September 2009

Event Reviews

Down

Slower! Slower! Jen Cray is bowled over by the brutal trudge of an evening with Down, Weedeater and the mighty Melvins.

Lee "Scratch" Perry

Reggae legend Lee "Scratch" Perry performs live at Orlando's The Social for a room packed full of appreciators, our own Phillip Haire among them.

NAMM coverage - part two

Elianne Halbersberg continues her behind-the-scenes look at the new musical gear showcased at this summer's NAMM show in Nashville, Tenn.

Pitchfork Music Festival 2009

For its fourth year the Pitchfork Music Festival proves to Chris Catania, and about 20,000 fans, that it can deliver the goods as well as the big guys.

Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus

The Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus comes to Texas, flooding Carl F Gauze with good cheer and family fun.

Rothbury Music Festival 2009

Against all odds the annual Rothbury Music Festival perseveres with the help of The Dead, Bob Dylan, and Willie Nelson. Chris Catania reports from Michigan.

Interviews

What Does the Economic Future Hold for the Music Industry?

Elianne Halbersberg discusses the future of the music industry with the president and CEO of the National Association of Music Merchants.

Music Reviews

Ray Charles

Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music. (Concord Records). Review by Carl F Gauze.

Flare Acoustic Arts League

Cut (Affairs of the Heart). Review by Matthew Moyer.

Girl In A Coma

Trio B.C. (Blackheart Records). Review by Carl F Gauze.

Grooms

Rejoicer (Death By Audio). Review by Carl F Gauze.

Joakim

Milky Ways. (!K7 Records). Review by Carl F Gauze.

Kim Lenz and the Jaguars

It's All True (Riley). Review by Rachel Bowen-Wilkerson.

Levon Helm

Electric Dirt (Vanguard Records/Dirt Farmer Music). Review by Tim Wardyn.

Necrophobic

Satanic Blasphemies (Regain Records). Review by Matthew Moyer.

Polyamorous Affair

Bolshevik Disco (Manimal Vinyl). Review by Matthew Moyer.

Polly Scattergood

Polly Scattergood (Mute). Review by Carl F Gauze.

Shonen Knife

Super Group (Good Charamel Records). Review by Laura Pontillo.

Teenage Jesus and the Jerks/Beirut Slump

Shut Up and Bleed (Atavistic Records). Review by Matthew Moyer.

Thrice

Beggars (Vagrant). Review by Jen Cray.

Music B

Broadway Calls

Good Views, Bad News (SideOneDummy). Review by Jen Cray.

Music C

Ray Charles

Message From The People (Concord). Review by Carl F Gauze.

Cobra Skulls

American Rubicon (Red Scare). Review by Jen Cray.

Music D

Dark Knights of Camelot

Hurrication EP (Olympic). Review by Carl F Gauze.

Julie Doiron

I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day (Jagjaguwar). Review by Matthew Moyer.

Music F

Side FX

Contradictions. Review by Robert M. Sutton.

Music R

Robert Gotcher

Change. Review by Robert M. Sutton.

Music S

Travis Singleton

Not Broken Yet. Review by Robert M. Sutton.

Swan Lake

Enemy Mine (Jagjaguwar). Review by Matthew Moyer.

Music X

Xu Xu Fang

Seven Days Now (CSSR). Review by Matthew Moyer.

Print Reviews

Brick Journal

Some people like their world in small plastic pieces. Carl F Gauze envies them.

Grail Pages

The inside skinny on collectors of original comic book art and Carl F Gauze's take on the guys who dig pictures of men who wear their underwear outside their pants.

Jimmy Page: Magus, Musician, Man

Shelton Hull suspects Jimmy Page is pleased with this unabashedly unauthorized biography.

I, Doll

This collection of anecdotes and reveries of the infamous New York Dolls from their bassist, Arthur "Killer" Kane, has Carl F Gauze thinking better of getting the old band back together.

Woodstock Vision

This expanded edition of Elliot Landy's rock photography collection Woodstock Vision has Matthew Moyer thinking of heading up north to chop firewood with Garth Hudson.

Metallica: The Club Dayz 1982-1984

Bill Hale's slick photo collection reminds haters and fans alike of Metallica's glory days. Even Matthew Moyer admires the redemption.

Who Killed Amanda Palmer

Wouldn't you like to view a gallery of coroner's photos, featuring the artistically dispatched Amanda Palmer? Matthew Moyer knows you do.

Sonic Boom

In author Pete Blecha's new examination of the gnarled roots of Seattle rock music, he posits that it all started with the slurred words "Louie Louie." Scott Adams obviously approves.

Screen Reviews

Bill Plympton's Dog Days

Bill Plympton offers a refreshing taste of intelligent animation to those who would be infinitely entertained by drooly dog antics.

An alien race forced to live in slum-like conditions in Johannesburg discovers a surprising camaraderie with a government agent that is exposed to its biotechnology. It may be 2009's most thrilling film, sez Julie Haverkate.

Guns On The Clackamas

Don't worry that all the actors die in Bill Plympton's low-budget Western -- the show must go on, sez Carl F Gauze.

Post Grad

Carl F Gauze got some laughs out of this new post-teen comedy, but found it had as much heart and depth as an Archie comic.

Saxophone Colossus: Sonny Rollins

Idiosyncratic and in relentless pursuit of perfection, Sonny Rollins cut a swath through jazz music that has yet to fade out. Scott Adams examines this documentary of his musical achievements.

The Cove

Activist and Flipper-trainer Richard O'Barry relives his guilt over captivity and the ill treatment of dolphins through this documentary that explores the slaughter of thousands of beautiful Cetaceans off the coast of Japan.