God, talk about being cursed… The Constantines’ first album came out four weeks after 9/11. For proof of the cursed aspect of this happenstance you need only look to the fact that Michael Jackson’s Invincible likewise dropped right around then. Of course, record sales and image are hugely contingent on promotion, and while it’s obviously … Read more“The Constantines: Survival Runs Through the Early ’00’s”
Two men waited in front of a store. Or, one would think it was a store. There was actually no sign, no indication of the edifice’s rudiments. Either way, the outside seemed to be more happening than the inside. One of the men was black and one was white. But they seemed on an equal … Read more“A Space for a Dog”
Many years ago, the jackals made their way west across the terrain of the United States. Some of us move back East, and we are terrified into situations of getting our neck pulled back, like might happen to a stray, mangy cat. I talked to this girl the other night from Oregon, and it was … Read more“PBR Face”
Damn, my favorite bar here in West Asheville is closed for three nights, and I’m sure the eventual results are going to be glorious: they’re building some sort of annexation on the front, either expanding the stage area or changing the outdoor dining experience, but boy did it make for a barrel-scraping night last night. … Read more“On the Catastrophic First Night of Three of the Westville Pub’s Closing”
*R.I.P. Touch and Go 10 Domino Recording Company Four Tet – There is Love in You and Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca are so original, seminal, well-crafted and irreplaceable that it’s impossible to question the relevance of the label that released them. Also, give these bands credit for belying what is seemingly Domino’s true DNA … Read more“Ranking and Diagramming the 10 Best Record Labels”
When I was younger, my sister relayed this story to me of one of my Dad’s friends developing a fake band name, a fake album name, and an entire listing of fake track names for said fake album. “Punk” and “Hip-hop” are no longer terms that to me have any bearing. I performed hip-hop music … Read more“Punk of Today: Lashing out against the Weather Mongers”
I keep talking to people in bars, and I keep going OFF, arguing, making whatever point pops into my head, which’ll probly be different tomorrow. In the meantime, I see a man who turns me on, in the non-sexual way, his body perfectly arched while he rides on a bike in front of a girlfriend … Read more“Defending Single Serving Friends”
You probably saw it in the eyes of your kin a long time ago: this is not a cooperative world. In fact, who knows what kind of world it is, but it’s not cooperative. Every band goes through days of wine and days of whine, and nobody’s going to confuse Schoolboy Q with Nas or … Read more“Pearl Jam, Schoolboy Q and the World of Oxymorons”
And that would be Helmet and Blitzen Trapper. There are those out there who say they can’t listen to albums, they don’t have the attention span, there are those who just download songs, listen to one song, then turn on the TV, then subject to advertising, and the overall coercive cultural monkey wrench we all … Read more“The Album: Let’s Just Look at Who’s Having Fun, Shall We?”
Confidence is of implacable importance in the reserve of any band that’s to persevere, stand the test of time, and successfully evolve and morph. But Tegan and Sara aren’t headlining a show at The Orange Peel because they’re confident, they’re headlining a show at The Orange Peel because with them, with the simplest of rudiments, … Read more“Tegan and Sara Tour Preview Blurb”