Music
Airpushers
Listen UpOn the surface, the reserved euphoria that permeates Themes for the Ordinarily Strange by the Los Angeles duo Airpushers suggests any number of rock-influenced rap bands (or rap-influenced rock bands). But listen a little deepe...
Big Bill Broonzy
Listen UpBig Bill Broonzy claims, “All songs in the world that you sing are folk songs, because horses don’t sing.” On the straightforward solo acoustic Amsterdam Live Concerts 1953, he offers originals and interpretations, many o...
Present Tense
Don’t call Ornette Coleman’s Sound Grammar a comeback.BRENT BURTON
Many folks will no doubt mistake Ornette Coleman’s new Sound Grammar for a comeback — and with good reason. For starters, its creator — the alto saxophonist who, in the ’50s, more or less invented free jazz — is now 7...
Suicide Girls
The ShowThe Suicide Girls are a nationwide group, like the Red Hat Society or Rotary Club, but one whose mission is to torpedo the popular perception that to be beautiful, young women must look like supermodels, tall and skinny, with g...
Bruce Hornsby
Listen UpThere is a gravity to Bruce Hornsby’s piano rock ’n’ jazz, not an oppressive gravity that holds the listener down but one that keeps both feet firmly on the ground and under mostly blue skies. Not a trivial gravity, eithe...
FWCBGB’s
HearsayIn reading about the recent demise of CBGB’s, the legendary rock club in New York City, I got to thinking about all the intangibles that make a rock joint great.
James Hunter
Listen UpWhen sung by white folks, old-school soul and R&B is often called “blue-eyed soul,” especially in reference to a pasty Englishman like James Hunter who digs that sound. It’s easy to listen to … Believe What I S...
Madeleine Peyroux
Listen UpIn 2004, eight years after her debut, Madeleine Peyroux released her second album, Careless Love, and finally earned the recognition she deserved. While the first, Dreamland, featured a killer roster of musicians, from James Ca...
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
Listen UpSomewhere amid the musical handiwork of Elliott Smith, Weezer, and The Shins, you’ll find a similarly inspired, indie-ish-for-life, guitar-based Missouri quartet sporting a cheeky moniker in tribute to the first president of ...
Garage Rock
Everybody knows Fred’s Texas Café has great food, but live music? Believe it.CAROLINE COLLIER
About a year ago, when Terry Chandler and his wife, Jennifer, bought Fred’s Texas Café from Terry’s parents, the gourmet greasy spoon was known simply as a great, interesting place to get a home-cooked or fusion meal. Fred...