Shane Handler

Yo La Tengo: Marquee Theater, Tempe, AZ 10/14/09

Shane Handler October 26, 2009 No Comments

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.

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Bon Iver: Mesa Arts Center, Mesa, AZ 9/29/09

Shane Handler October 9, 2009 No Comments

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.

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Muse: The Resistance

Shane Handler October 5, 2009 No Comments

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.

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fun.: Aim And Ignite

Shane Handler September 18, 2009 No Comments

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.

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Yo La Tengo: Popular Songs

Shane Handler September 16, 2009 No Comments

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.

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Arctic Monkeys: Humbug

Shane Handler September 14, 2009 No Comments

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.

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Assembly of Dust: Some Assembly Required

Shane Handler September 2, 2009 No Comments

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.”

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Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros: Up From Below

Shane Handler August 30, 2009 No Comments

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.

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Tears For Fears: Celebrity Theatre, Phoenix, AZ 7/21/09

Shane Handler July 27, 2009 No Comments

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.

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