Posts by Shane Handler

Like Iggy Pop before him, Frank Black went from being the leader of a highly influential rock band, to landing a successful solo career. As a result, the Pixies front-man has been in a position to call his own shots in more ways than one. This liberty came to light before last year

As a child, Mike Gordon and his family took a trip to the Bahamas. It was there, sitting by the pool, that he first heard the smooth, calypso rhythms of the Mustangs. Years later he would bring “Ya Mar” to the Phish table, but those island sounds would stay with him for much longer.

Honky-tonk bars and love-sick cowboys aren’t exactly common on Long Island. And they certainly don’t make it into the New York punk scene. But somehow Earl Pickens managed to transition his Anti-Folk, East Village holler to more subdued, Lone Star drawl and do just that.

In the past few years, Widespread Panic has endured their share of grief, uncertainty and exhaustion. A break from the road was more than deserving, and in late March, the Athens, Georgia six piece returned from a 15 month hiatus clearly rejuvenated.

Despite the gloomy messages, the album

Mike Doughty and Ray Lamontagne sharing a bill is like Dave
Chappelle followed by Steven Wright. Both are talented at hat they do, but what they do is equally different.

At the age of 66, bluegrass legend Del McCoury has certainly been there and done that. As a true ambassador for bridging bluegrass to a younger and wider audience, the genre owes the man some due resects. So rather than lay back and bask in fame and glory, McCoury is still making the best music of his life, while remaining a road horse.

If there were two bands to represent the Americana style to an open-minded Canadian city, then My Morning Jacket and Wilco should be on the fifty dollar bill.

As the leader of indie vets The Sea and Cake, there is no shortage of creativity in Sam Prekop

The Gang Of Four classics like

As the tour winds down, Sleater Kinney prove to be comfortable and confident
enough with their new material to make it their

In Your Honor won

A year after releasing their second album, Now Here is Nowhere, The Secret Machines have dropped a six song EP to hold us over until their much
anticipated follow up arrives. With one song off of Now Here is Nowhere,
an abridged version of

Aside from the T Rex, Ted Nugent, Joe Walsh and Deep Purple retro soundtrack, the 2001 documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys is a much better portrayal of this pivotal moment in skate culture.

hat New York City and CBGBs was the true home of the punk underground. CBGB & OMFUG: Thirty Years from the Home of Underground Rock will have you reminiscing down memory lane the next time you see a kid wearing a CBGB shirt at the mall or at a Green Day show. Let

Thankfully, the improvisation plays second fiddle to the melodies and arrangements on Deep Forbidden Lake, which allows this incarnation of the Jazz Mandolin to shine in a new, yet familiar setting.

Sure, Def Leppard is synonymous with

Radio flavored rock in the form of Jet, though with a little 80

It seems artists with monikers reflect a prolific outburst of songs. Take Conor Oberst and Bright Eyes, Damon Gough and Badly Drawn Boy or Mark Oliver Everett, who performs slippery title of eels. Working under the eels name since 1995, Everett has been turning out songs to the indie underground and has even captured Tom Waits as a die hard fan. This time around, Everett, or “E” as he

Following some growing pains, an apparent identity crisis, and an album with good intentions but questionable results, The String Cheese Incident release their fifth studio album, One Step Closer. But they inevitably sold themselves short on the title, ’cause this latest effort is far more than just a step – it’s more like leaps and bounds closer.