JapandroidsPay for Play: Drummer Josh Freese sells himself, his famous friends and all-you-can-eat shrimp at Sizzler
The Boys Are Coming to Town: Japandroids deliver no-frills noise rock.
Everything's Relative: Holly Williams' fetching new album, Here With Me, brings her family to mind.
In The Spin: How I Became the Bomb and KinderCastle play ELO, Those Darlins and more.
Critics' Picks like you wouldn't believe: Nilsson night at Mercy Lounge, Kink Ador, Les Claypool, Poolapalooza, Biscuits a
On the one hand, you've got Me and My Arrow: Harry Nilsson Tribute Night at Mercy Lounge. It's a benefit show for a local musician--Terry Price of Oblio was recently diagnosed with Bell's palsy--and features a strong lineup of locals in support: Oblio, The Features, Eureka Gold, David Mead, James Wallace & the Naked Light, Heypenny, The Silver Seas' Daniel Tashian, and a supergroup featuring Mike Grimes, The Raconteurs' Brendan Benson, My Morning Jacket's Carl Broemel, Hotpipes' Jon Rogers, and
It's unspoken protocol at The End: Show up late and expect to stay late. (Weekdays be damned!) But last Thursday, that rule apparently didn't apply to garage punk duo Japandroids, who trekked down from Vancouver and were unexpectedly (even to the band) given one of the opening slots. On the one hand, this made for a no-fuss show without having to wait out a couple unknowns, but it was pure luck that we didn't miss out on more when we sauntered in at the tail end of their first song. But no harm,
I'm not sure how many of you have ever been to the "twin cities" of Champaign and Urbana, Illinois. I spent five years there and can tell you it's a fairly sleepy college town with cobblestone streets, cheap rent, lots of house parties and bands to play them. Hum, Poster Children, Mother (name changed later to Menthol) and Hardvark all signed to major labels within months of each other during the feeding frenzy of the mid-'90s, spurred in part by an article in Interview that called C-U "t
Back in June, I embarked on an attempt to listen to--and hopefully review, to some extent--365 records in as many days. I encountered a fair amount of criticism in regard to my approach and just how retentive I could be on such a rigorous sonic diet. All criticisms were duly noted, and I admit my experiment has its limitations. But now I'm at 101 records in 102 days, and I've learned a hell of a lot about listening to albums, describing albums and putting important albums into a larger cultural
Back in June, I blogged that I was already beginning to consider my options for albums of the year. The annual Pazz & Jop Poll--which is half the reason I started this blog--is hosted by our former overlords at Village Voice, and they've again asked for our opinions regarding 2009's strongest albums. Sweet of them, considering we at the Scene aren't a part of the corporate family anymore--though I'm not entirely sure they realize that.
Today's the day that the Bonnaroo lineup "unfolds," as we were told would happen. The unfolding sure feels a lot like a trickle, but let's not get caught up in semantics, right? There's also supposed to be a big "unveiling" at 11 a.m. our time, so we shall be on the lookout for that. Meanwhile, we'll update this post throughout the day as we find stuff out.
It looks like artists' sites are the source of some initial confirmations, as is the case with the Fogerty. Here's what we know so
