Listen.com

Reviewed: John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Band Live in Toronto '69

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:06:37 -0800

Washington, DC

Beatles freaks love milestones, and when it comes to the big one--what moment portended the group's demise?--there's no shortage of possibilities. Was it the phone call Paul received chez the Maharishi informing him that the Beatles' business guru had died of a carbitral overdose? The half-baked Magical Mystery Tour project, Paul's money-hemorrhaging power-grab that Bob Spitz says "provided the first signs of their fallibility"? John's first meeting with Yoko Ono in 1966 (after which, John told Jan Wenner, "I decided to leave the group")? Any of the handful of times a Beatle traipsed out of the Let It Be sessions, swearing off the group forever, only to return?

...or, as numerous rock critics as well as the PR wing of Shout! Factory would have us believe, was it the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival Festival in September, 1969? Yesterday, Shout! rereleased D.A. Pennebaker's film of the Toronto concert (it's been off the shelves since BMG pulled a 2002 iteration), and in a wise marketing move the company has answered the above question with stirring finality: this concert, they assure us, "signalled the end of the Beatles."

Review: Tito Puente, Dance Mania

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:47:55 -0800

Tampa-Sarasota

Mainstream America's embracement of Latin music really took hold in the latter half of the 1950s with the "mambo craze." Despite its faddish overtones and eventual disintegration into novelty ("Mambo Italiano"), this particular craze inspired some terrific music, none better than Tito Puente's Dance Mania, which in 2000 was named one of the 25 "most significant albums" of the 20th century by the New York Times.

Little Feat

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:41:45 -0800

Charlotte

The latest incarnation of the band has been touring for more than 20 years, including founding member Bill Payne. Shaun Murphy, who played with the band since 1993, appearing on five albums, left the band this past February and will not be replaced.

Review: Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Beware

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:22:06 -0800

Atlanta

Despite the foreboding title and bleak black and white cover art -- a curious nod to the first Danzig album -- Bonnie "Prince" Billy's Beware is an inviting entry into Will Oldham's haunting repertoire.

But a closer look reveals the layers of dark imagery hiding inside some of Oldham's most gorgeous, complex songs about the nature of love, happiness and existential rumination. Each song serves a cautionary tale, arriving as a Trojan horse that charms with a comfortable glow before opening up to expose its damaged character. The bucolic, acoustic strum and declaration -- "I want to be your only friend" -- that opens the album on "Beware Your Only Friend" suggests something more destructive than the naïve affections evoked by Oldham's words and sweet voice.

White Trash Renegades: The Supervillains, Authority Zero, Pennywise, and Pepper at the 9:30 Club

Wed, 20 May 2009 07:26:31 -0800

Washington, DC

Skate rock (Think Sublime's genetic material crossed with that of Minor Threat) is a lot like milt. Some people get a mouthful of the creamy white stuff and think, "So this is fish sperm. Not bad!" Other people take a bite, move it around with their tongues, and then say to themselves, "Oh god, I just put fish balls in my mouth." They panic. They look for a trash can, a napkin, maybe some condiments to amend the taste. They crunch up crackers and squirt cocktail sauce directly into their gaping, fishy maws. When that doesn't work, they spit what's left into their hands and shove it in their pockets.

Record Review: Chester French's Love the Future

Fri, 08 May 2009 08:39:06 -0800

Washington, DC

It was hard to cop a buzz from most of the northeast collegiate bands in the early oughts; the music was by and large unexceptional, and most of the musicians spent as much time in front of an easel--or wrapped around a bong--as they did practicing. But then there were the rumors coming out of Harvard: the college's most convincing band had a retro, jammy thing going on; they performed cheeky pop songs while wearing Bermuda tuxedos; their lead guitarist had a Trey-worthy tone but played with his back to the audience, Miles Davis-style, too aloof or too shy to give a proper rock 'n' roll performance.

A year later, I saw Chester French play a stuffed, sweaty Harvard venue known as the Fishbowl, and the guitarist had transformed. He gamboled about the stage, wagging his tongue at the audience and coining a curious update of the Chuck Berry duck-walk. Shredded, too. Their songs were generally OK, their stage presence above average, their ODB cover insolently upper-crust and a total slam-dunk.

Das Mötørbike: How an imaginary band became a merciless send-up of genre-flogging

Fri, 08 May 2009 08:31:40 -0800

Washington, DC

An occupational hazard in music criticism is the inevitable blurbology: over-hyphenated elevator pitches in favor of a new run of B-sides that "totally could have been A-sides" from a band seemingly defined by the number of genres it inhabits.

This was also the case in college. For example: someone mentions a group called, say, Dr. Pain and the Smooch of Death. "They're pretty cool," this person shrugs. (The shrug is always a warning sign.)

"What's it like?" you ask, bracing yourself.

"Oh, I dunno...it's, like, post-Punk-core with a dash of jizz-rock thrown in," this person will nod. You too will nod, and this person will endeavor to ply you with the grainy tracks in question; if there's weed in the room, you soldier through.

CD Review: Brandon Kirkley & The Firecrackers

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 09:28:17 -0800

Charlotte

The Deal: Charlotte quartet Brandon Kirkley & The Firecrackers independently releases six-song EP, What We Thought We Knew.

The Good: The band offers up pop-rock tunes on its debut. "One to None" has a radio-friendly groove to it and building chorus that you can easily see might be a live staple in their set. Singer Kirkley shows a bit of range in his vocals on "You Don't Know" with moments of falsetto and a bit of that rock 'n' roll power scream. The harmonica gave a nice touch on "Sunset City."

Review: PJ Harvey & John Parish, A Woman A Man Walked By

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 09:11:14 -0800

Tampa-Sarasota

By the time she released her sixth solo album -- Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea -- Polly Jean Harvey had pretty much stretched her sound in every direction it could logically go.

1992's Dry was her fully formed indie-encapsulating debut; 1993's Rid of Me her Steve Albini-produced exploration of caterwauling noise; 4-Track Demos her raw, immediate bedroom snapshot; 1995's To Bring You My Love her confident, theatrical blues masterstroke; 1998's Is This Desire? her electronica-dabbling incorporation of folk-rock touches. What was left but to streamline her sound, spruce up the recording studio and record a steamy slab of hook-driven pop-rock?

Review: Kylesa, Static Tensions

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 08:59:53 -0800

Atlanta

The tangled ribbon of sludge and psychedelia that weaves throughout Kylesa's previous albums twists with restraint on Static Tensions, the fourth full-length from Savannah's quintessential blackened-metal outsiders. From the opening salvo of "Scapegoat" to the swaying rhythms of "To Walk Alone," textures are refined in the periphery as guitars mash scorching fugues against bombastic rhythms.

CD Review: Peter Doherty, Grace/Wastelands

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 09:19:54 -0800

The Deal: Former Libertine frontman/current Babyshambles singer/notorious drug abuser Pete Doherty adds an 'r' and releases long-awaited acoustic album.

New concert announcement: Bon Iver @ State Theatre

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 09:06:31 -0800

Tampa-Sarasota

Got an email from State Media with their updated concert announcements and I literally gasped aloud when I saw that Bon Iver (the moniker of Wisconsin singer/songwriter Justin Vernon) will be making his way down to FLA before hitting Bonarroo, and will play State Theatre Wednesday, June 10. Bon Iver's stunning, austerely beautiful For Emma Forever Ago was No. 2 on my top 10 album of '08 list, Vernon a vocalist who takes your breathe away with his delicate, soulful falsetto.

Review: Brian Jonestown Massacre @ Variety Playhouse

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 07:54:52 -0800

Atlanta

Brian Jonestown Massacre played a compellingly mellow show on Friday night at Variety Playhouse. The tambourine guy is still in the band and he is still very hard to look at, yet his placement at the front and center of the stage feels like a distractionary tactic.

CD Review: Amy LaVere, Died of Love

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 07:48:49 -0800

Memphis

A bit of a stop-gap product while waiting for LaVere's full-length follow-up to the still-going-strong Anchors & Anvils, Died of Love is a five-song, 22-minute hodgepodge of an EP: two traditional songs, two covers, and a new version of the A&A standout "Washing Machine."

Interview: Tony Dekker from Great Lake Swimmers

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 07:39:05 -0800

Atlanta

For today's Roll Call we call out Tony Dekker from Ontario's Great Lake Swimmers.

Who are you?
Tony Dekker from Great Lake Swimmers.

Describe yourself in three words.
Big huge nerd.

Who - dead or alive - would you most like to meet?
Leonard Cohen.

Who would you most like to slap in the face?
Nobody. I don't slap people in their faces.