Exclusive Interview: Edsel Dope
Posted July 24, 2005
Edsel, it’s always good to catch up with you man. During our interview last year you had pretty much finished the record. What changes did you make since then? We had thought about it not being a full-length album. It...
Porn Lingo
Posted July 17, 2005
69 (sixty-nine) – Man and woman giving simultaneous oral sex to one another by creating this figure. 96 (ninety-six) – Man and woman farting on each other’s heads simultaneously. AC/DC – Bisexual male/Australian rock band AGALMATOPHILIA – Sexual arousal from...
Yes – Ultimate Yes
Posted July 17, 2005
Okay, the world wasn’t really crying out for another Yes compilation – there’s already at least one best-of in the racks for everyone from the casual fan (Highlights: The Very Best of Yes) to the obsessive fan (the five-disc In...
X – The Best: Make the Music Go Bang!
Posted July 17, 2005
Emerging from the hothouse of Los Angeles punk in the late 1970s, X set themselves apart by delivering the attitude and energy of the day with a degree of skill and talent well above most of their peers – and...
Who – Who’s Next
Posted July 17, 2005
The eternal repackaging of the Who continues apace with this two-disc expensive expansion of possibly their greatest achievement. Released in 1971, Who’s Next ripped the guts out of guitarist and visionary Pete Townshend’s latest grand vision (the aborted Lifehouse, planned...
Who – Then and Now
Posted July 17, 2005
Okay, so this is a scam. There are already several Who greatest-hits albums on the market, and many, many more have come and gone in the 32 years since Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy first bounced onto store shelves. So...
Who – Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970, Live in Boston DVDs
Posted July 17, 2005
This is a tale of two bands. We begin in 1970 at England’s massive Isle of Wight Festival, which beat Woodstock for attendance but — thanks to disgruntled non-ticket holders demanding a free event — featured enough ill will to...
Velvet Revolver – Contraband
Posted July 17, 2005
It seemed like a foolhardy move, at best. Three-fifths of the old-school Guns n’ Roses lineup – lead guitarist Slash, bass player Duff McKagan and drummer Matt Sorum – went looking for a frontman and came up with … ex-Stone...
Various Artists – Concert For George
Posted July 17, 2005
You don’t have to know anything about the participants in the Concert for George – a memorial and tribute to the late George Harrison held on November 29, 2002, the first anniversary of his death – to enjoy the show....
Various Artists – Anchorman Soundtrack
Posted July 17, 2005
This soundtrack for Will Ferrell’s hit comedy about the exploits of pompous, self-absorbed TV anchor Ron Burgundy bears an off-puttingly heavy load of kitschy, schlocky ’70s hits you wouldn’t ordinarily want anywhere near your record collection. Friends of Distinction’s “Grazing...
U2 – How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
Posted July 17, 2005
For every landmark U2 album, there is a reiteration; every step forward is followed by a holding pattern. After 1987′s The Joshua Tree, which found just the right balance of two-fisted rhythms and gauzy atmospherics, came the halting Rattle and...
Triumph The Insult Comic Dog – Come Poop With Me
Posted July 17, 2005
Once upon a time, Late Night with Conan O’Brien contributor Robert Smigel put a cheap dog puppet on his hand, jammed a cigar in its mouth, crouched down and let his new character begin insulting anyone and everything in sight...
Titanium Black – Bleed For You
Posted July 17, 2005
What we’ve been hearing on hard-rock radio for the last several years is a tragic waste of angst. It seems like these guys can’t think of any more interesting way to deliver their anger and inner turmoil than to set...
The Soundtrack Of Our Lives – Behind The Music
Posted July 17, 2005
There are 8.9 million people in Sweden, and just about that many indelible pop melodies have emerged from this charming little constitutional monarchy jammed between Norway and Finland over the past several decades. From ABBA to Roxette and the evil...
Tears For Fears – Everybody Loves a Happy Ending
Posted July 17, 2005
It seemed the 1980s were full of lopsided pop duos – and critics delighted in making sport of those duo’s lesser halves, from John Oates to Andrew Ridgeley to Tears For Fears bass player Curt Smith. But while Smith may...
Tangle Eye – Alan Lomax’s Southern Journey Remixed
Posted July 17, 2005
Tangle Eye – the New Orleans duo of Scott Billington and Steve Reynolds – take folklorist Lomax’s 1940-1960 field recordings, and place them into electronic settings, melding the raw soul of the original a capella vocals with chilly techno beats....