“A blue bong, high quality indica buds, hash, hash oil, freebase, red wine, cigarettes, LSD, coffee, and whippets.” Dust Brother Mike Simpson’s recollection of the essential items in the production of the Beastie Boy’s second album gives more than a hint about why this particular slice of hip-hop has been, to say the least, a little obscured. And this is the Beastie Boys album which needs the most exposition; even though most people will tell you that it’s their masterwork, the …

It’s hot. You’re sweaty. Dozens of bands are showing off their raw skills on more than ten stages. A plethora of teenagers and young adults, wearing their punk-or-nothing personas, surround you. A ministry of radio stations has staked out their own spots within the vast parking lot to distribute their hope, wisdom, and free swag to the fastest growing consumer age market in the world.
It’s the only place where a reclusive Misfits fanatic, a Hollister-clad, tennis-playing prima donna and a forty-something business owner …

Last month, Detroit rock supergroup The Raconteurs released their highly anticipated debut album, Broken Boy Soldiers, to widespread public acclaim and a critical response that ranged from middling to ecstatic – including a decidedly middling review from our own Megan Giddings. But for those of us in the know, the idea of a Motor City answer to Blind Faith was never quite as enticing as the hysterical reports from NME had made the Raconteurs’ gestation period sound. That’s because we’d already heard …

I’m almost ashamed to admit it, but here it is: I, like many music listeners, spent far too many years believing Eddie Floyd’s classic, “Knock on Wood,” was recorded by Wilson Pickett. Now hold on for a second; before you accuse me of a lack of R&B credibility and storm away, the fact is, my embarrassingly long-lived mistake wasn’t too far off the mark.
Anchored by a hard-driving horn refrain and that chunky, funky Steve Cropper guitar, “Knock on Wood” is a dead ringer for …

I’m almost ashamed to admit it, but here it is: I, like many music listeners, spent far too many years believing Eddie Floyd’s classic, “Knock on Wood,” was recorded by Wilson Pickett. Now hold on for a second; before you accuse me of a lack of R&B credibility and storm away, the fact is, my embarrassingly long-lived mistake wasn’t too far off the mark.
Anchored by a hard-driving horn refrain and that chunky, funky Steve Cropper guitar, “Knock on Wood” is a dead ringer for …

I’ve said it once; I’ve said it a million times – there is an art to releasing an interesting and good live album. Look at the Reigning Sound’s recent Live at Goner Records; that record is absolutely necessary for any Reigning Sound fan, as well as anyone who has wanted to get into the band. It does a fantastic job of capturing the rock and roll howl of Greg Cartwright and the high-energy sounds of the Reigning Sound in concert. But enough about one …

If you’ve never heard Sly & The Family Stone’s There’s a Riot Goin’ On before, I suggest you go do so immediately. I think it’s an album that everyone can get the same vibes from: hazy, fuzzy, depressing, a funk record with a tone so different from other funk records that it’s always surprising. There’s a Riot Goin’ On is simply end-of-an-era coked out genius – and if any one of Sly & The Family Stone’s albums deserves a book written about …

They started as just another satellite in Josh Homme’s Desert Sessions orbit; eight years and one messy divorce later, the Eagles of Death Metal are a full-fledged “movement and phenomenon onto itself,” as mustachioed singer/guitarist Jesse “Boots Electric” Hughes puts it. We talked to Hughes for fifteen minutes at the cusp of the Eagles’ spring tour with the Strokes, touching on everything from groupies to girl-phobic indie kids and Rick Springfield. The resulting interview may not be as lengthy as some of the …

Sondre Lerche does not fit into my stereotypes of a Norwegian musician. He does not play death or black metal. He does not kill his fellow bandmates. Nor has he ever (at least to this reviewer’s knowledge) burned down a church in the names of Satan and rock and roll. And until now, it’s never mattered: Lerche’s prior releases, Faces Down and Two Way Monologue, were artful pop records which cemented the then-teenager as a musical phenom. Those albums found the right mixture …