Tag Archives: Alternative Rock

Mercury Rev’s sixth album proves to be a march toward electronic sounds, which might be a blessing in disguise. The opening track “Secret For A Song” reflects the possible influence that The Postal Service might have on bands nowadays, although Mercury Rev has existed for a long time. Maybe MR …

The push is on to save fabled Bowery punk rock cradle CBGB, which opened in December of 1973 and is now in the last month of its lease. “Little” Steven Van Zandt (profile and interview here) has picked up the banner of the club, which is in conflict with its …

Punk poetess Patti Smith, still rocking at 58, received one of the highest French cultural honors, the Order of the Arts and Letters, from Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres at an AIDS concert in Paris yesterday. An abashed Smith said she accepted the award “from the most spiritual side …

I’m, like, busy or something. So, no witty comments or literary segues this week – let’s just get straight to the… INDIE ROUND-UP for June 16 2005 === Sonya Heller, Fourth Floor Fluid melodies, sultry, jazz-inflected vocals and introspective, literate lyrics define Sonya Heller’s most recent CD, Fourth Floor. The …

=== Damon Aaron: Ballast Throwing hip-hop lovebeats into acoustic, folky music is a hip (pun intended) thing to do these days. Damon Aaron is good at it. Fans of Elliot Smith or Nick Drake might well like Aaron’s new CD, which also has a hint of Elvis Costello’s torchy mode …

This week we discover an upper-case sound from some lower-case letters, a keyboard player with a terrible secret, and a country-rock gem. INDIE ROUND-UP for April 21 2005 === CD: sundayrunners, self-titled Shimmery pop with a hard edge never seems to go out of style, maybe because it satisfies both …

Phillips has made his finest solo record to date. GRADE: A-

Band reunites behind reissues and live performances. The massive, mighty, exceptionally influential proto-grunge that was the original Dinosaur Jr. is back: J Mascis (guitar/vocals), Lou Barlow (bass) and Murph (drums). Mascis’s wah-wahed and fuzzed guitar assault on fairly straightforward rock songs returned the guitar hero to a position of underground …

The late Joe Strummer – singer, songwriter and guitarist of the Clash – had a train named after him at a ceremony Feb. 12 at Bristol Temple Meads railroad station in southwest England. The locomotive is a Class 47 diesel, originally designed in 1962. After being named, the train will …

How dare they make music AND be successful?