25 Jun 2002

Songwriters Look to the Bookshelf for Inspiration

By John James
• A bookish group of singer-songwriters has contributed 16 tracks of work directly inspired by a favorite tome or written-word piece, ranging from poems and plays to comic books and Homer's The Odyssey. Due next month on the Red Ink/United Musicians label, this highbrow project was conceived and created to help fund The SIBL Project - a San Francisco adult literacy program that promotes reading through music - and national literacy campaigns.
18 Jun 2002

Sonic Youth Releases Record Interrupted by Attacks

By John James
• This Tuesday brings the new Sonic Youth album, Murray Street, influenced by the recording's interruption last fall by the September 11 terrorist attacks. Named for the band's lower Manhattan studio address, which was hastily abandoned after only one month of recording, the album features dual saxophonists Jim Sauter and Don Dietrich of Borbetomagus.
11 Jun 2002

Rock Opera Gets a New Life

By John James
• The good ol' boys of the Drive-By Truckers have resurrected the rock opera in their own grand Southern gentry style, as their new two-CD set is a concept album based on the life, death, and haunting legacy of Lynyrd Skynyrd.
04 Jun 2002

Incubus DVD Taps Into Technology

By John James
• Incubus has broken new visual ground as the first musical artist to use the state-of-the-art digital filmmaking that created Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. The band's just-released concert DVD, Morning View Sessions, documents a live studio session from October of last year and utilizes Sony's CineAlta 24P production system, a digital-video technology that records at 24 frames per second, comparable in quality to 35-millimeter film.
21 May 2002

Flaming Lips Headline Summer Sunshine Tour

By John James
• A newly conceptualized tour package looks to be the place to fly your sunscreen-slathered freak flag this summer if you're lucky enough for it to touch down near you. Dubbing itself the Unlimited Sunshine 2002 tour, this one sounds wonderfully weird and adventurous with headliners The Flaming Lips.
14 May 2002

Boutique Label Brings Back The The

By John James
• Epic Records has announced the debut of a new artist-owned "boutique" label under its umbrella, as well as the catalog restoration of one of the most enigmatic musical entities of the 1980s - Matt Johnson of The The, reintroduced to the world with his new Lazarus Records imprint.
07 May 2002

Hendrix Offers the Dick Cavett Experience

By John James
• In conjunction with VH1's airing of a half-hour documentary on Jimi Hendrix and The Dick Cavett Show, the MCA and Hendrix Experience labels are releasing the complete appearances next week on DVD and VHS. On September 8, 1969, from the studios of ABC-TV, Hendrix made his American network-television debut, well-suited to Cavett's intellectual interview style, speaking of his days as an Army paratrooper and his Woodstock performance of "The Star Spangled Banner.
30 Apr 2002

Scholar Delivers Soulful Spoken Word

By John James
• Is the same old "rant and roll" getting you down, my friend? Is your mind feeling mauled by too many beats per minute? Has talk-radio bravado turned to babble? Turn off, tune out, and select a healthier diet in your food for thought.
23 Apr 2002

Portishead No Dummy with DVD Release

By John James
• One of the most mesmerizing concerts from the past decade is getting the digital boost to DVD this Tuesday: Portishead's one-night-only session with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra from 1997, simply entitled PNYC Roseland New York.
02 Apr 2002

The Scooters Shine with Sophomore Release

By John James
• My favorite record of the moment is I Can See Your House from Here by The Scooters, a gorgeous sophomore release blending sweeping Brit-pop melodies and easy beat twang. From the open acoustic chords of "This Is How It Ends" and its Radiohead-esque lyrics - "So this is how it ends / Man against machine / It's the finest fistfight / The world has ever seen" - the album stretches out and soars with shimmering three-part harmonies and hook-driven power pop.

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