3. LILIPUT LILIPUT
4. ANTHOLOGY THE CLEAN
5. COMPLETE MADNESS MADNESS
6. NO REMORSE MOTORHEAD
7. ALL THE BEST STIFF LITTLE FINGERS
8. WASTED… AGAIN BLACK FLAG
9. BACK TO BASICS BILLY BRAGG
10. BLOODIED BUT UNBOWED 1978-1983 D.O.A.
11. MISSION OF BURMA MISSION OF BURMA
12. A SOUTH BRONX STORY ESG
13. REMAINS NONVIEWABLE EFFIGIES
14. A SECRET HISTORY: THE BEST OF DIVINE COMEDY…
A CMJ STORY FOR THE KIDS
Oh great! CMJ’s music marathon is coming to the Big Apple again. Well, this is my happy CMJ story for the impressionable kids who’ll attend this year.
Once upon a time in the late ‘90s, I lived free and easy, going to any show my bulbous ass desired. As October rolled around one year, I got an email from College Music Journal’s outside publicity department, inviting me to get a free laminated pass for …
These days, Brooklyn’s filled with an influx of experimental rock bands traversing all across America to get there before the magic runs out. Since the late ‘90s, many talented and variegated musical artists have seemingly come out of the woodwork, or more likely, the red-bricked apartments of Williamsburg – Manhattan’s cheaper alternative conveniently located just across the Hudson River. Currently residing in or around the Kings County hotbed are internationally renowned indie bands such as Animal Collective (Baltimore), The National …
Captivating Toronto-based singer-guitarist Chris Eaton brings a refreshingly spontaneous literary perspective to Old World Anglo-folk. As Rock Plaza Central’s principal songwriter, Eaton approaches each full-length studio album as if it’s a bittersweet novel. His evolving lineup, extended beyond its formatively minimal cello-banjo mode, helps celebrate each sad homecoming and broken hero with similarly sullen nautical retreats.
At particular intervals, Eaton’s crackled nasal baritone squeal brings to mind warped folk-blues dilettante, Michael Hurley, or hauntingly bedeviled lost soul, Syd Barrett. A …
Branching out beyond reflective folk-based singer-songwriter to artful Jazz-affected rhapsodist, multi-talented acoustic guitarist-pianist Joe Henry’s a roving chameleon who has become entrusted producer for several veteran singers. Fact is, the unrivaled Los Angeles transplant refined and redefined his widening artistic profile over the course of a dozen evolving albums while commendably reintroducing respectful aged-in-the-wool vocalists who’d been unfairly neglected in recent years.
WILLIAMSPORT, PENNSYLVANIA
First visited home of the Little League World Series at tail end of April ’06 Western Pa. sojourn, putting family up in historic Genetti Hotel’s Bob Hope Suite. Across midtown street in an old red brick building with green awning lied tiny stoic corner tavern, BULLFROG BREWERY, a trusty pub that compared favorably to regarded westerly competitors North Country, Otto’s, and Johnstown.
Opened in ’96, Bullfrog’s exposed ducts, copper tin ceiling and green ‘frog’ walls had blue-collar saloon …
WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Discovered a host of good brewpubs curling ‘round the woodsy highways and rural byways crossing Duncansville, Johnstown, Greensburg, Slippery Rock, Titusville, and Foxburg on April ’06 family excursion.
Opened 2003, freestanding tan-hued brick-stucco Duncansville pizza place, MARZONI’S BRICK OVEN & BREWING, offered Italian dishes (penne-parmigiana-lasagna), brick-oven pizzas, and seafood to double-sided dining area. Brew tanks behind left side bar (with multiple TV’s) stored craftsman Bill Kroft’s eclectic fare quaffed April ‘06.
Though unassuming cereal-honeyed yellow-fruited Locke Mountain Light …
WATERBURY, VERMONT
Since moving to its fantastic art deco-designed new digs in Stowe during 2011, THE ALCHEMIST has fully extended its expansive brewing operations as a small production brewing facility.
Founder John Kimmich’s inconspicuous beginnings took a major turn for superstardom when Heady Topper became the premier New England-styled India Pale Ale in America, capturing the attention of experienced craft beer aficionados.
Helped along by a large canning line that snakes around the Beer Cafe, The Alchemist now sells its …
BRATTLEBORO,VERMONT
The Maple State takes tremendous pride in microbrew mastery! And one of its best brewpubs, MC NEILL’S, provides great beer to this rustic riverfront town. On a snowy February ’04 trip, I first stayed at Brattleboro’s historic Latchis Inn, quaffing light-bodied malt-spiced chocolate-nutty Leaf Trapper Lager, caramel-hopped Altbier, mocha-accented IPA, cocoa-embittered Coffee Porter, and mildly chocolate-y cherry-teased wood-burnt Oatmeal Stout at now-defunct basement-level Latchis Grill.
In its stead, street level pub, Flat Street Brewpub, served …
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
The 1849 Gold Rush, 1906 earthquake, and 1967 Summer of Love, along with renovated Victorian houses and seductive skyscraper architecture, provide only an inkling of this Bay Area’s boomtown frontier history. A veritable bohemian delight first visited with wife, Karen, June ’01, its splendid Golden Gate Park can only be topped by Stinson Beach, a tropical paradise serving as a hippie haven body surfers relish. Windy Fisherman’s Wharf on north pier had recommended JACK’S AT THE CANNERY, …
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA
With 15 locations in California and Arizona as of April ’07 jaunt, OGGI’S PIZZA & BREWING may be the greatest franchise brewpub in the country, bettering Hops, Rock Bottom, John Harvard, and Karl Strauss by wide margin. One mile west of San Diego Chargers stadium lies Fenton Market Place, where Oggi’s tan stucco sports bar draws large weekend crowds.
Front deck near small water fountain provides outdoor seating while medium-sized interior offers left side wood bar, right …
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND
Right off Route 95 and a rite of passage for any New England traveler, TRINITY BREWHOUSE is the pride of prestigious long-time brewer, Sean Larkin. Packed on Monday night (October ’05) during my first visit and drawing a vivacious college crowd, the wood-paneled restaurant-pub, located blocks from Union Station Brewery, opened to a wide narrow bar with encased brew tanks in backdrop. A nice beer can collection and a few brightly painted canvasses (some boasting beer awards) …