Everyone's a Critic
In 2014, five guys played the Belly Up under the moniker of Guided by Voices. A pair of these musicians was present at this year’s show — Robert Pollard (singer) and Kevin March (drummer) — …
On night one of two evenings of sold-out shows consisting of four musicians comprising two bands, the Belly Up became a stage for dynamic duos. Warming up the crowd was the Irish acoustic guitar-and-drum bundle …
Shrine Auditorium has a gorgeous personality, a haunting elegance that paired well with Radiohead’s bipolar extravagance, as the English quintet performing 24 intimate songs to a sold-out crowd of 6300. The night looked like a …
“Shakedown Street” is one of the Grateful Dead's funkiest songs, and it’s also the name given to the funky traveling market that has been springing up in the parking lot at Dead shows for decades. …
The first Descendents album since 2004’s Cool to Be You blasts out of the gates with a pristine five-song run of classic ‘Dents goodness. The cream of the crop is “Victim of Me,” an 97-second …
What to say about Savages…these are some badass ladies. The English quartet is known for their fierce and eerie delivery. Atmospheric guitar feedback, constant rumbling of bass and drums, topped off by Jehnny Beth’s maniacal …
We won’t have the new Meat Loaf until the kids go back to school this September, so lucky for us the Suede decided to carry on in the face of lineup changes and, dare I …
Wye Oak is a Baltimore indie-rock duo formed in 2006 whose music ranges from laid-back and spare to noisy guitar freak-outs. They showcased these dynamics mid-set at the Irenic with the galloping soft/loud/soft/really loud structure …
Serengeti and Yoni Wolf’s second collaborative full-length, Testarossa, is a concept album speaking to the difficulty inherent in maintaining a relationship across distance, specifically in a profession requiring perpetual travel, and of the longing, infidelity, …
Robert Nix is a Canadian composer and multi-instrumentalist whose recent album, Once in a Blue Moon, highlights a man adding muscle-tone to the business of art-rock. Acquainted with absurdity and valuing the artist impulse to …
Before Royal Headache started their set, I spotted their bassist, Joe, taking a stab at the NFL Blitz ’99 arcade game nestled in the club’s main room. Perhaps he was using it to learn the …
Com Truise is the electronic project of Seth Haley, a former DJ who employs an arsenal of synth patches and drum machines to create a heady mix of ’80s-inspired sci-fi music. By pitch-bending and layering …
Musical-comedy duo Flight of the Conchords didn’t care that several fans in the front row had brought small children to their sold-out gig at San Diego State: nothing was going to stop them from boasting …
Without a live band, Buckethead kept the packed Music Box of hardcore fans salivating over his axe handling. A souped-up guitar capable of making you breakfast and doing the dishes, buzzed, ripped, soared, and dominated …
Following the commercial high-water mark of Red Hot Chili Peppers' By the Way, it's been a decade plus of funk-rock mediocrity from an aging band with a formulaic sound. The average listener's impression of the …
The quirky darkness off Les Claypool (Primus) blended with the experimental flair of Sean Lennon creates the mind-altering experience of the Claypool Lennon Delirium — it sounds as if the Beatles and Pink Floyd had …