It’s hard to listen to the music of Cary Brothers without visualizing the television and film protagonists his songs have serenaded – starting, famously, with “Blue Eyes” from his college buddy Zach Braff’s 2004 movie “Garden State.” Chilling moments of self-realization, hyper-romantic love scenes, startling plot points: Brothers’ tunes, for better or for worse (but […]
All that was missing Tuesday night at the kickoff to Corinne Bailey Rae’s 16-date North American tour was a collection plate. Everything else surrounding the British songstress’ concert cried religious experience – the setting, Vibiana, a 134-year-old decommissioned cathedral in downtown Los Angeles; the audience, 500 or so devout fans; the proselytizer, influential radio station […]
You’d swear the dinos were dancing on Friday night at the Natural History Museum. The institution’s monthly First Fridays event featured old-school music from the top of L.A.’s class – masters of funk the Breakestra and those purveyors of vintage soul, Fitz & the Tantrums. The museum’s series continues May 7 with the Tallest Man […]
Most-heard question last week: “So how was your South by Southwest?” Me: “Kind of a blur … I think … I mean …” My assignments for SPIN.com kept me beyond busy, so the week was a parade of bands, sleep deprivation and more bands, and I didn’t get to catch a lot of the buzzy […]
Power-pop icon Alex Chilton died suddenly of a heart attack on Wednesday at age 59, but his influential ’70s band Big Star shone brightly nonetheless Saturday night at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin. A headlining concert originally scheduled as a reunion show instead became a star-studded tribute to the late songwriter/producer whose […]
My assignments for SPIN.com on the final day of SXSW took me all over the map – not just the Austin street map, but the stylistic map. With temperatures around 40 and an uppity north wind chafing anything that wasn’t covered, it was a tough day for outdoor shows. Yes, I was the guy wearing […]
Maybe it had something to do with Hole’s performance on Friday, but a thunderstorm moved through Austin in the early hours of Saturday morning, sending temperatures plummeting and kicking up a nasty north wind that had more bite than any guitarist I saw all week. SXSW attendees on Saturday scrambled for their winter clothes, if […]
[My main assignment Friday was to cover the SPIN 25 party – all six hours of it – for SPIN.com:] Courtney Love took the stage at Stubb’s on Friday evening wearing an orange sash that said “BEWARE.” As if the capacity crowd at the SPIN 25 party (presented by RockBand and MySpace Music) at the […]
My assignment for SPIN.com kept me tied up at the SPIN 25 party at Stubb’s all afternoon for nonstop music capped by Hole’s first North American concert in more than a decade. The highlight of the support bands that day was the indoors set from Harlem [above], whose crackling garage rock made me wish I […]
Austin is just getting warmed up. I covered seven bands Thursday while on assignment for SPIN.com: ‣ Band of Horses played a resplendent set to a full house at Stubb’s outdoor theater. ‣ L.A.’s Radar Bros. [that’s Jim Putnam, pictured] playing to a packed Merge Records showcase at the Cedar Street Courtyard, previewed their sixth […]
