It Had to Happen James McMurtry (Sugar Hill Records) In 1995 two songs came out that were sharp expressions of the burden that the freewheeling Sixties left its children: the Charlie Sexton Sextet’s “Plain Bad Luck and Innocent Mistakes” and James McMurtry’s “Fuller Brush Man.” McMurtry continues to wrestle with…
After the Fall Mary Coughlan (Big Cat Records) Ever since the Beatles and Dylan began performing their own songs, critics and fans have placed as high a value on songwriting as performing. Indeed, singers who perform material written by others — Spice Girls, anyone? — are often considered suspect. Mary…
“Ninety-nine percent of the songs are born here,” says 24-year-old Jeff Rollason, mastermind of the whimsical pop collective known as the Curious Hair. He lifts and drops his arms to indicate the organized chaos that pervades his bedroom in his parents’ sprawling Mediterranean-style home on a quiet street off Old…
In recent weeks these pages have not been kind to classic rock acts. In fact, they’ve been downright hostile. First, Steven Almond charted the creative crash and burn of Paul McCartney (July 24). Then, I went after the Who for selling out (August 14). Almond came roaring back with a…
Elegantly Wasted INXS (Mercury) It’s sort of endearing the way Michael Hutchence thinks he’s still sexy, kinda like that fading jock who gets all decked out for a sandlot game and insists on hitting cleanup. The ball may not carry as far as it once did, but the swing’s always…
The line that separates evocative rock and roll romanticism from facile pop blatherings is too thin for just anyone to navigate, and it’s one that James Taylor has never treaded with much grace. The possessor of an occasionally affecting voice, and a confessional lyricist who helped popularize the pathos, angst,…
On MoJazz Cafe’s last night, this past Sunday, owner Mo Morgen looked like a man in his element. His club was packed close to capacity, the music was sizzling, and cigarette smoke clouded the air so densely that Morgen could barely find the microphone. “This is what it’s like in…
Big Trouble in the Mystery House of Joy The Fool (The Fool Records) For two years running, this New York quartet has played the H.O.R.D.E. tour, without so much as an indie label deal. Nice trick, huh? Wanna know how they do it? Well, it certainly doesn’t hurt that singer/songwriter…
In underground rock and roll clubs, they are referred to in snarky tones as Marilyn Hanson. The Internet is infested with hate pages aimed at them. And media outlets such as VH1 found ways to simultaneously bitch-slap the boys of Hanson while playing their videos all the while. The omniconspicuous…
Guitarist Scott Nixon sits strumming in the pin-drop quiet of the Space Cadette recording studio. Behind him the blue and beige burlap-covered walls display a mural — an intricate depiction of human bones and machine gears. In the control booth, as engineer Frank Albergaria adjusts the sound levels, Alfredo Galvez…
I’ve never been an especially ardent fan of rock festivals. They strike me as a prolonged pretext for public vomiting, what with all the suds and the sun and the jostling. This, dear reader, is a subject about which I know a fair good bit, having spent the lion’s share…
When the Cuban dance band Los Van Van played the Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl in June, festival president Dick Rosenzweig told the Los Angeles Times that the audience reaction was unlike anything he had seen in the event’s nineteen-year history. A Times critic described the fervor at…
Never Bet the Devil Your Head Subrosa (Sony/550) Never Bet the Devil Your Head is a debut album that will likely be seen as a sophomore effort. The record bears the indelible stamp of the band Subrosa used to be, For Squirrels. As local fans will surely remember, For Squirrels…
Are you in the mood for live music? If so, Churchill’s Hideaway (5501 NE 2nd Ave., 757-1807) has the perfect mood enhancer: the Miami Rocks Festival, all month long. They’re already halfway through the musical marathon; about 50 bands have played, but there’s no sign the rock is starting to…
In writing about the Who, it’s tempting to open with a description of the band’s legendary prowess, both on record and on-stage, and then make a series of snide comments about the profound irony of witnessing the very public dotage of the band that once roared “Hope I die before…
Finger paintings, glitter gowns, hula girls, and yellow-haired angels. Handmade rugs and electric-tape frames. Colorized photographs, round-eyed saints, oils, crayons, and mud-based paints. It’s all folk art and it’s in abundance at the Hollywood apartment known as the Entertainment Complex. The walls offer a kaleidoscope of artistic endeavors by such…
The Courier Cinnamon (Island/Soap) The Cardigans are the obvious frame of reference for this Swedish outfit’s blend of indie and lounge pop. The guitar-driven Courier also has some of the charm of the Sundays and Altered Images, though without the former’s amused resignation or the latter’s occasional sense of utter…
Straight Outta Boone County Various Artists (Bloodshot Records) Straight Outta Boone County is Bloodshot Records’ fourth anthology of artists playing insurgent country (the label’s own name for a subgenre elsewhere hailed as no depression or alternative country), and it is hands down the label’s best collection yet. The premise this…
Elio Reve was an obstinate man who refused to miss a beat. In more than 40 years as bandleader of Orquesta Reve, his celebrated troupe, Reve remained as consistent a presence on Cuban stages as the inevitable pair of timbales he banged on-stage. And he had no intention of abdicating…
South Beach is well-known for its cultural diversity. and fortunately this is reflected in the local music scene. Sometimes that diversity is displayed better than others, and this weekend is one of those times. Friday night the Van Dyke Cafe (846 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach, 534-3600) hosts the Nicole Yarling…
“When punk started in the Seventies, it was like a runaway train — nobody knew where it was going to end up,” Social Distortion guitarist Dennis Danell says. “Punk was more dangerous and threatening back then than it is now. I think rap and the whole street-gang thing busting out…
“I was absolutely ahead of everything everybody did,” Steve Alaimo says matter-of-factly. It’s not uncommon to hear such boasts from a music industry bigwig. It’s rather characteristic, actually. But in Alaimo’s case it’s hard to argue: As a recording artist in the early Sixties, he was among the unsung pioneers…
