Shane Handler

Particle : The Brickhouse, Phoenix, AZ 3/24/2006

Shane Handler April 17, 2006 No Comments

Since 2001, Particle’s rise to success has been meteoric compared to other contemporaries in their scene. Sure they weren’t opening for the Stones at MSG, but in between festival spots at Bonnaroo, Coachella and Austin City Limits, and selling out venues coast to coast, Particle was a rare success with limited record sales. So to most fans on the outside, it came as a surprise when the band broke ties with longtime guitarist Charlie Hitchcock this past autumn. The split is still very much a ‘he said, he said’ mystery, but regardless of who was right or wrong, at the end of he day, one thing is for certain…it definitely didn’t end well.

Calexico: Garden Ruin

Shane Handler April 7, 2006 No Comments

For the better part of ten years, Calexico has sounded like no other experimental rock outfit. Where else can you hear mariachi singers, marimbas and happy trumpets with shades of highway Americana? Recently reaching the Billboard 200 album chart with their 2005 In the Reins collaboration with Iron & Wine, Calexico

Loose Fur: Born Again In The USA

Shane Handler April 3, 2006 No Comments

Side projects have become a hit or miss avenue. For every novel Postal Service, there is an over-hyped Velvet Revolver with the whole

Shooter Jennings : Martini Ranch, Scottsdale, AZ 3/15/2006

Shane Handler March 21, 2006 No Comments

With a back up band that looks more L.A. than Nashville, it’s hard to take Shooter for straight up country, especially when he says, “we’re country music,” while one guitar riff teases Black Sabbath’s “Sweet Leaf,” and another purges in psychedelic excess.

Matisyahu: Youth

Shane Handler March 20, 2006 No Comments

By now you

I Am The Resurrection: A Tribute to John Fahey: Various Artists

Shane Handler March 7, 2006 No Comments

These are nice musical variations, and each artist retains their own style, but I Am The Resurrection isn

The Southland

Shane Handler February 28, 2006 No Comments

O.A.R. picked them to open their 2005 summer tour, and now this week

The Minus Five: The Gun Album

Shane Handler February 23, 2006 No Comments

As a collective, the latest from The Minus 5 is summed up by “Cigarettes Coffee and Booze” and “Twilight Distillery,” two substance flavored tracks that toy with rockabilly, country and jangly pop. Sure, we’ve heard this all before with The Minus 5, but it’s the guests that keep you coming back. “The Gun Album” is no exception.

Neil Young – Heart of Gold: Directed by Jonathan Demme

Shane Handler February 21, 2006 No Comments

For his latest escapade to the big screen, Young hooked up with director
Jonathan Demme to capture his recent “Nashville phase” during two nights in August of 2005 at the hallowed Ryman Auditorium.

Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins: Rabbit Fur Coat

Shane Handler February 15, 2006 No Comments

Jenny Lewis, The Rilo Kiley front-woman has struggled with her child star-meets-sex symbol status with grace, yet after a summer of opening the big sheds for Coldplay, you knew her star was about to shine brighter. Rabbit Fur Coat reinvents Lewis as a brainy borderline diva, who merges her indie spunk with cozy bygone harmonies.