No one can accuse Kristian Hoffman of playing it safe. Rather than aping the trends of current pop music, Hoffman draws his influences from 60’s rock and pop, theater and even vaudeville on Fop. Hoffman imagines himself a modern-day David Bowie and spends large portions of the album trying to live up to that self-billing. At times it works – such as in the glam rock of “Mediocre Dream” – at times, not.
Leslie Michele Derrough
November 10, 2010
No Comments
If I can praise only one guitarist this year, I have to shout out Luther Dickinson. The man knows how to cause shivers to run up your spine with his slinky drop down blues riffs via a slide. The man has GOT IT. And lucky for The Black Crowes they are allowing him to plow the field with his on fire solos in such an unassuming manner you’d swear he wasn’t even there.
Sigur Ros’ Jonsi has announced details of the release of a live album and DVD. ‘Go Live’ is due out on November 29 and features a live 14-song album, plus
Ween have decided to play a few West Coast tour dates. The fellows will be kicking things off in Vancouver and then drops down to coast hitting up Seattle,
Gang Of Four, one of the most radical and important groups of the last thirty years, are proud to announce a headlining tour of North America beginning February 4th in
The Bad Plus announce their U.S. tour in support of Never Stop, their new release on eOne Music. The tour extends from December 2nd through January 9th, 2011 and includes
After a 13-year hiatus, the industrial band Swans has a whole lotta touring to make up for, including Europe, more U.S. dates and a jaunt Down Under followed by, well,
Queen will re-release all of their 15 studio albums next year. The band have signed a long-term agreement with Universal Music Group to release the albums, thereby ending their 40-year
Every time Kanye West releases a song or video, makes an appearance on the VMA’s or is made fun of on South Park, it stirs a debate. Is Kanye an incredibly ambitious musician, a public figure of epic proportions tackling race, culture and art all in one fell swoop, or a clown in king’s clothing?
His latest public endeavour seems to be his argument for “D: All of the Above.” The 35-minute video for Runaway is not only an intense visual undertaking, but a lengthy musical process, and it seems to be commenting on multiple facets of modern-day society, all while Kanye dresses himself in white suits and stares directly into the camera for long, meaningful moments that make you wonder if he’s thinking, “Please, tell me you love me.”
Here’s what Three Grown Men had to say about it…
Jonathan Kosakow on Kanye as musician:
The line that sticks out in my head the most from Kanye’s 35-minute “epic” is probably the last one that he wants to be remembered by. “We ain’t married but tonight I need some consummation.” In other words, Kanye wants to fuck you, but he won’t be giving you anything in return.
As Yo La Tengo gears up for the start of their semi-annual eight-night Hannukah run at Maxwell’s, which gets underway on December 1, the Hoboken-based band has announced a unique
