Month: March 2004

He faced down the giants at BMI and lived to tell the tale [see The Rake’s November 2003 issue], so acoustic troubadour and self-described “throwback” Richard Hayes Phillips is once again out on the concert trail. With a guitar, a 1917 mandolin, and an alto kalimba strapped to his back, he’s headed our way with…

You don’t hear about many orchestral works that incorporate a tribute to economics, but Emmy-winning St. Paul composer Steve Heitzeg’s massive symphony honoring the Nobel Prize does that and more. It’s an ambitious mix of choral music, unusual instruments like olive branches and artificial limbs, and words from the writings of sixteen Nobel laureates—an extended…

The debut from this Glasgow art-school quartet is a burgeoning hit in the UK that deserves to be just as big in the States. Franz’s smart, spiky songcraft stakes out similar eighties-retro territory as Interpol, and should appeal to fans of the Fall or Fear of Music-era Talking Heads. But the band’s pop sensibility guides…

They say that Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil for his genius skill on the guitar. They also used to say that Clapton is God, so maybe the two will cancel out on Slow Hand’s new homage to fourteen of Johnson’s gems. Clapton is best known for his blues-rock fusion, but his affinity…

The Bad Plus introduced themselves to the world in fine style with their 2003 major-label debut, These Are the Vistas, which melded experimental jazz and the heavy thump of rock and roll. Smushed together by a Midwest piano trio, it all somehow sounds… great. Their new release, Give, should offer plenty for fans to chew…

Songwriter Adam Levy hits one out of the park on the local combo’s tuneful yet lyrically dark new disc. Musically, 10,000 Years is rich and complex in a laid-back Sgt. Pepper’s way, weaving threads of samba, German cabaret, and Middle Eastern rhythm into a sturdy fabric of alt-rock. (Our favorite song, for sentimental reasons, is…