Posts by Shane Handler

In the true essence of keeping an old sound new again, Soulive has enlisted a number of very special guests for Break Out, their first release with the Concord Music Group after breaking ties with Blue Note. This time Ivan Neville, Corey Glover, Robert Randolph, Chaka Khan and Reggie Watts lend their talents in the key of soul to the mix. Not to be overlooked, the

What more could you possibly ask for than heading to Vegas on Halloween weekend? What if a festival the likes of Bonnaroo was going on while you

The stoic crowd stood transfixed as The Like’s dream pop, as they stood not knowing whether to dance, pound drinks or holler. On the other hand, the evening

Poor Boston. Once Beantown was the crown jewel to alternative music, but now it finds itself cast aside the jetstream of Montreal to its northwest and New York City to its southeast for bragging rights amongst the Arcade Fires and Interpols. Enter Apollo Sunshine, labeled a

Proving to be more than just a looker for the ladies, James Blunt has recently achieved the momentous task of booting Coldplay from the top of the UK charts, a spot it proudly held for eight weeks. And to poor salt over Chris Martin

It

In the first of what we can only hope will become a series of collaborations between Calexico and Iron & Wine, this seven song effort features the minimalist Sam Beam approach floating on neo-folk and country-western waters.

It goes without saying that Nada Surf’s brand of punk-pop-rock should have them paired with today’s hot ticket melodic rock bands like Death Cab for Cutie and The Shins. Their latest release- The Weight is a Gift – may be their ticket back to the forefront.

The Portland, Oregon four piece

Kanye West

Prior to the release of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Plans fails to pick things up a notch in the rock department where Transatlanticism teased us in believing DCFC would be the next great experimental guitar band. There is a load of keyboard sap and wish washy ballads to deal that makes Plans a rather soft affair.

Maybe next time instead of recording in New England in the dead of winter, these west-coasters should stay in overcast Seattle and stick with a familiar formula. The true Death Cab sound is still here at times, but at the end Plans leaves you asking, “what is all the fuss about?”

Having sung with Canadian indie-popsters Broken Social Scene to female rapper Peaches to the Kings, Leslie Feist has paid her dues. But it

In a very rare U..S. club show to kick off a northeast tour featuring fellow Dead co-conspirators Bruce Hornsby and Steve Miller, Ratdog loaded their 18 wheeler full of gear into South Burlington

If you

If any four night run is a moment in time for Phish, the Island Tour epitomizes the power of a snapshot. It

On their third album, Twin Cinema, and their first since 2003

Jason Mraz would like to be known as Mr.Wordplay, but on his latest album he

In 1982 Don Henley said “hell would freeze over before the Eagles would play together again.” Sure enough, the apocalypse never arrived and the Eagles were delivering their feel-good California rock twelve years later in one the most anticipated reunion tours ever.

But who would have thought Pink Floyd would reunite? There were better odds of Barbara Streisand marrying Tommy Lee than seeing Roger Waters and David Gilmour spit out “Comfortably Numb” together on stage.

But sure enough it did happen, when a Pink Floyd reunion stole the show at Live 8 last month in London. That’s right, all four members, minus of course the mysterious recluse Syd Barrett took the stage together. In Live 8 terms, it’s pretty common knowledge that Pink Floyd band leaders David Gilmour and Roger Waters see about as eye to eye as George Bush and Bono. But there was Waters, along with Gilmour and Nick Mason and Rick Wright performing “Breathe,” “Money,” “Wish You Were Here” and “Comfortably Numb.”

The Thieves probably want you to believe that they are the last great rock band standing. Like The Darkness who have rekindled the lore of Queen and Thin Lizzy, The Thieves strive on proving that rock and roll is meant to be good clean fun. With lines like “gimme some lip boy and I