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Music
The Dots Return 7/8 @ Slims
Think back to a time long long ago. John Lennon was still alive, Bill Gates was broke and Sadam Hussein had only killed a few people. Yes the early 80s were a strange, magical era. When else for instance could the creative consciousness spawn a creature as wondrous as The Legendary Pink Dots. The Dots, as they are -- to the delight of music writers everywhere -- often called, coalesced in London in 1980. The founding players included two young men who went by the names Edward Ka-Spel aka The Prophet Qa-Spel, Qa'Sepel, Che Banana, and D'Archangel, and Phil Knight aka The Silverman and Phil Harmonix. They were not your typical UK punks. More
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Music
Released on Vice/Atlantic, 5/9/06
It took The Stone Roses five years and five whole minutes to get to the actual "song" part of the first song on their sophomore slump album Second Coming back in 1994. The Stills tease us with a minute of feedback, twinkley pianos and a Big Country like guitar line before launching into the first verse of the aptly named track "In The Beginning" which leads off their second full length, Without Feathers. Apparently long intros are secret musician code for delusions of grandeur. More
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Music
Boyz Gone Crazy -- 7/18 & 7/19 @ The Fillmore
We wouldn’t usually be talking about a one hit wonder duo’s first gig in town but when that duo is terrible twosome Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo Green, aka Gnarls Barkley, it bears mentioning, especially when their two shows at the Fillmore sold out in days. More
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Music
Released on Putumayo World Music, 7/25/06
Dan Storper and the folks at Putumayo World Music must be proud of the earnest legacy they have built over the last thirteen years. With more than seventy mostly "upbeat and melodic compilations" to its name, Putumayo has carved out a yuppified world music niche and has been instrumental in bringing the much needed sound of the kanun (a traditional Turkish instrument) to dorm rooms everywhere. Putumayo compilations sell because Putumayo the brand has earned respect for consistently delivering quality music in attractive packaging for a specific demographic. More
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Music
The Real Deal
As rock and roll matures and the years march by more and more interesting stories develop. It has taken Australia’s Radio Birdman over three decades to unleash Zeno Beach the long-overdue new chapter in the aging aussies' story. With 70s garage punk influences as its bedrock, the writing and performances on Zeno Beach have matured along with the musicians. The results are no proto-punk museum piece, but rather vital new music that is worthy of a place alongside Radio Birdman's early gems. More
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Music
Released on XL Recordings, 7/10/06
Damn. It would have been so easy if Peaches, the mono-monikered volcano of ball-busting gender-bending electroclash had recycled some cast off Gnarls Barkley beats, stale guitar riffs and increasingly annoying vagina gazing for her new album as expected. So easy to put a nail in the coffin of a career, and fading musical movement, that barely deserved our attention in the first place. It would have been a cinch…if only Ms. Nisker had followed course and crapped out. If you were hoping for that, however, your dreams have been solidly dashed. More
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Music
Released on GSL/Universal, 09/12/06
The new album from alterna-hipsters The Mars Volta hits us with a conundrum before we even get the shrink-wrap off. What does the name Amputechture mean? It’s obviously a creation, but what did the mad geniuses Omar Rodriguez and Cedric Bixler, TMV’s masterminds, have in mind when naming their third full-length? More
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Music
O.G. Glam Punk Returns
It wasn’t too long after their debut that fans and critics alike started using the phrase "The Only Band That Matters" when referring to the mighty Clash. The line reminds us that not only were the boys from Brixton (and other not so bad parts of town) the reigning kings of everything important and cool, but also that a band could actually "matter". You see, back in the day, rock and roll was important. It was something to be revered and fought for. If you were in a band in the late 70s, you meant it. More
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Music
Released on Saddle Creek Records, 8/22/06
The story of Cursive is one of small town boys struggling to formulate an artistic alliance amid the limited opportunities for success in entertainment available in the vast expanse of the mid-west. However, while in the good old days we relied on the coastal meccas to provide us with the cultural excitement and danger of sophisticates such as Aerosmith, Blondie and Guns N Roses, we'd be remiss if we didn't acknowledge that t More
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Music
Released on Universal South, 10/10/06
Jennings is the son of Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter and as such has a pedigree that involves a lot of Jack Daniels and, we presume, conversations that start with "Listen here motherf*cker." Jennings Jr. has been rocking out since a teen. For almost a decade he played the L.A. rock circuit in a G-N-R like concoction called Stargunn before embracing his legacy and putting together a new band, the .357’s, and heading out to bring the world the raunchy swagger of country rock. More
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