Reviewed Archives

Music, Reviewed

Rufus Wainwright

Over the rumble of kettle drums, farty blasts of trombone, and kid sis Martha's wailing — quite literally — about "fire and brimstone," Rufus Wainwright repeats a straightforward question on Release the Stars' opening number: "Do I disappoint you?" Oh,…

by Nate Cavalieri August 1, 2007 Tags: Reviewed, CD Review, Rufus Wainwright, Steven Bernstein, Herb Albert, Tulsa, Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium

Music, Reviewed

Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter

The problem with the fourth record from Jesse Sykes isn't her ample talents for penning a maudlin phrase or vocalizing thoughts in a breathy, dramatic manner. In fact, her wavering sandpaper alto has finally ripened to sound natural singing about…

by Nate Cavalieri February 7, 2007 Tags: Reviewed, CD Review, Jesse Sykes, Morticia Addams, Nick Cave, Phil Wandscher

Music, Reviewed

And A Few To Break

Like most records from post-punk and hardcore innovators, the debut LP from And A Few To Break feels like an urgent and necessary invention, and Procession collects messages of political, emotional, and musical revolution. This might be expected from a…

by Nate Cavalieri December 13, 2006 Tags: Reviewed, CD Review, San Francisco, Nate Cavalieri, Bottom of the Hill

Music, Reviewed

Trainwreck Riders

It doesn't seem appropriate that Trainwreck Riders will likely get lumped into the alt-country taxonomy. Sure, the telecaster pluck and scrappy punk spirit calls to mind the genre's forbearers — certainly the distorted smear on "Find Your Way Home" suggests…

by Nate Cavalieri August 30, 2006 Tags: Reviewed, CD Review, Richard Hell, Robert Quine, Andrew Kerwin, Pete Frauenfelde

Music, Reviewed

Golden Smog

Somewhere around the fourth song of Another Fine Day, Golden Smog finally appears, for the first time ever, as a real band. For years the collective — moonlighting members of the Jayhawks, Soul Asylum, Big Star, and Wilco — has…

by Nate Cavalieri August 2, 2006 Tags: Reviewed, CD Review, Golden Smog, The Jayhawks (Musical Group), Gary Louris, Jeff Tweedy

Music, Reviewed

Mike Therieau

The most exciting moments of Mike Therieau's debut collection come when the Oakland-based singer — a vet of The Loved Ones and Dave Gleason's Wasted Days — channels the ghosts of Muscle Shoals and goes for the throat. On the…

by Nate Cavalieri July 12, 2006 Tags: Reviewed, CD Review, Mike Therieau, Dave Gleason, Muscle Shoals, Oakland

Music, Reviewed

Gnarls Barkley

Maybe it's the seizure that opens the mega-hit "Crazy" — four solid punches of bass drum marking the track's unyielding tempo — that hints at the precarious character of Gnarls Barkley. The frenzied timbre of that voice rising to the…

by Nate Cavalieri May 24, 2006 Tags: Reviewed, Review, Gnarls Barkley, Cee-Lo, Danger Mouse, Joe Turner

Music, Reviewed

The Streets

Mike Skinner's cockney argot and squirrelly cynicism always plays well Stateside — even if the U.S. audience comprises more hipsters than hip-hop heads — but back in the land of boiled meat he's huge. Maybe that's the problem. The woes…

by Nate Cavalieri April 19, 2006 Tags: Reviewed, Review, Mike Skinner, Joe Walsh, Ferrari SpA

Music, Reviewed

El Capitan

Where El Capitan's debut, Atwater KNC, presented the band as an amiable, if inoffensive, local country-rock upstart, the quintet's follow-up, What Ails You, makes a substantial leap, skipping the picked-over scraps of Wilco influences for heavy helpings of sunny melodies…

by Nate Cavalieri November 2, 2005 Tags: Reviewed, Review, Ryan Henry, Wilco (Musical Group)

Music, Reviewed

Ryan Adams & the Cardinals

Admittedly, we washed our hands of Ryan Adams when the antics of the altcountry pinup became as shamelessly precious as his subtly titled sea-change record, Rock N Roll. When he took time away from headline feuds and Hollywood girlfriends to…

by Nate Cavalieri September 28, 2005 Tags: Reviewed, Review, Ryan Adams, Hollywood, Jacksonville, Nashville

Music, Reviewed

Josh Rouse

With just a glance it's clear that Josh Rouse, like other lesser lights in white-boy roots songwriting, makes much ado about his hometown. But Rouse's literate, melodic writing bears more of a resemblance to the work of '70s pop songwriters…

by Nate Cavalieri February 9, 2005 Tags: Reviewed, Review, Josh Rouse, Nashville, Alex Chilton, Carole King

Music, Reviewed

The Weakerthans

There's a certain authority in the tenor of John K. Samson's well-schooled power pop that can be a little daunting. It's not just that the Weakerthans' leader is hyperaware of the shoulders on which he stands -- clever writers like…

by Nate Cavalieri December 1, 2004 Tags: Reviewed, Reviewed, John Samson, The Weakerthans, Clem Snide, Elvis Costello

Music, Reviewed

Richard Buckner

Like so many others who steer their V-8s into the burned-out Brigadoon of altcountry, Richard Buckner has a hard-on for the classics: heartache, rotgut liquor, and bleak backdrops. Even though Buckner stays this course, his sixth studio effort does try,…

by Nate Cavalieri December 1, 2004 Tags: Reviewed, Reviewed, Richard Buckner, Barry White

Music, Reviewed

Tom Waits

Over the past decade, Tom Waits has developed a tripartite personality: There's the surrealist cabaret singer of The Black Rider, the sorrowful lounge act that has taken a "Downtown Train" to hell and back, and the high-octane caveman who emerged…

by Nate Cavalieri October 13, 2004 Tags: Reviewed, Reviewed, Tom Waits, MoveOn.org

Music, Reviewed

Björk

By limiting the instrumentation of her fifth proper studio release almost exclusively to vocal samples, Björk holds to the path that has made her an icon of eccentricity. Doubtless, the 14 tracks are ambitious and astute, whether nodding to Karl…

by Nate Cavalieri September 29, 2004 Tags: Reviewed, Reviewed, Karl Stockhausen

Music, Reviewed

Steve Earle

It's almost as if Steve Earle's 12th studio recording has been issued as an antidote to this season's abundance of carefully worded stumping. All but two of the 11 songs were recorded within 24 hours of conception, in a frenzied…

by Nate Cavalieri September 8, 2004 Tags: Reviewed, Reviewed, Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris

Music, Reviewed

Little Wings

Some musicians are more accurately understood by their ZIP codes than a list of like-minded peers. It's true of Kyle Field's quiet, five-year career as Little Wings. Though Field might be filed alongside Will Oldham or M. Ward, his tributes…

by Nate Cavalieri September 1, 2004 Tags: Reviewed, Reviewed, San Luis Obispo, Will Oldham, Kyle Field

Music, Reviewed

Bad Religion

Notable tele-psychiatrist Dr. Phil McGraw asserts that we all have destructive emotional characteristics in our personalities, which he calls "bad spirits." Below are some of Dr. Phil's "bad spirits," which have the ability to sabotage long relationships: "You Think It's…

by Nate Cavalieri June 16, 2004 Tags: Reviewed, Reviewed, Phil McGraw

Music, Reviewed

PJ Harvey

Depending on how you verbalize the ham-fisted title to Polly Harvey's seventh release, the three grunts can either be an endorsement ("Uh huh, hell yeah, its HER!") or a dismissal ("Uh huh, whatever, its her."). But Harvey's catalog has always…

by Nate Cavalieri June 9, 2004 Tags: Reviewed, Reviewed, Polly Harvey

Music, Reviewed

New Found Glory

Near the Earth's core there exists a subterranean conference room, replete with comfy leather chairs, chilled carafes of water, and delicately perfumed air. Recent meetings there have resulted in low-rise jeans, Wal-Mart's underwriting of NPR, and Jimmy Kimmel. In the…

by Nate Cavalieri June 2, 2004 Tags: Reviewed, Reviewed, Jimmy Kimmel, Orv Madden, Burger King Corporation, Hot Topic Inc.

Music, Reviewed

Pedro the Lion

The cast of Pedro the Lion's latest seems lifted from a lost Arthur Miller tragedy. There are gambling-addict husbands, faithless lovers, and joyless amputees by the dozen. It's a dour crew, all brought to life through David Bazan's just-secular-enough-to-sell coo…

by Nate Cavalieri June 2, 2004 Tags: Reviewed, Reviewed, David Bazan, Arthur Miller, Pedro the Lion, Coldplay

Music, Reviewed

T. Rex

When it first hit the street three decades ago, Electric Warrior screamed one statement: T. Rex's Marc Bolan was born to be a motherfucking superstar. To the Brits, this message came through loud and clear. The album fanned the kindling…

by Nate Cavalieri January 14, 2004 Tags: Reviewed, Reviewed, Marc Bolan, United Kingdom

Music, Reviewed

Caroline Dahl

To the modern ear, "boogie-woogie" is a pretty stupid-sounding word. You can trace the origin of it back a century, to the days when the meaning of the term depended on where you said it. In pockets of black culture…

by Nate Cavalieri December 10, 2003 Tags: Reviewed, Reviewed, Caroline Dahl, Albert Ammons, Eubie Blake, Jackson Ramble

Browse News

Share

Latest in News

Browse Blogs

Share

Browse Music

Share

Latest in Music

Browse Food & Drink

Share

Latest in Food & Drink

Browse Arts

Share

Latest in Arts

Browse Film

Share

Latest in Film

Browse Calendar

Share

Latest in Calendar

Browse Best Of

Share

Latest in Best Of

Share

Latest in Cannabis

Share

Browse Promotions

Share

Latest in Promotions

Articles

Issue.Year

Features

Sort by:

Nate Cavalieri

Over the rumble of kettle drums, farty blasts of trombone, and kid sis Martha's wailing — quite literally — about "fire and brimstone," Rufus Wainwright repeats a straightforward question on Release the Stars' opening number: "Do I disappoint you?" Oh,…

The problem with the fourth record from Jesse Sykes isn't her ample talents for penning a maudlin phrase or vocalizing thoughts in a breathy, dramatic manner. In fact, her wavering sandpaper alto has finally ripened to sound natural singing about…

Like most records from post-punk and hardcore innovators, the debut LP from And A Few To Break feels like an urgent and necessary invention, and Procession collects messages of political, emotional, and musical revolution. This might be expected from a…

It doesn't seem appropriate that Trainwreck Riders will likely get lumped into the alt-country taxonomy. Sure, the telecaster pluck and scrappy punk spirit calls to mind the genre's forbearers — certainly the distorted smear on "Find Your Way Home" suggests…

Somewhere around the fourth song of Another Fine Day, Golden Smog finally appears, for the first time ever, as a real band. For years the collective — moonlighting members of the Jayhawks, Soul Asylum, Big Star, and Wilco — has…

The most exciting moments of Mike Therieau's debut collection come when the Oakland-based singer — a vet of The Loved Ones and Dave Gleason's Wasted Days — channels the ghosts of Muscle Shoals and goes for the throat. On the…

Maybe it's the seizure that opens the mega-hit "Crazy" — four solid punches of bass drum marking the track's unyielding tempo — that hints at the precarious character of Gnarls Barkley. The frenzied timbre of that voice rising to the…

Mike Skinner's cockney argot and squirrelly cynicism always plays well Stateside — even if the U.S. audience comprises more hipsters than hip-hop heads — but back in the land of boiled meat he's huge. Maybe that's the problem. The woes…

Where El Capitan's debut, Atwater KNC, presented the band as an amiable, if inoffensive, local country-rock upstart, the quintet's follow-up, What Ails You, makes a substantial leap, skipping the picked-over scraps of Wilco influences for heavy helpings of sunny melodies…

Admittedly, we washed our hands of Ryan Adams when the antics of the altcountry pinup became as shamelessly precious as his subtly titled sea-change record, Rock N Roll. When he took time away from headline feuds and Hollywood girlfriends to…

With just a glance it's clear that Josh Rouse, like other lesser lights in white-boy roots songwriting, makes much ado about his hometown. But Rouse's literate, melodic writing bears more of a resemblance to the work of '70s pop songwriters…

There's a certain authority in the tenor of John K. Samson's well-schooled power pop that can be a little daunting. It's not just that the Weakerthans' leader is hyperaware of the shoulders on which he stands -- clever writers like…

Like so many others who steer their V-8s into the burned-out Brigadoon of altcountry, Richard Buckner has a hard-on for the classics: heartache, rotgut liquor, and bleak backdrops. Even though Buckner stays this course, his sixth studio effort does try,…

Over the past decade, Tom Waits has developed a tripartite personality: There's the surrealist cabaret singer of The Black Rider, the sorrowful lounge act that has taken a "Downtown Train" to hell and back, and the high-octane caveman who emerged…

By limiting the instrumentation of her fifth proper studio release almost exclusively to vocal samples, Björk holds to the path that has made her an icon of eccentricity. Doubtless, the 14 tracks are ambitious and astute, whether nodding to Karl…

It's almost as if Steve Earle's 12th studio recording has been issued as an antidote to this season's abundance of carefully worded stumping. All but two of the 11 songs were recorded within 24 hours of conception, in a frenzied…

Some musicians are more accurately understood by their ZIP codes than a list of like-minded peers. It's true of Kyle Field's quiet, five-year career as Little Wings. Though Field might be filed alongside Will Oldham or M. Ward, his tributes…

Notable tele-psychiatrist Dr. Phil McGraw asserts that we all have destructive emotional characteristics in our personalities, which he calls "bad spirits." Below are some of Dr. Phil's "bad spirits," which have the ability to sabotage long relationships: "You Think It's…

Depending on how you verbalize the ham-fisted title to Polly Harvey's seventh release, the three grunts can either be an endorsement ("Uh huh, hell yeah, its HER!") or a dismissal ("Uh huh, whatever, its her."). But Harvey's catalog has always…

Near the Earth's core there exists a subterranean conference room, replete with comfy leather chairs, chilled carafes of water, and delicately perfumed air. Recent meetings there have resulted in low-rise jeans, Wal-Mart's underwriting of NPR, and Jimmy Kimmel. In the…

The cast of Pedro the Lion's latest seems lifted from a lost Arthur Miller tragedy. There are gambling-addict husbands, faithless lovers, and joyless amputees by the dozen. It's a dour crew, all brought to life through David Bazan's just-secular-enough-to-sell coo…

When it first hit the street three decades ago, Electric Warrior screamed one statement: T. Rex's Marc Bolan was born to be a motherfucking superstar. To the Brits, this message came through loud and clear. The album fanned the kindling…

To the modern ear, "boogie-woogie" is a pretty stupid-sounding word. You can trace the origin of it back a century, to the days when the meaning of the term depended on where you said it. In pockets of black culture…

Concert Calendar

Slideshows

Like us on Facebook

Popular Stories

Most Popular

Learn More

Learn More

Footer Links

My Account

Connect

Advertising

Company