Everyone's a Critic
Tristan Prettyman brought her brand of country-surf-folk-pop to the Belly Up Monday night. Not normally a show I'd hit up on a Monday, but I bought the tickets for my girlfriend the day they went …
The lineup for Wrex the Halls 2009 provided something for everyone in attendance at Viejas Arena. Festivities began with a great set by local act and battle of the bands winner Chasing Claymore. Followed by …
Great band name. Great CD title. Great Consequence of Sound report of TNL shut down by the NYPD for rocking so loud it was disrupting the concentration of neighboring CMJ Festival performers (if John Cage …
Morrissey was in a fine mood at Copley Symphony Hall. After a few songs, he acknowledged to the crowd of over 2000 that his last two San Diego performances were "a bit rough." (Morrissey walked …
Sean Ardoin, heir to the Zydeco throne of Bois Sec Ardoin, calls this the first Christian Zydeco album, and indeed (at least) I can't think of any others. As one of the several rappers dropping …
Lisa Hannigan, best known for her work with Irish folk-rocker Damien Rice, presents a quirky solo debut In Sea Sew. Well orchestrated, the music is a blend of Irish folk and indie pop. Clever lyrics …
It is rainy and cold on Fern Street in South Park, about as gloomy as San Diego gets. Local death-rockers Blessure Grave set up in the tiny anteroom at the Whistle Stop in front of …
Listening to Tortoise used to be a jazzy dreamscape of complex percussion, layered strings, and otherworldly electronic loops and licks. Their new album, Beacons of Ancestorship, shows a departure from that form into one that …
John Mayer’s fourth studio set is mix of mid-tempo soul-pop, melancholy blues, and romantic serenades that combine to provide a genuinely satisfying experience. Taylor Swift joins Mayer on the poppy "Half of My Heart" that …
Stepping into the world of Nivek Ogre and cEvin Key is like stepping into a Dadaist electro-performance-art thrill ride. The show began with a crippled Ogre entering the stage. He was hunched over supporting himself …
Garage-rock duo the King Khan & BBQ Show ignite a blast from the past with their new In The Red Records disc Invisible Girl. The collection taps doo-wop, retro garage, and bold punk for a …
After three years of silence, Wolmother returns with their sophomore effort, Cosmic Egg. Singer-songwriter Andrew Stockdale channels his inner Robert Plant for track after track of in-your-face 1970s hard rock. Larger-than-life riffs, extended guitar solos, …
When Paula Cole performs, it's part concert, part group meditation. Fans were entranced watching the singer-songwriter croon her poetic, self-revealing lyrics at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts. Between songs, Cole's emotional interludes further …
The Feelies’ second album was released in 1986, six years after their Crazy Rhythms debut, a gap mystifying a lot of people but not bandleaders Glenn Mercer and Bill Million, who said, long story short, …
The Feelies sure look like geeks against the ocean-blue on their debut album cover (yes, Weezer ripped it off), and Glenn Mercer’s lightly clogged intonation suggests Jonathan Richman’s taking the lonely boy in the corner …
Gotta love a group claiming Don Knotts as a member. Gotta listen beyond "The Stadium Moves," which sounds like other disillusioned musicians...but these reference T. Rex and the Merseys, so leave the CD in the …