His Name Is Alive Sweetens The Sweet

What we can only hope is a first in a series of album re-releases from their diverse back catalogue, former 4AD supplicates His Name Is Alive have re-mastered and re-issued their long out of print "fake bootleg", King of Sweet.  

Originally available in a limited pressing of 2,000 on the esoteric Perdition Plastics label back in 1993, just shortly after the career-defining Mouth By Mouth album, King of Sweet never pretended, or intended, to be anything other than for HNIA diehards only.

The Wonderfully Weird Uncle Larry

If Les Claypool played the electric guitar, his name would be Billy Judge Baldus, and his band would be Uncle Larry.

Miles Nielsen's Lethargic Start, Indefinite Legacy

It isn’t impossible to properly arrange the songs on a predominantly weak album into an order sufficient enough to carry the whole effort. It’s really not even remotely difficult.  One could make a veritable list of albums that have become classics, yet only had 4 or 5 solid tracks on them (I won’t start naming names, because that will only instigate a never ending debate wherein no one will agree and no one will win. So please, just accept the statement and move on).  Miles Nielsen’s debut album suffers just such a misfortune – and even with well over half of the tracks on it being quite good.  The result, however, of a poorly organized tracklist is an album that sputters and fails to immediately ignite, and thus fails to get a fair shake by anyone lacking the endurance to tolerate a slow start – which, these days, is everyone. The shame about such a tragedy befalling this album, is that it doesn't deserve the first impression it makes.

Those Humdingers, The Hemingers!

Few things rank lower on the tolerability index than cover bands; and even fewer still than cover bands whose catalogue consists of the musically annoying (as far as rock and roll was concerned, anyway) and soundalike decade of the mid 1950's to 1960's.  Michigan's The Hemingers are just such a band - in a way - but not.  See, they've nailed down a delivery that serves to shake the living shit out of those annoying rock 'n roll classics, and make them endlessly amusing.

The Blinding Light of Milwaukee's Underground At The Intercontinental

The concept of Underground at The Intercontinental is of the purist intentions: giving local talent the opportunity to play for an audience in an environment they might not (strike that - definitely not) get the opportunity to play for otherwise. The environment? How about the classy, posh veneer of the hotel bar? On paper, in theory or as a "what if" conversation, the Underground series could potentially foster an enlightening live music experience for everyone involved - absolutely.... well, ideally it would.

What Happens In Milwaukee... Tellings Of A Local Music Addict

Saturday night. Destination: Linneman's Riverwest Inn. Oh, we'd been there before, my local music scene aficionados and I - it's Milwaukee's worst kept secret - the premier performance venue for the best local talent in the area. Tonight was special, though. Tonight we were especially excited to see The Vega Star after a several month drought.

Sure, their 2008 masterwork album The Night, is still in heavy rotation at my house, but seeing The Vega Star live is an entirely different experience - and more so since we've heard rumors of new songs to be performed.

Heaton's Acid Erosion

It's been five long years since the disbandment of The Beautiful South, and frontman turned solo artist, Paul Heaton's newest offering, Acid Country, further demonstrates the slow acid erosion of his salad days.

The James Blake Make And Break

Aside from the fact that you'd be hard pressed to find another collection of songs that sound like they're being sung by a sad robot (literally), the success of UK artist James Blake's debut album is almost as fascinating as the recording itself.

Jay Flash Makes Odd Production Feel Familiar

[this article was originally published July 5th 2010 for Examiner.com]

Much like Sebadoh and Wilco, Jay Flash (the performance moniker of Jeff Flashinski) enhances ultimately very simplistic songs with caustic production effects and unconventional mixes. It’s one of the main indicators of true “alternative” rock (otherwise, why label it alternative?), and with the Know, Alone album being so basic at its core, it’s just the exact dose of necessary dressing.

The Form Fits Their Own Mold

[this article was originally published June 26th, 2010 for Examiner.com] 

The Form’s appropriate and hardline categorization as a “jam band” could likely put off a few people curious about their debut album Smalltown. Generally, since smoking pot remains a legally frowned upon pastime, the bulk of the music consuming population tends to steer clear of any song that requires an attention span of more than four minutes - at most. It doesn’t matter how well composed the songs are, how detailed the musicianship or how unique it is in comparison to anything else - the fact remains that the average music consumer’s interest starts to wander around the five minute mark... unless they're high.