I joined the Grave Dancers Union I had to file — Soul Asylum (on their debut album for Columbiaafter leaving A&M and Twin/Tone) The first, and perhaps only, lesson for struggling musicians is that there is no success other than the success that comes with a contract. The major label…
Mirrors reflect the one-dimensional image given and give it back. Hard rockers Alice in Chains take their fans beyond the looking glass and into the bloody guts of their music, where they explore the darkest sides of emotion and drug abuse — more like looking at the mirror from the…
What’s so beastly about the Beastie Boys? Flavor. F-L-A-V-O-R. That is, full-fledged, long-lasting, ass-kicking, veracity-dropping oomph and rev. Or something like that. In other words, the Beastie Boys possess the secrets of street science, the poetics of po-mo pop irreverence, the craftiness of a caravan of seasoned carnies, and the…
Wearing a hot-red clown wig, white jacket with silver and gold sequins, a rainbow of scarves, and a bow tie, Captain Bill recalls the Ziggy Stardust era of Bowie as he rocks this house. The punk aesthete renewed, the savagery of live-music showmanship pushing the envelope and cutting the edge,…
They didn’t ask to be born the sons of famous musicians. They didn’t plan, either, to be nursed on the music of the Sixties and Seventies. The members of Bloodline, a blues-based rock band, will tell you they’re not a novelty act basking in the fame of daddy’s name, but…
They said, “You have a blue guitar, You do not play things as they are.” The man replied, “Things as they are Are changed upon the blue guitar.” (from The Man with the Blue Guitar by Wallace Stevens) Chris Smither was not the first guitarist moved by Wallace Stevens’s poem,…
We’ve been playing telephone tag with Gen, lead singer and ringmistress of the Orlando-based, hard-core band-cum-traveling S&M shockfest known as the Genitorturers. We’re expecting the voice on the other end of the line — once we finally make contact — to snarl and spit venom. The GTs are, after all,…
As editor of this section I felt it was not only my right, but my duty, to recommend which candidate you should vote for in the presidential election. Unlike the Miami Herald, where a former publisher once forced the editorial board to change its recommendation, this rag is a bit…
What becomes a legend most? Folk rock. Aaargh! An overloaded term that would make any self-respecting, post-Boom techno kid reach for his or her remote. Zap — outta here. And flower power? Come on, you simply must be kidding. Was there ever really such a thing? I mean, the media,…
Superstar Chet Atkins, of all people, doesn’t quite get it. Asked about a specific technique on a particular song, he mumbles that he barely even remembers the tune. Reminded of his profoundly significant encounter with drummer Herbie Cooper, he shoots back as to how ol’ Herbie’s doing these days. Prodded…
Was there ever a tag more damning in the history of rock than that of “new Dylan”? What songwriter in his or her right mind would want to be saddled with such a burden? Better to ditch the music career on the spot and start thinking about that Sally Struthers…
“We’re the last flight of the quill before the keyboard and the console take over,” says Chris Barron, hyperkinetic mouthpiece for guitar-rock groove monsters the Spin Doctors. “Our sound just kind of revealed itself to us,” adds Toronto-bred guitarist Eric Schenkman, “like some kind of crazy sandwich that’s exponential, where…
Sure, they’ve got the maestro, the five-string king, Mr. Banjo, out front. He gets most of the press, and rightly so. He has, after all, taken the instrument places it’s never gone before. But there’s a lot more to the Flecktones than founder/plucker extraordinaire Bela Fleck. There’s harmonica virtuoso Howard…
Graham Parker once expressed sympathy for the people of Russia (before unbundling), whose government fed them so much misinformation, they thought Billy Joel was a rock star. If you don’t get that joke, you belong in Miami. This is, after all, the town where disco never died. John Travolta movies…
Let’s put it this way: One recent weekend night dozens of top musicians gathered to perform an extravagant benefit concert to help victims of Hurricane Andrew. And Gloria Estefan failed to show up! She let everyone down, she doesn’t really care, she is, by all evidence, not going to single-handedly…
Deep rhythm and blues has always possessed a special relationship with gospel. The two musics are flip sides of the same coin, a coin minted with conviction, integrity, and a powerful spirituality. You can say what you want about eyes, but in R&B, it’s the voice that’s the window to…
How does an inspired and original Miami act land a record deal with one of the N.Y./L.A. power axis companies without either going to New York or Los Angeles? They don’t. Well, that’s not entirely true. Should they hook up with some well-connected hot-shot management team that will go in…
A TV talk show recently trotted them out like five-legged cows at a county fair: “black” people who dressed, talked, looked like “white” people. Hair straightened, skin lightened, garb purchased from J. Crew or Land’s End. The word “be” conjugated with object when used as a transitive verb. And there…
ROACH THOMPSON BLUES BAND Roach Thompson Blues Band (Hot Productions) BY GREG BAKER Only four of the eleven tracks are cover versions, a decent percentage for any blues record, a double-dose delight to fans who’ve come to expect a bounty of interpretation from the Roach stompers’ live shows. Thompson’s originals…
“I got into this business to have fun, and I’m not having fun,” pronounced Jorma Kaukonen twenty years ago, explaining his decision to bail out of the Jefferson Airplane. Kaukonen’s jump caught few Airplane insiders by surprise; his waning enthusiasm for the band roughly paralleled the rising popularity of his…
Like any self-important, one-assignment-away-from-the-poorhouse hack, I get a lot of mail — books, tapes, CDs, and a never-ending paper trail of paid-for plugs — all mercilessly encouraging me to heed the coming of the next Next Big Thing. Over the years I’ve become so immune to the barrage of products…
Like any self-important, one-assignment-away-from-the-poorhouse hack, I get a lot of mail — books, tapes, CDs, and a never-ending paper trail of paid-for plugs — all mercilessly encouraging me to heed the coming of the next Next Big Thing. Over the years I’ve become so immune to the barrage of products…
