This is why we need to spend more time online. Here are two of the most exciting rock shows of the year, and both sold out within microseconds, thanks to Internet ticketing and fan-club Web connections. Though some might complain that the Strokes’ sophomore Room On Fire is a carbon-copy of the debut that got … Read more
Locksley Wellington “Slide” Hampton may have started in the biz because his dad’s band was short a trombonist, but from that humble beginning he’s become a living legend with forty years’ mastery of the instrument and the kind of original sound you can only get from, er, tooting your own horn. Last year’s live CD … Read more
Considering his status as one of West Africa’s most important and compelling musicians, it’s ironic that Baaba Maal wasn’t born into the traditional griot musician’s caste of his native Senegal. But he’s earned his fame as both a preserver of traditional music and a leading force in its evolution and fusion with styles from the … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
While dry, subliminally caustic comedy is not exclusive to Brits (see Arrested Development, for one), this BBC sitcom is proof that England need not yield its national claim on deadpan, documentary-style sarcasm. This satire of the soul-deadening workplace won an unexpected two Golden Globes this year, including one for creator and star Ricky Gervais’ pompous … Read more