SxSw was a (not so hot) mess. If you combined the party hounds from the Super Bowl, Mardi Gras and Spring Break and confined them to a six block radius…and then tried to add some showcasing bands to the mix, you get a pretty good idea of the mayhem. I have a full report on … More South By Skulldiggery – Band of Skulls Continue To Conquer The US
It started in September. I got email after email from publications asking me for my ‘best of the year’ picks and ‘best of the decade’ choices. And then there was an onslaught online, on TV, on the radio, and in print…what’s left of print, that is. ‘Best of the…’ ‘Top Ten’, ‘Top Twenty’, ‘Top Fifty’… … More 2010 – The Year in Review…In Advance
Dammit, I wish I still had my 1974 Chevy Monza. She was an old beater, white, with wood paneled interiors and an 8 track player. I only had 4 cassettes I picked up at a garage sale: Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack, Foghat, Sweet and some musical (Chess?), but it was a bad-ass car. Not that … More Band Of Skulls – Rock’s New Backseat Lovers
When a major landmark or institution closes or is destroyed, it’s common for a mourning period to follow. The passing of monument will be an elegiac era of super size proportions which will break hearts and hard ons across the world…yes, early this morning, a fire gutted The Body Shop in Los Angeles. There are … More This Sex Was On Fire
As a best selling British novelist once said, It’s been the best of times and the worst of times. I’ve been kicking ass up and down each coast of this big country…but it’s the country that has me worried. It seems like we’ve just done lost our collective minds. Sarah Palin? Really? Fuck. Los Angeles, … More The Rules Of Britannia – An American in London
It’s a bit difficult for someone with a hearing problem, such as myself, to try and explain my love of prog rock to others. Especially when the math rock co-title gets bandied about. Several high school tutors and a SAT prep teacher can attest to the fact that I sucked at math. My brain doesn’t … More Honest To Prog – The Secret Machines Go Dark.
I suppose I should preface all of this by admitting – I am emo for The Walkmen. By now, I’ve seen them play in every possible scenario: Large Los Angeles concert hall, cramped Austin 6th street bar, alongside the Queen Mary at the All Tomorrows Parties festival, at an all night warehouse rave somewhere in … More The Walkmen and Me, or How ‘You And Me’ turns me into an emo scribe
Ali MacLean 