Posts by Shane Handler

Back around 2004, pre Facebook, and in the midst of the Myspace and blog onset, certain bands suddenly got hyped really fast and for their later misfortune, it carried a price –called the sophomore slump. How do you follow-up such a big debut record? You know who they are… cough cough…Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, […]

Luray is led by Washington, D.C.-based singer/songwriter Shannon Carey who creates banjo-inspired indie rock fused with Americana and folk on the debut The Wilder, released on August 27th. Recorded in Eau Claire, Wisconsin with her brother/producer Sean Carey (of S. Carey and Bon Iver), The Wilder became a family affair with the addition of brother […]

It wasn’t the hottest day on record in Arizona, but for many, baking on the pavement during a festival on a 105 degree day, it surely felt volcanic.   As the Uproar Festival kicked off on two outdoor parking lot stages mid-day, fans were skirmishing for whatever shade could be found in the parking lot.  This […]

Canadian singer/songwriter Jordan Klassen will be releasing his  full-length debut Repentance on September 18th. Repentance, the follow up to 2012s EP Kindness, was recorded at Buena Vista Audio with producer and multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Anderson (Aidan Knight, In Medias Res, Sheree Plett). Ukuleles, strings, horns, choirs, glockenspiels, omnichords accent Klassen’s chamber folk/pop alongside guitars, pianos, and […]

Chelsea Wolfe has been called a lot of things from “goth-folk,” “doom-folk” and “drone-pop,” yet she although she has been known to embrace the dark side, she refuses to be typecast as a modern day Siouxsie Sioux. After composing her first two albums on her mother’s classical guitar resulting in brooding cinema score flared compositions, […]

“I love you too,”  admitted a proud Charles Bradley to his fans at the Crescent Ballroom. It was one of probably ten times he proclaimed his adoration to the near sell out in Phoenix that came to witness someone recently considered as an “ overnight sensation.” Although Bradley sports a manly appearance with a gold […]

With artists like Fitz and the Tantrums, Mayer Hawthorne and Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings delivering what critics are calling as indie soul, JC Brooks of Chicago’s JC Brooks and The Uptown Sound likes a comparison instead likening his band to Wilson Picket getting the Velvet Underground off heroin. Or perhaps he’ll also run […]

The Bay Area’s The Mother Hips have been combining their California soul energy with a slightly more aggressive rock sound for  two decades now. It all started back in 1993 with their well lauded debut on Rick Rubin’s American Recordings – Back to the Grotto. Caring that west coast ethos over the course of eight […]

One listen to Pickwick’s Motown inspired thumper “The Round” and you’ll wonder if  Fitz and his Tantrums even have a chance.  Although the recent rock and soul revolution is becoming as crowded as Bassnectar’s set at the Coachella Sahara Tent; the Seattle six piece carries high energy soul and funk workouts alongside a blackened riff […]

Unlike the unavoidable celebratory roots rock sound of GPN, Ver La Luz is an album of experimental sounds focused around themes of darkness and pain with an overshadow of optimism- not so much different than the desolate yet innovative sound of The National. Although Tournet notes George Harrison’s solo work was a prime influence, there are bits of Wilco and modern leaning soundscapes that give Tournet an essential voice as a front-man and singer-songwriter from the pop charm of “Lights Go Down,” Americana twang of “Demons” and the psychedelic rock thriller “Stand By You.”  Just prior to the record’s release, we had a chance to talk with Tournet about his revolving world of success, isolation and solo artistry.