Music
This is What It Sounds Like When Gods Cry
Four years after “Catch My Disease” ran rampant through hospital dramas everywhere, Ben Lee is back with The Rebirth of Venus. “I’m a woman too,” Lee claims on track 11, as though anything could validate this failed attempt at a girl power concept album.
Monkeys & Maraschino Cherries
Street: You guys are often compared to artists of the ‘70s, Neil Young and Bob Dylan. Were these the bands you grew up with? Eric Earley: Those are the bands we grew up on and our parents listened to.
This Week in Music History: February 5-12
1957: Bill Haley, a star among Comets, arrives in Southampton on the Queen Elizabeth II, becoming the first American rock star to tour the UK.
Defibrillator: The Beach Boys, "Pet Sounds" (1966)
My parents are, in the simplest of terms, ex-hippies. There are more pictures of my father wearing bandanas than there are of us together and my mother still dances like a girl on Haight Street.
Tongue Thrashing
Two Tongues starts off somber, with a quiet, almost innocent, guitar solo. Then there’s a lurching stop, a screaming “Wait!” and a massive power chord followed by the crash of cymbals.
Ol' (Sounding) Dirty Bastards
If Judy Garland had landed in Oz in 1960 instead of 1939, followed the yellow brick road straight to the local karaoke bar and requested something bluesy to ease her not-in-Kansas-anymore induced homesickness, the resulting sound would be that of Heartless Bastards’ The Mountain. Owing to a distinct, mature vocal tone (think Melissa Ethridge comes to Zooey Deschanel’s window) and a constantly changing line-up, Erika Wennerstrom truly is Heartless Bastards.
Blood, Fret and Tears
Using a rusty guitar, a falsetto yowl and as much heartbreak as he could shove into 37 minutes, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon created For Emma, Forever Ago, one of 2008’s most critically acclaimed records.
Defibrillator: Belle & Sebastian, "If You're Feeling Sinister" (1996)
At the beginning of high school, I was hopelessly uncool. I was socially awkward, and my mother was still buying my clothes.
Shows of the Week: January 29-February 4
Lykke Li The First Unitarian Church 1/30 8:30 p.m., $17.50 People were remixing Swedish internet darling Lykke Li long before she ever stepped foot inside a US venue.
2009: The Year That Will Rock You
After a month of car radio top 40, when you thought you’d die if you ever had to listen to Hoobastank again, our favorite bands are back with new releases for ’09. NASA’s The Spirit of Apollo is overflowing with guest appearances.
You down with MPP?
Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion (MPP), which dropped so early in 2009 that we still had unbroken resolutions, has already been called the year’s best album.
Defibrillator: The Band, "Jericho" (1993)
Listening to Jericho while driving with my dad through Ohio tobacco country, the dash of country girl in me comes alive.
Samples: A Sampling
B.o.B., Asher Roth, & Charles Hamilton, “Change Gon’ Come” Up and coming internet favorites B.o.B, Asher Roth and Charles Hamilton philosophize on the election, the economy and plenty of other well-worn topics for socially conscious rappers.
No Sitting!
Once you’ve seen Dave Matthews Band play a packed arena 12 times, you really start to think you know everything about them.
Crash Into You
Street U.: Are you right side up or upside down? Dave Matthews: Ha, I don’t swing that way. It’s cool whatever other people want to do, but I’m very straight.
Defibrillator
Some days, I’m just too hung over to play video games. On a morning when my eyes are still unable to focus, the flashing lights and seizure-inducing animation can be a little much.
Up A Creek Without An...
Once you’ve seen O.A.R. play a packed arena 12 times, you really start to think you know everything about them.
Copy That
Once you’ve seen Dispatch play a packed arena 12 times, you really start to think you know everything about them.
The Defibrillator: Death from Above 1979
Death from Above 1979 You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine 2004 Winter of 2005. My friends and I were hitting Jupiter Room every Saturday, the indie club that didn’t charge cover.
