frontman has successfully battled back from a lengthy crack addiction that caused…
If national elections are the government’s way of dicking you over every four years, Tax Day is its way of making sure you don’t forget who has the biggest dick every single year. The worst part is that while you could spend the rest of the year wondering how your…
The Greyboy Allstars first came together in 1993 for the release of DJ Greyboy’s Freestylin’. Greyboy (aka Andreas Stevens) wanted to have a live band play tracks from the album at his release party, so he assembled a group made up of saxophonist Karl Denson, who had played on the…
Tim Mosley’s megalomania is totally justified. He’s among the most consistently inventive producers of the past decade, and his profile has risen immeasurably thanks to recent hits on which he’s both dial-twister and co-star. However, Shock Value proves he’s a better supporting player than a main attraction — and his…
Don’t be fooled by Amy Winehouse’s boozy-beehive, tabloid-fodder image. This gum-popping Londoner has the talent and substance necessary to back the substantial hype. With vocals that ooze a seductive combination of confidence, innocence and sleaze, Winehouse is a real-life dream girl. While her throwback approach is mightily informed by classic…
Time and AwareNess have been collaborating for years. Though the two MCs are somewhat obscure in Denver, they’ve earned a dedicated following across the country, even counting members of the Anticon collective as fans. On Anti-Smiles, released under the Calm moniker, the pair explores themes of existential uncertainty. Instead of…
Patchwork Quilt contradicts its title. Far from feeling scattershot, the disc is infinitely more consistent than its predecessor, RV Livin’. Yet it retains a lot of the lunacy that made the earlier album so likable. Musically, the theme is blues rock, with the Lewis boys — guitarist Pete, bassist Phil…
Joseph Arthur & the Lonely Astronauts, Let’s Just Be (Lonely Astronaut Records). Either Arthur has just discovered hallucinogens or he’s found a non-pharmaceutical way of temporarily losing his mind. Let’s Just Be is easily his most unhinged disc — a thoroughly enjoyable retro freakout replete with glittery glam (“Diamond Ring,”…
Clutch, From Beale Street to Oblivion (DRT Entertainment). If bands were represented by mythological characters, Clutch would easily take on the role of shape-shifter. Changing directions so often that its sound draws deserved comparisons to almost every style imaginable, including metal, doom and jazz fusion, Clutch stays reliably on course…
Lesbian, Power Hör (Holy Mountain). Probably the worst band name ever, but this dense slab of psychedelic, relentlessly heavy metal redeems the Seattle quartet. With just four tracks spanning over an hour, Power Hör ranks with classics like the Melvins’ Lysol and Sleep’s Jerusalem as a hefty, ambitious and complex…
Billy Martin & John Medeski, Mago (Amulet). These guys have been meaning to make a duet record since they first jammed nearly twenty years ago. Aside from a few free jams and a hipster-tinged bossa nova cut, Medeski and Martin don’t stray too far the from the same kind of…
MC Frontalot, Secrets From the Future (Level Up Records). Borrowing production values from Eminem and utilizing a lyrical style reminiscent of Biz Markie, MC Frontalot is poised to become the harbinger of the next generation of chemically imbalanced rappers. On his sophomore release, Front’s self-proclaimed nerd-core style sounds fully developed…
Of God and Science, The Songs (Detach Records). Every town has a band like Of God and Science: clever, sincere and entertaining, but too much like your buddy Dave from vo-tech: medium height, medium build, no distinguishing features. Great personality, but no edge. The record’s blend of kitschy pop and…
Jennifer Lopez, Como Ama Una Mujer (Epic). Having worn out her welcome with the pop crowd, Jenny is hoping for support from residents of another musical block. Problem is, hubby/producer Marc Anthony’s classy settings are seldom much fun and require a great voice — and that’s one of the few…
When they say pride cometh before a fall, they usually mean hubris, a potentially fatal excess of pride. It was the undoing of Icarus, Narcissus and Dabney Coleman’s character in 9 to 5. It’s also what makes so many instrumental-rock bands unlistenable. Driven to abstraction by their Berklee pedigrees and…
Don’t dismiss Sunset Rubdown as a side project to Wolf Parade and Frog Eyes. Lead singer Spencer Krug’s other two bands are better known among the indie-rock cognoscenti, but if Shut Up I Am Dreaming, Sunset’s latest effort, is any indication, Krug thinks it should be the other way around…
“Sellout.” Ice Cube might as well have the word cast in gold so he can wear it as a pendant. But rather than curse the man who once claimed to be “AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted” for going Hollywood in the cheesiest way imaginable, why not salute him for the extraordinarily unlikely…
If the idea of an albino Muslim rapper sounds like the start of a bad and potentially offensive joke, you haven’t met Brother Ali, an MC with skills that render all biographical trivia irrelevant. Though the Minneapolis wordsmith’s introspective and occasionally self-loathing lyrics have much in common with the boohoo-hop…
With charming, carefully constructed songs, Games for May conjures the acid-damaged genius of Syd Barrett, Revolver-era Beatles and pre-1970s Kinks. But this is no nostalgia act simply reanimating the ghosts of Christmases past. Like the Apples in Stereo over a decade ago, Games for May has drawn inspiration from the…
I hear ABBA records to this day,” declares Bob Ferbrache, “and I can’t believe that human beings made those records. They sound just out-of-this world perfect — and they’re 25 years old.” Ferbrache and I are sitting in the basement of his mom’s house in Westminster, talking about the music…
Next to death, unrequited love is life’s cruelest invention. Few things are as euphoric as the rush of endorphins you feel the first time someone truly steals the breath from your lungs — or as soul-crushing as later realizing that the one you love doesn’t love you. For Ian Cooke,…
Although he’s only months from his eightieth birthday, Charlie Louvin is hipper than ever. Thanks to the release of Charlie Louvin, a new disc on Tompkins Square that’s chock-a-block with guest stars, he was invited to play this year’s South by Southwest confab, and he’s also booked for Tennessee’s annual…
