The smorgasbord of rock ‘n’ roll has included Hispanic/American culture clashes in the past: Santana, Los Lobos, War. Add to that list Brooklyn’s Cordero, a fab foursome featuring the bilingual songs of guitarist/singer Ani Cordero, a self-described “Georgia-Rican.” With guitar, trumpet, bass and drums, the band unaffectedly blends minimalist, sinewy…
It’s hard to say whether Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel, the married music makers known as Mates of State, have inspired more flat-out envy for making lovey-dovey, knowing glances at each other onstage, or for simply defying that old rule about romance dooming a band (Bring It Back is their…
Wayne Coyne promised a return to the guitar-grinding Flaming Lips of yore with At War With the Mystics, and he does deliver — kinda. Just like the Oklahoma freak-rockers’ ADD stage show, there’s more of everything here, with guitars being just another sliver of the whole gonzo pie: more studio…
We can all agree that Lemmy Kilmister owns the coolest name in all of metal history, but coming in a close second is Trey Azagthoth — leader of the long-running death metal outfit Morbid Angel — who sounds like he should hail from the frozen blackness of upper Finland but…
1. T.I. , King (Atlantic) 2. Paul Wall, The Peoples Champ (Atlantic) 3. E-40, My Ghetto Report Card (Warner Bros) 4. LL Cool J, Todd Smith (Def Jam) 5. James Blunt, Back to Bedlam (Atlantic) 6. Toby Keith, White Trash With Money (Show Dog Nashville) 7. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Show…
Jacques Brel and Morrissey walk into a bar. As Kurt Weill pours the Maker’s and glasses are raised, Marlene Dietrich pulls up a barstool. The liquor flows and the conversation percolates. Dietrich is considering a sex change, Brel can’t stop talking about abortions and the Holocaust, and Morrissey keeps bringing…
Chicago’s Carl Mitchell, a.k.a. Twista, isn’t a musical or lyrical innovator, but he’s got the fastest tongue in hip-hop, and his quick spitting — and the collaborators he’s attracted as a result — helps explain why his career’s on the upswing after nearly a decade in the game. His verbal…
Lila Downs wowed audiences as the tango singer in Salma Hayek’s Frida and won a Latin Grammy for Best Folk Album for Una Sangre (One Blood), which blended Mexican folk music with hip-hop and world beats from the Caribbean, Latin America and the Middle East. The arrangements on La Cantina:…
Opportunities for guilt-free — no, make that philanthropic — partying just don’t seem to happen enough, but this Saturday night’s MasquerAID gives you the chance to do just that. MasquerAID, at the Icehouse (429 West Jackson Street), is a benefit for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and the…
It’s not uncommon to see art galleries doing double duty as live music venues around town, but music and art museums still don’t seem to mix. Not unless you count the unsung jazz and chamber music ensembles that give ambiance to events where guests are more into the cheese platter…
The title of this one’s a scam, as the 19-track comp only includes the earliest and latest of Johnny Thunders’ post-New York Dolls output, prior to his falling ill of leukemia, which caused complications that led to his death in ’91. But it does hit the obvious sweet spots (and…
A lot has been said about this Tucson man and his trademark public address system/helmet. Like, if Evel Knievel had been wearing Bob Log headgear back in the day, we would’ve heard “SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!” a whole mess of times as he plummeted down Snake River Canyon. And if Bob…
Despite the persistent hints of dread on Garden Ruin, Calexico manages its worried blues on these gracefully stripped-down acoustic numbers. After 10 years of sorting through multicultural influences, this Tucson collective has simplified its sound, allowing the occasional glockenspiel or Spanish lyric to gain a world-weary grandeur. Amidst the record’s…
Murs’ new album, Murray’s Revenge, is a follow-up to his last collaboration with underground producer 9th Wonder, 2004’s critically acclaimed Murs 3:16: The 9th Edition. While that album was moodily introspective — its cover image featured Murs under a freeway, tipping his hat toward the night sky — Murray’s Revenge…
Please excuse Nick Diamonds and Jaime T’ambour while they resurrect themselves. If you’ll recall, they bought the proverbial farm at the conclusion of The Unicorns’ landmark Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone?, a sort of fey, goofy, indie rock Final Exit. The Canadian pair have since jettisoned Alden…
Edvard Munch once wrote, “Illness, insanity and death are the black angels that kept watch over my cradle and accompanied me all my life.” The Black Angels tuck this cheery little epigram into the triptych of the beautifully eye-popping design of their debut album. They make good on their implied…
A monument stands at the center of What the Toll Tells, Two Gallants’ sophomore album, and like any dramatic reminder of a dark era passed, it inspires some serious introspection. At almost 10 minutes in length, “Threnody” is exactly what its title suggests, a poetic song of lament — specifically,…
I’ve seen the future of hippie music, and it’s called Sound Tribe Sector 9. Moreover, this phrase isn’t nearly as much of a backhanded insult as it initially appears. Sure, the Atlanta-based quintet is beloved by the I-swear-hemp-underwear-doesn’t-itch crowd. But unlike acts that spend their careers trying to rewrite “Sugar…
When it comes to turntablists in this town, nobody can fuck with DJ Radar. Not only has Radar composed and performed his classical Concerto for Turntable at Carnegie Hall, but the scratchmaster’s designed and built his own custom looping machine for making his beats, scratches, and wahh’s cascade over one…
Cincinnati/Brooklyn hip-hop trio Tanya Morgan’s debut album, Moonlighting, sounds ebullient. Its tone seems influenced by both West Coast indie rap (and that coast’s penchant for making freewheeling, carefree music) and the punch-line-heavy battle rhymes of East Coast underground hip-hop. Whether intentionally or not, the unusually named Tanya Morgan (the names…
1. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Show Your Bones (Interscope Records) 2. Madlib, Beat Konducta, Vol. 1-2 (Stones Throw) 3. Hank Williams III, Straight to Hell (Bruc Records) 4. Various Artists, The Soul Side of the Street (Bacchus Archives) 5. Integrity, Palm Sunday (Spook City) 6. Aceyalone with RJD2, Magnificent City (Decon…
According to conventional rap wisdom, New York’s dead, Atlanta crunk is played, and Bay Area hyphy is poised to become the next phenomenon that dominates the mainstream. But for the moment, anyway, Houston hip-hop still holds the heavyweight belt; the woozy “screwed” style — first explored by legendary syrup-sippin’ DJ…
