// Category Archive for: Reviews

Buzz Aldrin, Magnificent Desolation

By Emily Carney

We’re all BFFs! REALLY!

As a kid I was absolutely obsessed with the Apollo missions from the late 1960s and early 1970s. As an adult, I still am.
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Moon: Does Sam Bell Dream Of Electric Sheep?

By Christian Lipski

SPOILER ALERT: I saw the movie, and am going to refer to specific things that happen in it. If you are looking for an article that will let you know if you should go see this film, here it is:

Yes. Go see it.

The rest of this article will be about my impressions of the movie and its major topics.
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The Eternal (Sonic) Youth

By J Howell

Uptown Theater, Kansas City MO
July 18, 2009

On some level, it must be hard being one of the most influential bands of the last thirty years. It goes without saying that at this point Sonic Youth is definitely that. Having (almost unbelievably) never seen them prior to their stop at the Uptown for the Eternal tour, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Sure, I’d heard stories about how raucous their sets were, about mind-numbing feedback, and about how in recent years their shows had become more beautiful than pummeling. Somehow, their performance turned out to be simultaneously everything and nothing I’d expected it to be.
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Electric Six, KILL

By Christian Lipski

“You can’t run away from your legs, because that’s what you’re trying to run away from them with!”
—unknown SubGenius

In “Waste Of Time And Money,” the second track on the new Electric Six album KILL, Dick Valentine sings: Take this back to where we started. It’s not possible to avoid your origins forever; eventually you’re going to have to accept that your beginnings are part of what makes you unique, and embrace them. Or in Electric Six’s case, you just plug them in and dance along with them.
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Keeping It Real: Gogol Bordello

By Emily C.

The Ritz, Ybor City (Tampa) FL
July 27, 2009

I trekked out to Ybor City on July 27th to see the Ukrainian “gypsy punk” band Gogol Bordello. Ybor City has a certain reputation among people who live in central Florida. It has always been a hotbed for young hipsters, and it has a fairly high crime rate (seriously, people have been shot at clubs there). As a comparatively elderly person to most of the crowd there, I was quite curious as to how the show would turn out. I hadn’t been down to Ybor City in years, and my interest was piqued.
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Blowfly for Motherfunkin’ President!

By Ann Clarke

Now That’s Class, Cleveland OH
March 14, 2009

Photo © 2009 Julie Finley

Wanna hear something sad? I’ve only been to one concert this year! I love going to concerts, too. I’m usually hired to shoot the live shots for a plethora of them, but every show that has taken a dump through Cleveland has been absolute shit. So shitty, in fact, that I haven’t been motivated to let the shutters go wild. I hate shitty concerts, and that’s all we’ve had in Cleveland since last summer. . . all but the one show I did attend.

That show? Was motherfunkin’ Blowfly! How awesome is that?
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Turn On The Video: Cheap Trick On YouTube

By Less Lee Moore

When I initially became a YouTube addict, Cheap Trick was one of the first bands I searched for there. As fellow addicts know all too well by now, it was quite frustrating being unable to find some of the videos I wanted, and it became more frustrating when the ones I did find disappeared the next day.

But Cheap Trick is one smart band.
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Patrick Wolf, The Bachelor

By Ann Clarke

Just when I didn’t think young musicians had anything left to offer (because they’re all either fake and talentless or just fashion plate hipsturds), along comes Patrick Wolf. Granted he is fashionable, and has done some modeling for Burberry, but he is quite alluring, and it’s nice work if you can get it! (It definitely helps finance some lucrative projects.) I had first heard Patrick by accident when stumbling upon the video for “The Magic Position,” and was immediately totally addicted. I rarely ever seek out a new artist, but there are times when something grabs you by throat and won’t let go until you give in, and with “The Magic Position,” such was the case.
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Underappreciated Album: Queen’s Sheer Heart Attack

By Christian Lipski

At first glance, Sheer Heart Attack‘s only claim to fame is that it’s the album with “Killer Queen” on it, which may even come as a surprise to people who thought that that was Greatest Hits I. But the album goes quite a bit deeper, and is one of my favorite complete albums from Queen, even above A Night At The Opera or News Of The World, both very popular albums. Sheer Heart Attack was Queen’s third album, and the first one to really peek its head out from the progressive-rock mire that the previous two had been firmly entrenched in. There were still some elements of fantasy and nods to prog rock, but they were kept at a tasteful level. What you got was a selection of catchy rock songs of the pop-, hard-, and arena- varieties.
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Jarvis Cocker, Further Complications

By Ann Clarke

I’m rather surprised Jarvis Cocker has already released another album since his self-titled one really wasn’t out that long ago. He must be on a creative spurt lately, since he’s been all over like the place like horseshit during a parade! Check out his five-day stint at a Parisian art gallery. He and his band exhibited themselves playing music under many different guises.
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