ilentertainer's Latest Posts
Massive missive
Massive Attack Collected (Virgin) Massive Attack were never the most popular band in trip-hop, but they were its best. Though this collection might arrive prematurely — four albums plus singles — it’s a commendable attempt to capture these easily defined yet highly elusive pioneers.
Eternally Yours
The Eternals High Anxiety EP (Aesthetics) Having gone their first two albums with an asterick overemphasizing their Trenchmouth lineage, Chicago’s Eternals let outsiders remix them and break the separations game wide open.
Float On
Anathallo Floating World (Nettwerk) Unsettling near-Sufjan Stevens, anti-showtunes grandeur hides in corners only to be drawn out via uplifting instrumentals.
Flag Bare
Anti-Flag For Blood & Empire (RCA) Taking cues from Green Day’s wildly successful American Idiot, supposed “important” punks Anti-Flag get the sloganeering machines firing.
May we holler at you?
Frog Holler Haywire (ZoBird) Somewhere in the boonies, outside Philadelphia, Frog Holler lurk with Americana reshapen for Dutch Country living.
Come To España!
Spain Colored Orange Hopelessly Incapable Of Standing In The Way EP (Lucid) Well now’s the time to be a Cuban jazz fan and in an indie rock band.
Playing The Field
Field Music Field Music (Memphis Industries) Apparently there’s only 10 or so musicians in Sunderland, England, and they’re in either The Futureheads, Maximo Park, or Field Music here. Sometimes more than one.
Superelectropreview
Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid Empty Bottle, Chicago Wednesday, April 5, 2006 “All tracks are live takes with no overdubs or edits.” This sentence seems to be the mission statement of The Exchange Session Vol.1(Domino). It appears on both the CD insert and press release. A completely improvised, unedited blend of drums, percussion, and electronics, […]
Cover Story: Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys Street Fighting Men The buzz hadn’t officially begun yet. But already you could hear it, bumblebee-droning. Getting louder by the minute. The time: A few short months ago. The place: A hip, Anglophile-oriented nightclub in San Francisco during an early-evening soundcheck. The cast of characters: Colorful, to say the least, including a long-haired […]
Beth Orton
BethOrton Stranger Things Have Happened Talk to musicians enough, and phrases reminiscent of sports cliches make their way to the fore. It only makes sense: we have our stock questions; they have their stock answers. Only instead of giving 110 percent or taking one game at a time, there’s “We really love coming to your […]
Editors
Editors Out Back There’s a bit of a misconception about Britain’s bell-tolling new Quasimodo-combo Editors (no “the,” thank you very much — just Editors), and guitarist Chris Urbanowicz would like to clear this up in short order. Judging by the grim funereal pall swirling around The Back Room — the quartet’s hazy debut for Kitchenware/Epic […]
Ben Harper
Ben Harper Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell No one can blame Ben Harper for not wanting to discuss his personal life with a stranger. He’s embarking on a tour that will enliven his 18-song, two-disc Both Sides Of The Gun (Virgin), which follows the Grammy-winning album he made with The Blind Boys Of Alabama in 2004. […]
Buckcherry
Buckcherry What Happens In Buckcherry Stays In Buckcherry Like the hourly commercials you now see on TV prodding you to get into trouble in Las Vegas, Buckcherry is the Sin City of rock ‘n’ roll, egging you on to stop shoegazing and have some fucking fun. What once might have been too raunchy, too racy, […]
Just A Fire
Just A Fire Stop Don’t Start You could almost mistake it for intention, and think Just A Fire were just another indie rock band poking fun at conventional rock ‘n’ roll. The Chicago band’s debut album, Light Up (Asian Man), was recorded almost immediately after they formed, punk pragmatism at its best. But the next […]
Just A Fire cont’d
Click here to return to page one. That’s not to give the impression Just A Fire’s songs even approach such levels of the vanguard. Chaotic on the surface, where Chris Daly (ex-Check Engine) probes with asymmetric guitar figures in between staccato power chords, Erskine and Adamson play stop/start, left/right but never venture off the map. […]
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