FOREWORD: I remember Joe Henry getting his new silk shirt burnt by the ashes from an incense stick at Southpaw in Brooklyn during my interview. He was not amused but at least thanked me for letting him know I saw it happening. Anyway, Henry’s been on the cusp of fame for years. He married Melanie Ciccone, Madonna’s sister, who thankfully convinced the enduring bard to give the pop superstar, “Don’t Tell Me,” for inclusion on her fabulous Music LP. I …
FOREWORD: You know what – fuck the powers that be for not letting me get an interview with enigmatic British singer-songwriter PJ Harvey. The imbecilic jerk-offs at her record label only gave limited access to soon-defunct magazines like Spin, Rolling Stone, and Blender.
And all those antiquated rags wanted to do was paint her as a shy passive-aggressive bitch. When ‘04s amazing Uh Huh Her came out, I spent many hours on vacation at Sunset Beach, North Carolina, going through
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W.C. Handy All Stars / B.B. King’s/ Nov. 9, 1999
Midtown Manhattan’s upscale dinner club, B.B. King’s, hosted an entourage of vital, cocksure bluesmasters, the W.C. Handy All Stars, this rainy eve. By no means a mere nostalgia showcase, these experienced performers have all been nominated for coveted Blues Foundation Awards. Most tore through a quirky, fast-paced opening jam countered by a slow, deliberate one.
As I sat back to devour salmon washed down by Stella Artois Beer, seasoned Memphis …
Girls Against Boys/ Mercury Lounge/ June 12, 2002
Since I last caught Girls Against Boys at a Bowery Ballroom gig a few years back, the NYC-via-DC quartet has become more visceral, assured, and compelling delivering vibrant, Industrial-strengthened post-punk seductions. Trading some of the suave, groove-oriented gloss of ‘98s Freak*on*ica for the sinister conviction and edgy tension of their belated follow-up, the bristling You Can’t Fight What You Can’t See, GVSB burst forward with a muscular sound as thick as …
FOREWORD: Golden Palominos were a revolving experimental troupe from Manhattan led by Cleveland-bred composer-percussionist Anton Fier and permanent fixtures Nicky Skopelitis (guitar) and Bill Laswell (bass). I met Fier in ’96 to promote Golden Palominos final album, Dead Inside, a one-time collaboration with feminist-poet Nicole Blackman. He has maintained a low profile since. His first and only solo disc, Dreamspeed, dropped in ’94.
As for the lovely Blackman, I befriended this adorably sarcastic vixen ‘round Dead Inside’s release, giving plaudits …
The Garden State has its fair share of admirable bands that’ve passed into history without proper recognition, left behind by conservative mainstream forces whilst arbitrarily getting lumped into college radio’s vast expanse. Enigmatic cult legends, The Feelies, like neighboring Manhattan antecedents, the Velvet Underground, influenced dozens of promising independent bands. Having an impact way beyond the few thousand copies winsome 1980 entrée Crazy Rhythms sold, these unsuspecting harbingers presaged ‘90s DIY bedroom pop a la Sebadoh, Liz Phair, and Jack …
FOREWORD: Spontaneous lo-fi bohemian, Howe Gelb, is happy living in partial obscurity as a virtuous cult artist. But unlike prolific Texas folk-blues renegade, Jandek, a weirdly anti-social commoner, he’s available for comments and glad to see you. But just when you think you’ve caught up to his catalogue, the damn guy releases something else. There’s about a dozen recordings as loose collective, Giant Sand, a few as Band Of Black Ranchette, and a growing number as a solo artist. ‘06s
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FOREWORD: Dungen have to be one of the most inventive bands to come down the pike in recent years. I interviewed dexterous guitarist Reine Fiske just before ’05s Ta Det Lugnt took hold underground. I’ve also included a High Times review I did for ’07s incredibly awesome Tio Bitar – which received a four hemp leaf rating, as you’ll see below. This article originally appeared in Aquarian Weekly. The brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Gustav Ejstes, Nordic combo Dungen (pronounced doon-yen) came …
FOREWORD: I did this ’05 interview just before Greenhornes bassist Jack Lawrence and drummer Patrick Keeler provided rhythm for Loretta Lynn’s Van Leer Rose comeback. Her producer, White Stripes guitarist Jack White, had recommended them. Afterwards, White, Lawrence, Keeler, and indie pop sensation Brendan Benson formed the Raconteurs and gained further endorsements. Following a decent ’05 album, Sewed Soles, the Greenhornes parted ways with guitarist Craig Fox and may be in limbo (possibly due to Lawrence-Keeler’s busy session work schedule)
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FOREWORD: It happens all too much. A band on the rise loses a member or more due to an automobile (or plane) accident. Chi-town’s Dials suffered that sad fate just as they were making musical progress. Nevertheless, they soldiered on, releasing ‘05s sturdy Flex Time and, after this interview, capricious ’09 follow-up, Amoeba Amore. This article originally appeared in Aquarian Weekly.
In the late ‘90s, up and coming Florida band, For Squirrels, were about to shake up the underground when …
AMERICAN BEER TRAVELOGUE
Taking a 12,000-mile expedition cross-country to sample some of the USA’s best brewers, director Paul Kermizian and crew assembled the interestingly educational low-budget travelogue, American Beer. Since then, I’ve befriended Kermizian and his trekking buddy Jeremy Goldberg, telling them how I’ve got an upcoming website reviewing thousands of bottled-canned beers and dozens of brewpubs. The brew-some twosome later attended a High Times softball game to drink some Canadian beers I found on a Niagara Falls family …
Though born in Lake Michigan port town, Kenosha, Wisconsin, home of genius movie director Orson Welles, multi-instrumentalist Eric Johnson grew up in expansive Chicago suburb, Naperville, where he listened to my alma maters’ college station, WONC-FM. So it’s intriguingly heartening to find the Fruit Bats leader claiming to be very enlightened by North Central College’s somewhat esoteric evening radio programming, especially since I once toiled there as music director way back in ‘78 when Captain Blotter, Doctor Quaalude, and Professor …
