Best in Pop: Brianna Gaither Last year, Brianna Gaither won this category by winning over listeners with her debut album, Love Is Patient. Apparently, her fans are just that, because here she is again. Gaither’s been testing out some new indie-pop tracks and — here’s some good news — last month recorded an intimate, live […]
Music Features
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My name is ____
Magnificent Bird“A few years back, a former bandmate and I were exchanging mix CDs of some of the stranger music we were into, and we were giving the CDs these long, ornate titles, mostly to make each other laugh. I believe I titled one Magnificent Bird: Or How to Fall All the Way Down and […]
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Music Made Me: Cameron Neal
Neil Young, Harvest (1972) Choosing this album was harder than I thought it’d be, since I’m truly in love with almost everything Neil’s put out. Even to this day, he’s able to experiment with his style. This album needs to be regularly spinning for any songwriter — the lyrics are heavy and inspirational. The Beach […]
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Union labors
You’re already familiar with Dan Tyminski whether you realize it or not. Currently Alison Krauss and Union Station’s resident guitar and mandolin picker, Tyminski lent his stark bluegrass tenor to the singing voice of George Clooney’s character in the Coen brothers’ 2000 film, O Brother, Where Art Thou? His performance of “Man of Constant Sorrow” […]
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Needle points
Who cares if you can list 10 bands named for odd animals and random fruit? I sure don’t. The point is, it’s imperative you let your musical tastes reflect what makes you happy, the stuff that makes you hum along or tap your toe. For example, I unabashedly love pop music — especially the ultra-tacky […]
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The Typist — Midwestern High Life
It gets sprayed all over the place, in fact. Matt Moran’s desperate punk hollers; his messy, confessional-to-the-occasional-point-of-embarrassing lyrics; his band’s well-coordinated, super-loud melodic rock arrangements all sound so much like a release, at times vindicating, at others reaching for (and grasping) the anthemic. Every song on the sardonically titled Midwestern High Life, is a rock […]
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Flight pattern
Performing as Sister Sparrow, Arleigh Kincheloe travels with a large flock. She and her eight-member band, The Dirty Birds, spread their wings and left their New York nest for a national tour. Getting that many people on the same page proved to be quite a feat. “It’s crazy logistically, but we have it down […]
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Rock solid
<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-font-family: ” times=”” new=”” roman”;color:#222222″=””><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-font-family: ” times=”” new=”” roman”;color:#222222″=””>Can’t teach an old dog new tricks? Well, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Case in point: Chicago rock act Chevelle.<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: ” times=”” new=”” roman””=””> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:.1pt; margin-left:0in”><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-font-family: ” times=”” new=”” roman”;color:#222222″=””> Swiftly approaching two decades since forming, the group remains […]
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Remembering Davy
There was the time they tipped a golf cart at Joe DiMaggio’s charity tournament. There were the times they hung out with fellow Monkee Micky Dolenz, Harry Nilsson and Alice Cooper in Los Angeles. There was the time White’s 1971 Chevy Malibu SS ran out of gas by the San Francisco International Airport, so Jones […]
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Grand Ambassadors
<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family:” times=”” new=”” roman”;color:#222222″=””>Violin sighs give way to a harmonious chorus on “(O Death),” the funniest, shortest song on Ambassadors’ debut album, Litost. The ironically titled tune is so purposely not serious as to toss a lyrical red herring into the middle of a meditation on the afterlife: “O death, show me your teeth / For I’m trained in the art of dentistry!” […]