The Ocean Blue’s dreamy, melodic approach has changed little in the more than 15 years since Hershey, Pennsylvania,’s second-sweetest export committed its lush sound to vinyl. Waterworks stays that successful course with six gleaming and ethereal gems that simultaneously inspire hopeful stargazing and forlorn shoegazing while never taking themselves too…
Although Duran Duran holds a noteworthy place in pop history because of the way it encapsulated the appeal of early MTV, it’s important to remember that, musically speaking, Simon LeBon and company were never very memorable. OK, a handful of their songs were entertainingly silly, and because the videos that…
Waits evolved from the engaging but seemingly predictable barroom growler of 1973’s Closing Time to the artistic bomb thrower of 1983’s Swordfishtrombones in one astonishing decade — the rarest sort of creative transformation. Since then, he’s grappled with the implications of his innovations, and while the discs he’s made of…
It’s certainly not the best release of 2004, but Unfinished Business is easily the most confusing. Why would R. Kelly fans want another of his discs just two months after he dropped a pair of mediocre ones? Why would Jay-Z agree to a joint album and tour when he obviously…
When the great Electronica Rush of ’97-98 hit U.S. soil, it often sounded like the space-age promises of the Jetsons coming to fruition just in time to justify Y2K. UNKLE, the project of Mo’ Wax label guru James Lavelle, especially captured this futuristic mindset; 1998’s Psyence Fiction melded Matrix-style techno-rock…
“They say we all look alike, cook alike/But they ain’t know that we all crooks alike/I changed the game when I took the mic.” — “Here Now,” from The Rest Is History There is a history of figures in sports, entertainment, or politics who have broken racial and ethnic boundaries…
Metallica used to get into fistfights onstage, turn dressing rooms into latrines, and rip through so many cans of beer that Alcoa stock would rise with each tour. So it’s little wonder that, two years ago, band members paid $40,000 a month to a sports therapist to help them deal…
Though Client’s initial presentation is that of germphobic damsels lodged in an Orwellian dystopia, the sleek production skills and faux-menacing vocals of Client B and A, respectively, make them more like sexy, detached women reveling in their own robo-pop dreamscape. Depeche Mode’s Andy Fletcher is no longer their mentor, and…
East Coast pub-punk troubadour Ted Leo is a mad pundit in the tradition of Elvis Costello and Billy Bragg, and Shake the Sheets is his tautest album to date. Slithering songs such as “Angels’ Share,” “The One Who Got Us Out,” and “Bleeding Powers” acknowledge the downward spiral of American…
While New York heads moan about a lack of solid indie rap fare this year, West Coast acts such as Blackalicious’ Gift of Gab and the Shapeshifters continue to bang out hits for anyone who’ll listen. Next in line is Libretto, a member of Portland, Oregon, outfit Misfit Massive; his…
For attitudinal, punk-infused girlie rock with decent musical chops, it doesn’t get much finer than Gold Medal. The Donnas expand beyond the formula that brought them a wider audience with 2002’s Spend the Night, assisted by producer Butch Walker. Though the differences are subtle at first, Medal showcases a taste…
Duran Duran has endured as one of the few survivors of the fabricated “new romantic” movement that produced such dubious hairspray queens as Spandau Ballet and Adam & the Ants. Solid material and a strong live show put the band over the top in the Atari age, but some usual…
Nothing Rhymes with Orange Polite Gothic (self-released) One of the worst crimes a local band can commit is to sound “too local.” After a listen to Nothing Rhymes with Orange’s latest effort, Polite Gothic, it’s clear the band doesn’t need to be concerned about that particular offense. The album has…
After a Skinny Puppy concert this summer, electronic keyboarder cEvin Key was greeted by an enthralled female fan, joyous at having just seen Key’s reunited band perform after a ten-year absence. Smiling, she offered Key a gift. Into the palm of his hand she placed a baggie filled with some…
Driving on Powerline Road through northern Pompano Beach, it’s hard to imagine that anything remotely artistic exists amid the scores of retail buildings and nondescript warehouses (and, of course, that beautiful mountain of a landfill). But if you venture to the last warehouse on 32nd Street and enter Bay 7…
Mos Def’s sophomore album, The New Danger, is remarkably different from his 1999 bow, Black on Both Sides. That memorable debut possessed literate rhymes delivered with razor-sharp timing; The New Danger relies on smart scat rap leisurely doled out. Black on Both Sides offered late-’90s boom bap and neo-soul; The…
Gold Chains (Topher LaFata) teams up with good friend Sue Cie (Sue Costabile) for the lighthearted When the World Was Our Friend. Here, the duo inject dance cheekiness into punk, resulting in music that often borders on novelty but mostly rocks a tough groove. “California Nites” blends guitar riffs that…
October marked the anniversary of Elliott Smith’s tragic suicide — not that his death came as a huge surprise to fans of his music. But even as bitter as Smith’s songs could be going down, they always left the sweetest aftertaste of beauty and hope. From a Basement on the…
Montreal, well-known for its avant-garde, epic-rock sprawl, has recently disclosed the illuminating revelation that it can nurture an entirely different sound too. And so out of the city’s wintry gales comes the Arcade Fire. Equally familiar and pioneering, Funeral is a densely knit patchwork of personal history, inspired as much…
At its best, Luna sounded catchy and fun, in a disposable-pop kind of way. At its worst, Luna seemed boring and contrived. But now, with its seventh and final album, Luna has released its best, most spirited, and most relaxed work to date. Rendezvous opens with the ingeniously simple “Malibu…
Are you angry yet, folks? Are you good and hopped up after the presidential debates? What the trio of confrontations between George and John (no, not Harrison and Lennon) needed was mood music. Like when Bush suggested that college-educated men and women who can’t find jobs should go back to…
In her native South Africa, 29-year-old folk-rock singer Karma-Ann Swanepoel was a smashing success. At age 21, she soared to the top of her country’s charts with her band Henry Ate, winning numerous awards, giving concerts to crowds of 45,000, and touring with other South African pop stars like Johnny…
