April 2010

Event Reviews

Beach House

Beach House lull a sold-out Chicago crowd into a pleasurable trance before sending them home to conjugate their shared ecstasy.

Butch Walker & the Black Widows

Pop music's modern-day messiah, Butch Walker delivered a headliner performance despite his opening act billing.

Dropkick Murphys

Celtic punk veterans Dropkick Murphys rip though Orlando leaving beer-sodden green mohawks in their wake.

Harvest of Hope Festival

The second annual Harvest of Hope Festival raises money to help migrant farm workers by giving music fans three days of music, mud, and mayhem.

Local H

Local H prove to doubters that they are much more than a side-note in the story of grunge, and As Good As Dead is a sorely underrated album.

Off With Their Heads

Off With Their Heads slays an early afternoon crowd in Orlando.

Kander and Ebb's final musical. The Scottsboro Boys, depicts the true story of American racism in the South. Despite a mixture of eye-poppin' musical sequences and social commentary, the musical misses many cues. Julie Haverkate provides analysis.

The Thermals

The Thermals are keeping the vitality of mid '90s-styled indie rock alive and well.

They Might Be Giants

They Might Be Giants brings a kid-friendly show to the hard Rock Live in Orlando.

Third Person (Redux)

Proto-type Theater, a performance troupe based in Brooklyn, NY and Lancaster, England, revisits themes of love, death, and fame seen through the prism of Bonnie and Clyde in Third Person (Redux).

Wanee Festival

Florida's annual Wanee Festival is a 3 day Southern-style jamfest featuring over thirty bands. The 2010 edition found The Allmann Brothers and Widespread Panic topping a bill of over 30 bands.

Features

Fela Kuti Lives

With over 40 albums and an unassailable legacy as the originator of one of Africa’s most popular and enduring sounds, the job of curating Fela Kuti’s catalog for the 21st century is a difficult and enviable task. Ink 19 dives into the Knitting Factory’s Chop n’ Quench, Fela’s first nine albums re-released, and gives a heads up on the Na Poi set of albums due to drop on May 11.

Music Reviews

Because Because Because

Because Because Because (Pound You Into the Ground Records). Review by Robert Sutton.

Black Tambourine

Black Tambourine (Slumberland). Review by Matthew Moyer.

BoDeans

Mr. Sad Clown (429 Records). Review by Sean Slone.

City Center

Cops Don't Care 7"/ Spring St. (M'Lady Records/ Quite Scientific). Review by Aaron Shaul.

Crudbump

NA$TYJAM$ (Sharing Machine). Review by Rosalie Petralia.

Elder

Reflect (Forgeagainrecords). Review by Carl F Gauze.

Essra Mohawk

Essra Mohawk / Primordial Lovers (Collector's Choice Music). Review by Carl F Gauze.

Freedy Johnston

Rain on the City (Bar None). Review by Sean Slone.

Librarians

Present Passed (Postfact Records). Review by Rosalie Petralia.

Lightning Bolt

Earthly Delights (Load Records). Review by Carl F Gauze.

Mose Allison

The Way of the World (Anti). Review by James Mann.

Picnic

Winter Honey (Seksound). Review by Aaron Shaul.

Rammstein

Liebe Ist Fur Alle Da (Universal Music Group/ Vagrant Records). Review by Tim Wardyn.

Rock Sugar

Reimaginator. Review by Joe Frietze.

Sandy Hurvitz

Sandy's Album Is Here At Last! (Collector's Choice Music). Review by Carl F Gauze.

The Soundtrack of Our Lives

Communion (Yep Roc Records). Review by Laura Pontillo.

Ulaan Khol

III (Soft Abuse). Review by Aaron Shaul.

Crazy Heart

Crazy Heart - Original Motion Picture Sound Track (Fox Search Light / New West). Review by Al Pergande.

White Pines

Is Passed in Sleep; At Night He Hunts (Jumberlack Media). Review by Nora Richardson.

Music B

Bastard Noise / Endless Blockade

The Red List (20 Buck Spin). Review by Matthew Moyer.

Black Prairie

Feast of the Hunters' Moon (Sugar Hill). Review by Tim Wardyn.

Music C

Casual Victim Pile

Various Artists (Matador). Review by Matthew Moyer.

Civilization

Civilization (Dead Tank). Review by Matthew Moyer.

Music D

Jakob Dylan

Women & Country (Columbia Records). Review by Tim Wardyn.

Music I

The Infamous Stringdusters

Things That Fly (Sugar Hill). Review by Tim Wardyn.

Music S

Santana

Supernatural (Legacy Edition) (Arista/Legacy). Review by Tim Wardyn.

Print Reviews

Marvel Comics in the 1960s

Pierre Comtois breaks down the first ten years of Marvel into three phases and the comics that epitomize them in his Field Guide.

Beatles Deeper Undercover

Does that sound like the Beatles to you? Author Kristofer Engelhardt delivers an updated version of his exhaustive 1998 guide, detailing the individual Beatles' musical contributions to other artists' recordings.

Captain Action

This new tome from Michael Eury brings back Matthew Moyer's childlike sense of wonder even better than a real, live Captain Action plastic figurine would. No mean feat.

Karakuridôji Ultimo

Stan Lee tackles Manga. You knew he would.

Screen Reviews

Damon and Naomi: 1001 Nights

It's easy to be jealous, but it's probably better to follow Damon and Naomi's example of growing up and growing awesome in a musical genre overcrowded with manchildren, the ins and outs of which can be glimpsed on the 1001 Nights DVD.