The first thing you notice about Lucinda Williams is her voice: raspy and brittle, yet supported by a husky tone that rubs against you. It is rough and comforting, a thin blanket that somehow manages to insulate you from a cold, heartless environment. Her songs, in contrast to her surroundings,…
In the fickle world of pop music, evolution is essential. That’s been the operative rule for Elvis Costello, an artist whose stylistic flip-flops have veered from rebellion to respectability. While punk was engulfing England in the late Seventies, Costello (a.k.a. Declan McManus) made his debut as a bitter, barb-tongued nebbish…
For many people the Nineties ska revival was an uptempo bubblegum pop hell where anything deeper than a birdbath was discarded and skanked on until it died. But while the third wave has crested and receded into oblivion, N.Y.C. rocksteady kings the Slackers are the last men standing. Unlike its…
If you’re among the culturally fortunate, then you’ve stumbled into a dive bar in Anywhere, U.S.A. in the last few years and heard: “We’re Supagroup from New Orleans, Louisiana, and we’re here to kick your ass.” Sure, you tried to act cool. But before you got the chance to snort…
Colette Marino emerged from Chicago in the late Nineties as one-fourth of the house collective Superjane. What distinguished her from partners Lady D, DJ Heather, and Dayhota wasn’t her strong DJ skills, but her penchant for spinning records and singing at the same time. This is far from a gimmick;…
While most South Bitch DJs are resolutely earthbound in their advocacy of the good thug life, Richard “Q-Bert” Quitevis is from planet Mars, a UFO with lightning-quick hands. Since emerging from the Bay Area’s potent hip-hop scene in the early Nineties, Q-Bert has evolved from a dominant hip-hop DJ with…
Back in the Sixties, at a time when the only male jazz singers on the scene seemed to be the swingers of Rat Pack notoriety and lounge lizard fame — Frankie and Sammy and Deano — Mark Murphy was keeping the true flame alive with his post-bop renditions of standards…
The late, great Shel Silverstein was celebrated for his children’s books (The Giving Tree, A Light in the Attic), but he also created plenty of challenging work for adults, from his provocative and satirical illustrations for Playboy magazine to his cutting-edge songwriting for Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show. The…
The first question that pops into mind when considering the inaugural Jam Cruise: Why book fifteen jam band acts? Despite the presence of Disco Biscuits, Umphrey’s McGee, and members of the String Cheese Incident, this isn’t entirely a Phish-ing expedition; there’s also the jazz-funk of Galactic, manic drum and bass…
Chan Marshall, who goes by the name of Cat Power, is mostly known as a media star, part of a dazzling but frequently maligned universe that includes Rufus Wainwright, Meshell Ndegeocello, and too many others to mention. It’s a category usually reserved for staunch individualists who confound audiences and critics…
Over the past two years the Funk Jazz Lounge has hosted numerous soul singers of varying quality, from relative unknowns to burgeoning stars like Dwele. But this week’s showcase should be a keeper: Maya Azucena is known for putting on exciting, dynamic performances, thanks to a promising self-released CD, Maya…
Indie music veteran Ted Leo may be too hip for his own good. The East Coast rocker was retro before it was cool, leading the mod/punk band Chisel from 1990-1997 and paving the way for the rise of newcomers Mooney Suzuki and Delta 72. His next band, the hard-rocking Sin…
Ever since he founded the techno label Plus 8 with good friend Richie Hawtin, John Acquaviva has been known as a DJ’s DJ. Over the years he has vehemently voiced his contempt for fellow disc jocks around the world who take a linear approach to music, the ones who strictly…
Where have all the jazz singers gone? To the big smoky lounge in the sky — the great ones anyway — leaving fans of the sultry-throated diva to look for the next heir to the throne. Enter René Marie. The 48-year-old veteran’s career is only now picking up steam after…
All Mike Errico needs is a little luck for his brand of alternative folk-pop to finally reach the lofty commercial heights of Dave Matthews and John Mayer. Like those two far-from-overnight successes, the New York City singer/songwriter has spent years earning his stripes by slogging it out on the coffeehouse…
Start out with aggressive guitar playing, throw in lyrics about relationships, then finish it off with complex musical arrangements that require two to three listens to absorb, and you’ve got yourself A Perfect Circle, a monster of a band — or Frankenstein’s monster, if you consider how it is put…
Last summer Doria Roberts appeared on the cover of lesbian magazine Velvet Park and proclaimed herself a “pissed-off, rock and roll, dyke-nigger bitch.” Following the self-made folkstresses who’ve come before her, she owns her own label, works the festival circuit, and tours constantly. Lesbians, lock up your girlfriends. This lean,…
Chicago hard house DJ Bad Boy Bill knows how to keep the party moving. His wildly successful Bangin the Box series draws heavily on his hip-hop background as he cuts up raucous party tracks. “My DJ style originated with the idea to remix a song live with two copies of…
During the Nineties, British DJ/producer LTJ Bukem seemed to take the more famous Goldie and Roni Size’s penchant for watery, atmospheric drum and bass to the extreme; on the Logical Progression compilation his music was seemingly defined by organic, jazz-fusion escapades, not the lightly syncopated drums that made it so…
Q and Not U specializes in the kind of ultra-funky, super-abrasive rock (or, as Spin magazine would erroneously label it, “emo”) that every self-respecting postpunk loves. First forming in Washington, D.C., in 1998, the trio has released two albums for the legendary Dischord Records. Their most recent, Different Damage, bristles…
Gang Starr is something of an institution, the last remaining link to the glorious, so-called “golden age of hip-hop” in the late Eighties. Unlike their peers who have been forced to record for independents and chase after a gradually shrinking audience, Guru (Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal) and DJ Premier are…
Here’s three foolproof ways to bug out your senses and get your heart pounding so hard it threatens to violently eject itself from your rib cage: Mainline about 30 shots of espresso, then dash up 50 flights of stairs; stroll through downtown Tikrit at noon while wearing an American flag…
