Tag Archives: Alternative Rock

After a false start back in May, plans have been confirmed for a biopic of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, who committed suicide at 23 in 1980: The Manchester-based production is called Touching From A Distance, after a book by Curtis’s widow Deborah which forms the basis for the film. …

U2 SNL video of “I Will Follow” here. As Randy Reichardt and Lono have already ably and passionately described, U2 brought down the house last night on SNL, first blowing through the greatest rock single of the year, the effervescent and elevating “Vertigo,” then easing things down for “Sometimes You …

(The Gadabout Challenge: Let’s see if I can complete the following review without once using the word “eccentric” or referring to the M.I.A. Syd Barrett, shall we?) Can’t help noting that Spooked (Yep Roc) is about an apt a title for a Robyn Hitchcock album as you could ask for. …

Johnny Hi-Fi and his fine band cranked out a tight set of melodic rock that brought to mind a slightly less crunchy, more lyrical Weezer.

See it even if you don't follow, or even like, indie rock.

Today Brian Eno is best known as a visionary, founding theorist of ambient music, and the wildly successful producer of David Bowie, Devo, Talking Heads, and U2. But first as a founding member of Roxy Music, and then on four pioneering albums in the ’70s, Eno directly shaped the direction …

Well, sort of. The band Matchbook Romance is looking for a guitarist, but dude, you have to go to Poughkeepsie, NY. Remember the classic line from The French Connection? “Did you ever pick your feet in Poughkeepsie?” The scoop: Epitaph’s breakout band MATCHBOOK ROMANCE is seeking a new guitar player …

What a difference two years makes: one of the first things we did at Blogcritics was an email interview with Frank Black, formerly Black Francis, formerly and now once-againly Charles Thompson. Now that the Pixies have quite successfully reunited, a look at that interview is entertaining: Eric Olsen: You have …

by James K. Willcox, courtesy of StarPolish Few bands of the past two decades have been as influential on succeeding generations of artists as Sonic Youth, sometimes referred to as the greatest band never to strike it big. Bursting on the scene in 1981, heavily influenced by the experimental music …

Steven Van Zandt’s crusade on behalf of garage rock – broadly defined – has hit the big time with a huge concert festival and a syndicated radio show. He talked to the NY Times about it: To hear Steven Van Zandt tell it, he had no choice. He had simply …