Ben Folds headlines a concert for the Fund for Civility, Respect and UnderstandingBen Folds cleared his schedule, dropped all other projects and dedicated this month to focusing on writing songs for what will be the first Ben Folds Five record in 13 years.Then the call came from Ron Barber's Fund for Civility, Respect and Understanding, requesting a benefit performance. Without hesitating,
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Live, Big Meridox is the "beast" he calls himself in rhyme, tense and confrontational as he roams the crowd and delivers lines with urgency and, at times, an edgy growl. Joined by DJ Bonus on turntables and a MacBook, Meridox performed 12 songs, produced by Gunky Knuckles.Sweating and swaggering like a boxer, Meridox gives a physical performance, stalking around the crowd to get in people's
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1. Tom Waits, Bad as Me (ANTI-)If you agree—in any way—that "Hell Broke Luce" in 2011, then Bad as Me is the record to turn to for some wisdom and advice amid the chaos. Dark, preposterous, incensed and confrontational, Bad as Me encapsulates a year that saw misery boil over into anger. The message Waits delivers, through stomps and shouts: This year's optimism is found in revolt.2. The War on
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As the more-thoughtful Oasis brother, Noel Gallagher's best moments tended to turn up on hit singles as well as around the band's fringes, like B-sides and the Noel-sung MTV Unplugged. Boastful and arrogant, Oasis was gunning for the highest peaks, and that often involved a certain sound and swagger that didn't incorporate the best of Noel's skills.Neither, exactly, does this first solo
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The Roots' Undun is a character study and album-length epitaph of the fictional Redford Stephens, whose short inner-city life of crime and consequence yields a meditation on fate, mortality and karmic justice.The band's first concept album arrives with vivid narrative details, moody instrumentals and a documentary-style detachment. Stephens' tragic arc (1974-1999) is presented through the
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I'll be posting my list of the top albums of 2011 a bit later, but in the meantime here are 13 songs from other albums that really stood out for me this year.Mates of State - PalominoDum Dum Girls - Bedroom EyesThose Darlins - Be Your BroCentro-Matic - Only In My Double MindOkkervil River - Wake and Be FineWanda Jackson - Thunder on the MountainThe Black Lips - New DirectionThe Pains of Being
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Murs concludes the Hip Hop and Love Tour with a hometown performanceInstead of a shout-out to his neighborhood or hometown, Murs opens his new record with an intergalactic greeting."I use my rocket fuel to travel through the infinite / and this is what I brought to you," raps Murs on "Epic Salutations," a rapid-fire and wildly imaginative lyrical journey into outer space.It's a song that
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The first thing to notice about Dum Dum Girls is the attitude—that audacious, flirtatious cool, with their don't-follow-the-rules posturing. Debut album I Will Be was a musical exploration of that attitude, marking Dum Dum Girls as a fresh and intriguing buzz band.Only in Dreams takes that attitude and runs with it—in a few different directions. The band still brings a refreshing punk
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The storytelling gifts that Tom Russell has brought to songs for 35 years have reached new peaks on Mesabi, another stunning album of Southwest-borderlands rock.Russell begins this wide-ranging collection with "Mesabi," a song named for the Minnesota iron range of Bob Dylan's childhood, imagining how strongly those early influences struck young ears. Singing of the "Bethlehem of the
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The versatile Will Johnson finds himself in a hard-driving, Centro-Matic phase these daysWill Johnson is a songwriter who works in bursts. He's also a songwriter who keeps multiple bands and projects alive at the same time.So what makes a song a Centro-Matic song?"I will get into certain sounds or certain type of songs for a stretch," he says. "These days, I'm writing more hard-driving music.
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Download my new mix, Needle on a Hill. 1. Sugar - If I Can't Change Your Mind2. Fiery Furnaces - Here Comes The Summer3. Built to Spill - Car4. Alejandro Escovedo - Last To Know5. Amy Rude And Heartbeast - Can You Hear Me Crying Throught The Walls? 6. Townes Van Zandt - No Lonesome Tune7. Delta Spirit - People Turn Around8. Luna - Tiger Lilly9. The Faces - Stay With Me10. Busted Hearts - Cold
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Plush welcomes The Inspector Cluzo, the self-proclaimed 'original funk 'n' roll duo'When the bass player quit, The Inspector Cluzo marched onward as a two-piece.All the advice they received said otherwise, and the precedent said otherwise, but Mathieu Jourdain and Laurent Lacrouts felt they could play funk music as a duo. With no bass."We started with a bass player, but he wasn't good enough,
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The pairing of Mates of State and Generationals guarantees hooks and harmony galore—an abundant display of how to make pop songs shine.Both bands are built around a duo and the ever-present interplay between musical counterparts. In Mates of State, it's husband-wife duo Jason Hammel and Kori Gardner, while Generationals offer Grant Widmer and Ted Joyner, a songwriting duo with a friendship
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I'll have a full review of last night's Mates of State & Generationals show in the Tucson Weekly on Thursday, but today I have to highlight "Palomino," the first song on Mates of State's new album, Mountaintops. "Palomino" is quickly becoming one of my favorite songs of 2011, and it's an amazing video, from director Jimi Patterson:And as a bonus, Mates of State covering Jackson Browne's "These
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Eighteen seconds into "Palomino," what started as a toe-tapping song with an airy synthesizer bursts into a chorus of "oohs," and Mates of State's new album rushes off like a child at play."Palomino" is concentrated sweetness, an album and perhaps career highlight for Mates of State, a band that peddles bottled joy and sunshine.Mates of State has always been a band defined by the marriage/
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Donning the mask of a fatalistic joker, Tom Waits gives 2011 its defining album, singing, stomping and wheezing in revolt against the bleak lows that mark this doomed age.A deep study of any of the 13 songs on Bad as Me would serve the same purpose, with nearly the same result: This is the soundtrack to an occupied nation, encapsulating the fear, anger and defiance coursing through a people
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Cleveland's Mr. Gnome is band that strips down to the basics, without ever sounding stripped down. Forget the convention of the power trio, this is a power duo.Nicole Barille on vocals and guitar and Sam Meister on drums, occasional piano and back-up vocals - that's it. Just as bombastic as the White Stripes, just as enigmatic as Wye Oak and just as crafty as the Black Keys, Mr. Gnome plays music
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As localized music scenes capture broader attention, the boundaries blur between the bands that count among the influential originals, and those that are mere copycats.In the Scottish scene—which is making waves on England's Fat Cat Records—the tendency for young bands making names for themselves is to make a sophomore album that's bigger, bolder and louder than the debut. It's a sure way
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To wear armor at all is to need protection, to fear wounds beyond what the body can sustain. So when that armor begins to fail, the resulting vulnerability is so much worse than an unguarded safety. On his sixth album under the Crooked Fingers name, Eric Bachmann takes a songwriting trip into a state of such startling vulnerability that it’s hard to count all the wounds contained in its 11
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