Warped Tour 2009: VAMPS
VAMPS was one of the Warped Tour’s handful of hard rock acts. They flavored their version with equal parts of goth and sleaze, making them a unique act on the tour. Check out all of my Warped Tour 2009 pictures here.
Warped Tour 2009: The Devil Wears Prada
The Devil Wears Prada brought their screamo madness to the Warped Tour main stage in Columbia, MD on July 14. They were, hands down, the most intense band I saw that day. Check out all of my Warped Tour 2009 pictures here.
Review: Jazz Re-issues from Sonny Rollins, Clifford Brown, Max Roach, Red Garland, Art Tatum and Ben Webster
Label: Essential Jazz Classics Released: June 2, 2009 The mid to late 50s was a near perfect time for jazz. As post-bop and cool jazz emerged from Charlie Parker’s bebop shake-up, the genre’s top artists were refining the sound. In a few short years, jazz would be set on its ear again by Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane and Charles Mingus… Read more »
Review: Nathen Maxwell and the Original Bunny Gang – White Rabbit
Label: SideOneDummy Records Released: August 18, 2009 Having performed for over a decade with the increasingly popular Celtic folk/punk act Flogging Molly, Nathen Maxwell is faced with the double challenge of living up to yet not rehashing his band’s strong body of work. On his solo debut, White Rabbit, Maxwell brings songs that have been simmering inside of him, some… Read more »
Review: Street Sweeper Social Club
Label: Street Sweeper Social Club Released: June 16, 2009 In his mid-90s heyday, Tom Morello was a top guitarist, mixing skill, innovation and groove that was at the heart of Rage Against the Machine’s hip-hop/hard rock hybrid. In fact, his sound was so successful that he rode it to mainstream success a second time with Audioslave during the first half… Read more »
DVD: Iron Maiden – Flight 666
Label: UMe Released: June 9, 2009 Before I get into this review, I really have to get something off my chest. I am sick to death of the 666 crap. Iron Maiden writes one song and titles one album related to this and it seems like it remains everyone’s favorite focus. It just strikes me as rather sad that metal’s… Read more »
Review: The Reptilian – Boys’ Life
Label: Count Your Lucky Stars Released: March 3, 2009 Any post-hardcore album worth its grooves (or bits and bytes as the case may be) ought to make one think of Fugazi, right? Well, this EP from Kalamazoo, Michigan’s The Reptillian reminds me of…well…Cake. Yeah, the quirky, jazzy, hipper-than-thou hipsters of the 90s. Now, don’t get me wrong though. The Reptilian… Read more »
Review: Flipper – Love
Label: MVD Released: May 19, 2009 A reunion can be viewed in one of two ways. On one hand, it could be an attempt to cash in on the current popularity of the band’s genre, something they may not have been able to do in their prime. On the other, it could be a way to expose the band to… Read more »
THe BAcksliders – Thank You
Label: self-released and free! Released: May 16, 2009 Thank You‘s title may prefigure last year’s You’re Welcome, but the sound is moving forward. THe BAcksliders don’t refine their previous effort, so much as distill what’s clearly in their hearts. Whether it’s the flat out energy of “Have You Ever Been Down” or the hard-edged soulfullness of “Last Call,” the band… Read more »
Forgotten: Sunday Cannons – Red to the Rind
Back in 1988, I caught an Amnesty International benefit show at the Towson Armory in Towson, MD. Having seen locals Black Friday a few months before, I was anxious to catch them again along with Pearl Fishers, Sunday Cannons and the Unknown. While the latter was fairly rotten (one of the few bands whose set I walked away from), the… Read more »