Up until now, the only great thing I knew to come out El Cajon, California, was the infamous Lester Bangs. Being well acquainted with Bangs’ story, I know that he often cursed the little town as a place of nothingness, a place embodying the direct English translation of El Cajon: the box. After hearing Greater […]
Th’ Legendary Shack*Shakers play bluesy rockabilly with a punk-Pentecostal attitude. Like so many children with a strict religious upbringing, J.D. Wilkes (“Colonel” J.D., to be exact) rebelled spectacularly, and the result is the bullet-miked, harmonica-slinging insanity of his band. It truly is his band, too, though he’s added new musicians to the lineup since their […]
Lydia Lunch is dangerous. She’s as punk rock as Jello Biafra, as jazzily poetic as Tom Waits and as psychosexually creepy as Nick Cave, with a breathy-orgasmic voice. The fact that she isn’t as well known as any of those men is a crime. She comes on like a beatnik witch on her newest release, […]
Madside’s self-titled debut CD is a classic case of a good band playing mediocre music for the sake of radio airlplay. My thoughts are that if all bands would simply stop doing this, we could change the monotonous drone of mainstream radio. If all bands are working on interesting, original music, then Clear Channel and […]
There’s something extremely enticing about a man that can cook. MF Doom, aka Madvillain and at least two other name tags, has whipped up the first solo album since 1999. Donning an apron and his character’s metal mask, Doom uses crazy spices on MM…Food, added with precision and culinary flair. Using a pinch of B […]
Travis Morrison, the former front man from Dismemberment Plan, has just released his debut solo project Travistan. Fans of the now defunct Dismemberment will be able to find some familiarity in this new album. Travis blends punk, hip-hop, funk, and what sounds like Atari noises, to create a sound all of his own. I am […]
What were you up to between the ages of 18 and 21? Perhaps you were doing exactly what most of us did during those carefree times — wasting away the day in a dead-end job, drinking cheap beer and living off Ramen and cereal. Or, if it happened to be Election Day, chances are you […]
Colfax Avenue: SOUL OF A CITY (Michael Jacobs and Daniel Silverstein) It was four or five years ago when I saw the cover of the Faithless CD, Sunday 8pm, which featured the marquee of the BlueBird, the inspiration for their album’s title. I remember looking at that and wondering what the place was like, its […]
The Machinist (2004, Brad Andersen) Maybe you’ve heard that Christian Bale lost sixty-something pounds for his role in The Machinist, the gritty psycho-drama about a blue-collar worker who hasn’t slept in a year. Since physical transformations seem to be Oscar-buzz-worthy (Nicole Kidman? Charlize Theron?), I can’t say that I’m surprised at the hype on that […]
PINKKU MOVES ONPinkku plays their last show Friday, November 12 at Larimer. No, the band’s not breaking up; in January they’ll be moving on, going to the city by the bay in search of musical riches. “This Friday will be a good time. It’s all family,” says Zimmerman, singer and keyboardist for the group. “I […]
