March 14, 2011

Band of Heathens: Top Hat Crown & The Clapmaster

Chris Calarco March 14, 2011 No Comments

There is a collaborative, one for all spirit on Top Hat and if you like the new wave of Americana acts like Deer Tick and Dawes you will have a soft spot for Band of Heathens. Its not a perfect album, there are lulls in the generic country rock of opener “Medicine Man” and the blues bounce of “Enough” but it is abundantly clear this is a group of focused songwriters and tour hounds, a unit to be reckoned with. “Gris Gris Satchel” ends the album solemnly with each vocalist taking a turn on the slow cooking chorus. Feel this.

Chromeo: Fox Theater, Oakland, CA 2/18/11

Eric Podolsky March 14, 2011 No Comments

For a DJ act, the Fox was a massive venue for Chromeo to play, and they succeeded in turning the regal, palace-like confines of the venue into a freaky, throwback dance party. The lack of dynamics which the pre-recorded tracks afforded didn't bother the crowd one bit, which was clearly there to get down long and hard.

Stone Temple Pilots: Hard Rock Live, Biloxi, MS, 2/20/11

Leslie Michele Derrough March 14, 2011 No Comments

When notorious front man Scott Weiland sang, “Pleased to meet you, nice to know me. What’s the message? Will ya show me?” near the end of their set in Biloxi, Mississippi, you knew you had just been eaten alive by a band that had been dead only a few years back

John Lennon Remasters

Doug Collette March 14, 2011 No Comments

Despite the erratic nature of his solo output, John Lennon garnered almost as much respect and reverence on his own as he did as a Beatle. It’s arguable that his extra-musical activities, such as the peace advocacy that raised the ire of the establishment, had as much or more to do with the admiration accorded Lennon, but that doesn’t deny the force of the best work he did once the iconic band dissolved in 1970