bands
Rock n' roll, boy bands, jazz trios, and more; the greats, newbies, and forgotten icons who create our favorite groups.
Iron Reagan: Crossover Ministry ALBUM REVIEW
Iron Reagan continue to keep the flame of crossover thrash burning on this new LP. To listen to this album is to listen to thirty minutes of fast, glorious and straightforward fury. Sometimes it feels good just to shout.
By Roland Tillyer9 years ago in Beat
Broken Record Part 1
As you know, album sales for the mainstream music industry peaked in 1995-1999. The decline since has been epic. This has been largely blamed on piracy and a transition to digital media, but is this decline more about a lack of consumer confidence? The music industry has set the bar in heavy-handed marketing, corporate oligarchies, and cheaping out every time they get the chance. Record companies are a caricature of overreaching big business. The public's perception of this industry was always poor; it could be considered sleazy at best. Now it’s completely isolated, soulless and outrightly despised across the board. Millennials are consumed by music and media yet at the same time not buying it. What’s different? One of the biggest barriers may be the lack of real choices.
By Brett Hogan9 years ago in Beat
Don't Forget the Flamin' Groovies
The Flamin Groovies released their third album, Teenage Head, back in 1971 to much critical praise. However, because the group was known only tentatively in the Midwest and San Fransisco (where they originated about 1968), the record won little popularity and no airplay.
By Will Vasquez9 years ago in Beat
Foxygen: Hang Album Review
After the total failure of their previous album and experimental venture …And Star Power, this new LP Hang could have seen the band going two different directions. Thankfully, they executed this new release with renewed focus and energy, creating something with some serious swagger and theatrical wistfulness.
By Roland Tillyer9 years ago in Beat
David Bowie: No Plan EP Review
On this posthumous release David Bowie seems to speak to us from beyond the grave yet again. Featuring songs from the Broadway musical Lazarus which he wrote and recorded the music for during the sessions for his last album, Blackstar, No Plan is a fine conclusion to Bowie’s final musical period. It also shows how much a good structure can add to a piece of music.
By Roland Tillyer9 years ago in Beat
#MusicLove: Alessia Cara's #KnowItAll Is a Lesson In Hit-Making Music
Google defines a "know it all" as someone who behaves as though they know everything. Alessia Cara must identify as such in some form because this is the title of her debut album. She didn't always consider herself a "know it all" though. It was her mother her pushed her to pursue music as her career. She didn't even really like to sing publicly until her mother would make her sing for visitors until she was bitten by the song-writing bug.
By Chelsea DeVries9 years ago in Beat
Brian Eno: Reflection Album Review
When he left Roxy Music in 1973, Brian Eno embarked upon a solo career that would lead him to be regarded as one of the most influential and innovative producers of all time. Since coining the term ambient music when he released Ambient 1: Music for Airports in 1975, he has pioneered the genre. This latest release sees the master release another record in his definitive style, but without the direction and compositional genius that typifies his finest work.
By Roland Tillyer9 years ago in Beat
History of The Who
The crowd outside Boston Gardens on April Fools Day 1975 was psyched beyond the normal craziness attendant to rock events. Cars couldn’t move through the densely congested pedestrian traffic radiating from the arena’s entrance, across the street and halfway up the surrounding blocks. Clear bottles of Miller and brown Narragansett were smashed indiscriminately on the sidewalks and street in random patterns, kids stood in clusters outside the old men’s bars while the regulars muttered approvals. Under the El in a psychedelic bath of flashing neon heavy-lidded, red eyed freaks hawked t-shirts, bootleg records, mushrooms, weed, and scalped tickets.
By Will Vasquez9 years ago in Beat
The Firebirds
The beautiful thing about doo wop music is how deceptively catchy it is. Just about anyone can hear the drums, guitar, saxophone, and crooning coming from their speakers, and it’ll put a smile on their face. The feeling is no different whenever I hear the Firebirds, who are the hottest doo wop revival group in the UK and one of my all-time favorite bands!
By Zach Foster9 years ago in Beat
