Listen Up
Gunslingers
Ken ShimamotoNo More Invention(World In Sound) By Ken Shimamoto When this debut disc by a trio from the unlikely birthplace of San Pedro, France, arrived in a blaze of hype from muso-rockcrit-historian Julian Cope’s influential Head H...
The Killers
Justin PressDay & Age (Island/Def Jam) In no universe do mohawks and waistcoats go together. But The Killers continue to churn out throbbing, synth-laden floor-filler that’s equal parts Roxy Music and A Night at the Roxy.
The Killers
Justin PressIn no universe do mohawks and waistcoats go together. But The Killers continue to churn out throbbing, synth-laden floor-filler that’s equal parts Roxy Music and A Night at the Roxy. Disjunctive is right.
Walter Lure
Ken ShimamotoLook up “survivor” in the unabridged dictionary and you’re bound to see a picture of New York rocker Walter Lure’s porkpie-hatted mug. Present at the creation of punk (CBGB’s, class of ’75), ...
Died Pretty
Ken ShimamotoAustralian record labels have long been ahead of the curve in terms of providing bonus materials to soften the sting of exorbitant CD prices. Heaps of ’90s Aussie CDs had whole bonus discs, a practice U.S. and European la...
Died Pretty
Ken ShimamotoFree Dirt(Aztec Records) By Ken Shimamoto Australian record labels have long been ahead of the curve in terms of providing bonus materials to soften the sting of exorbitant CD prices. Heaps of ’90s Aussie CDs had whole bo...
Andy Friedman
Tom GeddieSinger-songwriter Andy Friedman complains on the first track off his new album, Weary Things, that he misses being broken, lowdown, and alone. By the final song, sounding more like Tom Waits doing electric blues, he brags, R...
Dennis Gonzalez & Azar Lawrence
Ken Shimamoto Who on earth would dare to launch a jazz record label in 2008? We’ve come a long way from the days when an upstartindie like Blue Note, Prestige, Impulse, or, um, India Navigation could define the sound of jazz in its ...
Andy Friedman
Tom GeddieWeary Things(City Salvage Records) By Tom Geddie Singer-songwriter Andy Friedman complains on the first track off his new album, Weary Things, that he misses being broken, lowdown, and alone. By the final song, sounding more li...
Dennis Gonzalez & Azar Lawrence
Ken ShimamotoBy Ken Shimamoto Dennis GonzalezRenegade Spirits(Furthermore Recordings) Azar LawrencePrayer for My Ancestors(Furthermore Recordings) Who on earth would dare to launch a jazz record label in 2008? We’ve come a long way fr...