Posts by Shawn Donohue

Dev Haynes has broke away from the worst named band in indie-pop’s history, Test Icicles, to come up with a new codename Lightspeed Champion. The dancey/pop/punk he recently played is also no more, replaced with operatic strings, acoustic guitars and a focus on Haynes voice.  This teaser EP (the full length due to be released in February) contains one album track, a few b-sides and covers, ending up as a mixed bag.

For a man who sings in 7 languages, one is surprised at how clearly his consistent passion comes alive.  Manu Chao manages to instill all of his songs with a sense of purpose, whether extolling his far left politics, serenading a loved one in a back alley or pumping up the partying pogoing masses, the passion comes through to the listener, even if they do not comprehend the meaning of the words, they still comprehend.

The sound on Faces in the Rocks seems to have sprouted effortlessly from a mountain spring or twisting root, nature is imbedded in every note and vocal flutter from Mariee Sioux on her first release.

Shiny Toy Guns are an L.A. quarter who have been gaining steam playing sold out crowds here and abroad as well as at some top notch exclusive get-togethers (more on that later). Their alive style of new wave/guitar/pop/electronica creates dense textures both musically and vocally. Thanks to melodious male/female leads sung by Chad Petree and Carah Faye and complex song structures, Shiny Toy Guns are able to tackle issues of gender and fear in fresh ways testing at times and reassuring at others along the journey. This is not your typical synth-pop band.

There are songs of the summer, albums that make you recall springtime or the falling of leaves; Reichenbach Falls, the debut from Ravens and Chimes is most certainly a winter album. Its snowy soundscapes and brushed wind chime keyboards slide into icicle coated glockenspiel, combined with the isolated frailty and indie-yearning of vocalist Asher Lack, the operatic movements play as New York City’s response to the Arcade Fire.

While Dax’s voice can successfully range all over the map, his song writing focuses in one realm – darkness.  His soon to be released album is titled We Sing of Only Blood and Love and that sums up the content nicely, with the love being more on brooding tip as opposed to puppies and flowers.

Dressed in a solid, blood-red and standing in front of a plain red stage, with an apple red guitar, Jack White kicked off the White Stripes’ first show at Madison Square Garden in style with the bare-boned power-blues of “Dead Leaves on the Dirty Ground”, kicking the fictional brother/sister team off and running and they didn’t stop for the next two hours.

The minimalist veterans are back restraining their outward energy but grinding the internal millstone on their newest effort, Drums and Guns. Low went a bit poppy/mainstream (for them at least) with their last effort The Great Destroyer, but now it is back to bleak with Drums and Guns.

When it is over, The Else has left you with a total listening experience, different then TMBG past offerings but still satisfying.

 You’re staring at a record that has enough spit and polish to be mainstream; enough off-kilter punk blues for diehards; enough sonic experimentation to cover up the groups’ normal shortcomings (Meg’s elementary drumming); lyrics that come from the wise and fun loving ventricle of Jacks heart (“And lots of other situations where I don’t know what to do/at which time God screams to me/“There’s nothing left for me to tell you”)…and you’re staring at the album of the year.

Simply stated, this was the loudest-fucking-concert I have ever been too.

At a breezy 28 minutes, the self-titled demo from Generals and Majors is a lo-fi high-time.

Now touring behind their second offering Favourite Worst Nightmare, the Monkeys from a Sheffield England suburb, made their way onto the Hammerstein stage for their cask tight hour and fifteen minute set which begun with pre-recorded violin strings before being replaced by scratching guitars and Yorkshire accents.

From the SST looking cover to the first fuzzed bass and ripping guitar lines in the opener “Almost Ready,” it seems like 1988 all over again.

Blogs, NPR, The New York Times have all been singing the praises of Philly’s Dr. Dog and now they have some hard evidence. We All Belong is one of the 2007’s strongest releases, combining tight arraignments with picturesque vocals and a lazy fall afternoon BBQ vibe; Dr. Dog has crafted a winner to go along with their energetic live show.

Waits’ Orphans brings to mind Bob Dylan’s The Bootleg Series 1- 3, in that both are career defining outtake albums that give fans a view of the wizard behind the curtain, awakening them to a new level of greatness within the artist.  Both collections should be experienced after listeners are more then just casual fans.

In the Rock-Paper-Scissors game of life, Cold can’t stop Rock. This was proven in the gothic halls of Rebel NYC, where Generals and Majors and the Mooney Suzuki took flight in an aerial show of guitars and whiskey.

The cult of Claypool has worshipped for years at the alter of Primus’s unique sound but greatest hit packages are never for the die-hards, they serve as an intro or a recap of a band you may have missed over the years, in either of these roles …Zingers succeeds.

A unique bi-costal tour popped up at the end of the last year. It was announced that the indie buzz band, the Cold War Kids, would be playing intimate New York venues three Wednesday nights in January, before flying cross-country each Friday night to play their hometown L.A. clubs. This approach might infuriate the dozen or so people living in the vacant prairie land between New York and Los Angeles, but it’s a strategy that solidifies the band’s foothold in the two U.S. music Mecca’s in a very short period of time.

James Brown was a giant, and in my opinion one of the four of five pillars of modern sound. One cannot imagine contemporary popular music without the influence of the Hardest Working Man in Show Business.