Archive: October 19, 2008 - October 25, 2008
Discographically Speaking: Magnetic Fields
Stephin Merritt, the joyless grump behind Magnetic Fields, is a certified pop music genius. He started out with a Phil Spector fascination (right down to having a female vocalist on his first two albums), became a synth-pop sensation and then somehow made a three-disc, 69-song album that is more consistent...
By David Malitz | October 24, 2008; 2:48 PM ET | Comments (2)
Six-ish Questions For ... the Beastie Boys
You've gotta fight for your right to support your political party, etc. The Beastie Boys are about to kick off a short, pre-election tour of several swing states (North Carolina, Virginia and Ohio among them), on which they'll be joined by various artists, from Sheryl Crow, Jack Johnson and Norah...
By J. Freedom du Lac | October 23, 2008; 1:00 PM ET | Comments (0)
On the Phone With Aretha Franklin
The Queen and her scepter. (By Richard A. Lipski -- The Washington Post) Aretha Franklin. The Queen of Soul. She's in town Wednesday night at Constitution Hall, and she's still got it. She called to chat recently, a few hours before a show in Worcester, Mass. 'Nuff said. (Although at...
By David Malitz | October 22, 2008; 7:41 AM ET | Comments (6)
I Turn My Camera On: Lykke Li
On Sunday night I went to see [Name Redacted]. As you can see by the pictures linked in there (here if you're lazy), that band's lead singer kind of looks like George "the Animal" Steele. Our intrepid, Leafblowin' photographer Kyle Gustafson opted to check out upstart 22-year-old Swedish singer Lykke...
By David Malitz | October 21, 2008; 1:48 PM ET | Comments (0)
Live Last Night Weekend Report: Woven Hand, Pierced Arrows, Vivian Girls and The Band With a Naughty Name
It's CMJ leftovers season in D.C., so I was busy this weekend. A quick rundown... Friday Woven Hand is just about the most perfect God-fearing apocalyptic rustic-folk band you could hope for. The trio, led by former 16 Horsepower frontman David Eugene Edwards, came to Iota on Friday night and...
By David Malitz | October 20, 2008; 2:48 PM ET | Comments (2)
Six (Or So) Questions For ... Rodney Crowell
He once left Louisiana in the broad daylight. "If I could have just one wish/Maybe for an hour/I'd want to be a woman/And feel that phantom power" - Rodney Crowell, on "The Rise and Fall of Intelligent Design," from "Sex & Gasoline," a new song cycle filled with biting...
By J. Freedom du Lac | October 20, 2008; 1:42 AM ET | Comments (2)
