Music In Review

After gaining a critical buzz and a growing fan base since the release of Sharon Van Etten’s 2010 breakthrough, epic, the Brooklyn-based, singer-songwriter has lived a fairly nomadic life: loads of couch surfing and lodging in motel rooms spanning the globe. In between frequent tours, Van Etten recorded Tramp, a new studio release that captures […]

What started as a side project from a happenstance meeting with a next-door neighbor has become more of a full-time gig for Brad and Andrew Barr. The brothers, once core members of The Slip, a consistently changing band built on improvisational jazz and indie rock, also played in side projects, among them Surprise Me Mr. […]

Having stumbled upon a cleverly crafted, hook-filled pop single, “42 West Avenue,” by Northern Ireland singer-songwriter Danny Todd (under the moniker of Cashier No. 9), I looked forward to more. After three years of writing new songs and putting together a band (of mainly Belfast friends/musicians), Cashier No. 9, is now a bona fide band. […]

It’s apparent that Oakland-based singer-songwriter Zoe Boekbinder comes from a theatrical background. In 2005, she started performing with her sister Kim as one half of a cabaret duo, Vermilion Lies. However, since her 2009 solo release, Artichoke Perfume, Boekbinder has slowly grown from her vaudevillian and musical theater influences, without losing her thespian roots altogether. […]

Age has hardly slowed down the hyper-prolific nature of artist and songwriter Robert Pollard, the 54-year-old leader of Guided By Voices. After disbanding the legendary indie group in 2004, he reunited with the “classic” mid-‘90s GBV line-up for a brief 2010-11 tour and recorded a batch of new songs, Let’s Go Eat the Factory, due […]

The year 2011 brought a bumper crop of excellent recordings, so many it was difficult to narrow the field to 10. An overwhelming number of female artists led the charge with superb eclectic releases. There were a plethora of outstanding solo releases: the innovative hybrids of tUnE-yArDs (aka Merrill Garbus), the dark, intense lyricism of […]

1. Narratives – Steven Lugerner Septet (self-released) —  The other half of the double-album debut by this talented young multi-reedist, These Are the Words, features some stellar sidemen (Darren Johnston, Myra Melford, Matt Wilson) playing knotty compositions that draw from the Torah. We like this half even better. With his working septet of Brooklyn-based up-and-comers, Lugerner […]

When Brian Wilson convinced skeptical members of The Beach Boys to explore a more artistic, experimental form of pop, the band recorded Pet Sounds, released in the spring of 1966. Packed with sophisticated and eccentric orchestration and arrangements, Pet Sounds was a pop masterpiece, garnering high praise from his peers, notably The Beatles. Soon thereafter, […]

I’m not a patient person. Even with the amazingly unceasing distraction of smart phones, I’m still horrible at waiting. I fidget, I pace, I habitually recheck the time on my phone. The longer I have to wait, the grumpier I get, until eventually I reach a point of no return. My night at Nocturnum, to […]

  Rome had bread and circuses. Arcata has stuffing and zombie wrestling. Scores were settled in gravy this past Saturday night at the Arcata Playhouse during the second annual Zombie Throw Down. Billed as a way to manage the local zombie problem, the show featured plenty of ghoulish makeup and audience participation. It was my […]

When Kristen Gundred (aka Dee Dee) started Dum Dum Girls from her bedroom, her influences were pretty much tattooed on her arm: ‘60s garage, culled from the Nuggets collections, ‘60s girl groups, especially from the Phil Spector/Brill Building hit factory, and ‘90s lo-fi pop. When she released her debut, I Will Be, a collaboration with […]

Music, if truly an artistic expression, will evolve over time. Bands’ styles will change with each album, and an eventual shift occurs within the genre. For indie rock, this shift has been fracturing the genre, creating offshoots and sub-categories. The variety is nice, but there’s always a constant craving for what used to be. Bring […]