Issue Articles
The Good, the Bad & the Queen, Republic, March 18, 2007
Parents and guidance counselors lied. Smoking is cool, at least the way Damon Albarn and Paul Simonon do it. Then again, Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz) and Simonon (the Clash) were pretty […]
R.I.P. Bob French (1938-2012) | BackTalk with Bob French (April 2007)
When Bob French starts talking, who knows where he’ll go or what he’ll say. Over the course of an hour-and-a-half, the New Orleans drummer and WWOZ radio personality told two […]
Robert Randolph & the Family Band, Colorblind (Warner Bros.)
The challenge for Robert Randolph has been how to stay true to his constituencies and make a good record. Considering his reputation for fireworks on the pedal steel guitar […]
Mike Dillon’s Go-Go Jungle, Battery Milk (Hyena)
Jam/jazz/funk percussionist/vibraphone player Mike Dillon moved to New Orleans and has immersed himself in the local club scene, playing with James Singleton, Johnny V. and a host of other […]
The High Llamas, Can Cladders (Drag City)
Sean O’Hagan, part of the Stereolab community, has explored the world of pretty, lyrical music—cocktail music, Pet Sounds Burt Bacharach, bossa nova—with a sly, experimental sensibility. Cold and Bouncy […]
OffBeat Contributes to Hurricane Relief Fund
This year’s Best of the Beat Awards at the House of Blues was a benefit for the New Orleans Musicians’ Hurricane Relief Fund, and on March 12, publisher Jan Ramsey […]
Hanging on the Telefon
Some of it, I hear and wonder, “Were we smoking rocks?” Joshua Eustis of Telefon Tel Aviv is talking about Remixes Compiled, a new CD that compiles the remixes the […]
Butch Hancock, War and Peace (Two Roads)
Ely’s fellow Flatlander also has a new album, a classic protest album that opens with the a cappella “Give Them Water.” The track has a hymn vibe and drops […]
Joe Ely, Happy Songs from Rattlesnake Gulch (Rack’em)
Joe Ely’s career has been legendary on one hand—a member of the Flatlanders with Jimmy Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock whose first four solo albums are about as good […]
Southern Culture on the Skids, Countrypolitan Favorites (Yep Roc)
Countrypolitan Favorites is Southern Culture’s covers album, and the fun of covers albums is that they lay bare the bands’ roots, showing us the tunes they geek out for. […]
