Posts by Shane Handler

Judging from some of the vivacious story-telling on Cavaran of Thieves’ debut Bouquet and their dramatic live performances, you’d think this project was a pure off-broadway achievement.  Instead the quartet led by husband and wife duo Fuzz and Carrie Sangiovanni (vocals and acoustic guitars) have carved a niche with their unique blend of gypsy folk/rock and captivating live performances, bringing new version of "live entertainment" to clubs throughout the Northeast.

The Dejas may be fall into the dream pop/ indie-pop/rock duo category, but these two kindred spirits are far from pretentious.   Following their sold out Speeding Softly CD release show in late February at the House of Blues Foundation Room in Boston, Callie Lipton and Aaron Katz, who make up The Dejas, proved to be more than grateful to the packed room

It's a pleasure to watch a band develop as songwriters, recording artists and performers, especially if their audience grows along with them. January 28th is the first time Dr. Dog's commanded the stage in Higher Ground's Ballroom rather than it's smaller Showcase Lounge and the audience filled the larger room comfortably. And happily too.

Transference remains a grower with its brooding underbelly, but once you get it, you’re thankful for the not-so obvious pop nods. The one catchy exception is “Written In Reverse,” where the ker-plunky piano and crashing drums make for another silent classic. With Transference Spoon is further cementing their status as cult survivor rather than a pop/blog flash in the pan, thanks to their intense consistency and only selling out to their fan-base, not  the mainstream.

Vandaveer is the alt-folk song-singing/record making/globetrotting project penned and put forth by DC-by-way-of-Kentucky tunesmith Mark Charles Heidinger. Vandaveer’s debut album, Grace & Speed, a mostly live, stripped down affair, swiftly entered this great big dusty world in the spring of 2007. Touring continually on both sides of the Atlantic ever since, Vandaveer has played 250+ shows, sharing stages with a host of artists including Bon Iver, Vetiver, Alela Diane, Alejandro Escovedo, Vashti Bunyan, Bill Callahan and Fleet Foxes.  Vandaveer’s sophomore effort, Divide & Conquer, touches upon similar themes found in its elder sibling, winding timeworn themes of love & death, malice & goodwill, sin & perseverance into (mostly) four-minute vignettes.

es, it was Christmas with the Tweedys as the now beloved Wilco front-man travelled to the Grand Canyon with his wife Susie, sons Sam and Spencer to spend the holidays with Tweedy’s sister.  So for us lucky Arizona residents Tweedy decided to book a single gig at Phoenix’s Orpheum Theatre, for a reason he explained as “a way to pay for his family's visit to his sister's house for the holidays.”  Whether or not that is true, it doesn’t matter – it is sure as hell beats The Nutcracker. 

As we all know, it’s damn near impossible to blow up on the jamband scene, so don’t let Steez fool you. After releasing their first feature length debut this past August, Creepfunk Crusade, the funky Madison kids did crack their first issue of Relix; get named New Groove of the Month on Jambands, receive a nod as one of the ten most influential Madison bands of the decade; and are currently in the running studio album of the year on the Homegrown Music Network, but that all comes after six years of pounding the pavement

It Might Get Loud is as revealing as a guitar documentary gets, even with the warts and all finale of the three playing a rough version of The Band’s “The Weight.”  But that’s what makes the film worthy, it shows three rock stars at their most vulnerable and human – proving once again, the guitar rules over everything else.

LA based trio, Crash Kings, are putting their own unique spin on the three-man-band concept.  Fusing keyboard-born compositions with agressive layers of rock, their crafty tunes are accomplished without the hint of a guitar.  Incorporating a clavinet (a keyboard with guitar strings) outfitted through a distortion pedal, the result is an arsenal of innovative and rich sound.

As Phish’s powerful rendition of The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street defined their Halloween desert escapade, Festival 8, it was a line from the immortal songwriting team of Jagger/Richards  that best summed up the drama of Phish festivals 1-7:  “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”

There are two things you can be sure about at a Yo La Tengo show:  bored security and an odd mix of cutesy indie pop lying next to long instrumental noise jams.   Ira Kaplan along with his wife Georgia  Hubley and James McNew, elder statesmen of the modern indie scene, brought their “New York kitsch” to the Arizona desert for a performance at the drab Marquee Theater.  Opening with the swirling rock number “Here to Fall,” the band tore into the guitar squaw workout of “And The Glitter is Gone” – two tracks off their latest album Popular Songs.

When you hear Justin Vernon talk in between songs with a deep vibrato, you wonder if this is the same guy with the ghostly falsetto responsible for that album of songs penned around a frigid Wisconsin winter. But then when he starts to sing, you nod in clear realization.

There’s no doubt from his growing resume, that Matt Bellamy desires Muse to become the biggest band in the world.  Well until they drop their appetite for over-production and over-achieving (which in the end hurts them), Bellamy and Muse might still be clinging to two thirds up the musical food chain.

fun. is the project of Nate Ruess, late of The Format, having teamed up with ex-Anathallo multi-instrumentalist Andrew Dost and Steel Train's Jack Antonoff.  Don’t call it a supergroup – call it superpop with a tad of mutual admiration society.

When a band has survived for 25 years, they have free reign to call their own creative shots. In that case, give Yo La Tengo all the artillery they need.  Aside from their guitar freak-outs they’ve always won a heart with the twee crowd , courtesy of “autumn sweater,” and their “Sonic Youth Lite hush hush” songs.

Remember when the Arctic Monkeys first broke onto the scene in early 2006 and it was too easy to call them another buzz band?  Put them on a Spin cover and pretty soon you’ll find them in the $3.00 used CD bin with The Bravery and Kasabian.  The Sheffield, England based rockers have returned with Humbug, their third album since their ’06 breakthrough, which gives the boys a revised launching pad for their punkish guitar riffs and Alex Turner’s creative evolution.

Where prior releases focused the band and its chops, Some Assembly is geared towards song-craft and collaborators, from David Grisman’s tinkling mandolin on “Cold Coffee”  to Bela Flecks’ lively banjo on “Edges.”

Described as part hippie love-fest and musical traveling circus, one look at the cover photo of Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros’ Up From Below and you’ll rightfully agree with the description.  If that correlation doesn’t ring true,  go to the band’s homepage and check out the image of the ten or so band members holding hands in a tribal type dance circle and you’ll come to fathom that there is more than just music to this collective.

Formed in 1985 in Minneapolis with Mark Olson (acoustic guitar and vocals), Gary Louris (electric guitar and vocals), Marc Perlman (bass) and Norm Rogers (drums), The Jayhawks were sorely one of the most under-rated bands of their era.

With “80’s synth-pop” being all the rage these days amongst the hipster elite, it’s surprising that Tears For Fears haven’t generated more buzz amongst the Urban Outfitter set. Instead, their show at the Celebrity Theater brought out an aging 40 something crowd to soak in the new-wave sounds of Orzabel and his musical partner – Curt Smith.