Three days after seeing Swedish troubadour Jose Gonzales at the Pabst, I’m still marveling at how economically powerful it was. I left the theater in a daze — bewildered by how one man with a guitar, a percussionist with conga drums, and a woman singing back-up could give such a powerful performane. There were no […]
February 25, 2008
This was a tough decision: Juniper Tar played Turner Hall, and XYZ Affair (fronted by ILL Groove Movement) was at Stonefly. In the end it was the bombastic video of Nicole Atkins performing her hit “The Way It Is” on Letterman (watch it on YouTube ) that helped me decide to trek out to Bay […]
February 21, 2008
Singer Rohner Segnitz‘s band Division Day has never been to Milwaukee, but he knows what local music sounds like; he was a big fan of the Promise Ring (and also Dismemberment Plan, which isn’t local but whose bassist was in Maritime). In the last year, they’ve also been compared Davey Von Bohlen’s Maritime. “None of (the […]
February 18, 2008
Before the English Beat came onstage, a roadie set big, full-sized towels down onstage, one for each band member. I thought that was a little odd — why towels? Why not little tissue holders? I love Dave Wakeling’s bands — English Beat and General Public were bands I grew up listening to, but I didn’t […]
February 16, 2008
Since I first saw them play about six months ago, I’ve said this randomly to various people at various times: Collection of Colonies of Bees may be my most favorite Milwaukee band of all time. I saw them open for Slarrafenland (the Danes) that I was blown away. I bought a copy of “Birds” that […]
January 28, 2008
1. Vampire Weekend -Â I was whining to a friend about the lousy Coachella lineup (this may be the first one I’ll miss in five years), and he said: “I have two words for you: Vampire Weekend.” So I looked them up and couldn’t stop listening to it. Shades of the Clash, some afro-beat influences, […]
January 17, 2008
You would think that the White Rabbits have a co-dependency problem — they have two singers, two drummers, and everyone in the six-piece band plays pretty much every instrument available onstage. “Yeah, we’re trying to score a second bassist as we speak,” said Greg Roberts, over the phone laughing. (He sings the catchy-as-hell “The Plot.”) […]
November 23, 2007
This year, I said a prayer of thanks for two things: one, the glorious number of diverse acts coming through Milwaukee, and two, the great taste of my co-Blog Party writers. Milan Zori turned me on to Sharon Jones; Justin Shady introduced me to Nellie McKay. McKay — who was introduced on the TV show […]
November 21, 2007
When Slaraffenland, the Danish five-piece described as “Sun Ra meets Broken Social Scene” and “Animal Collective meets This Heat” stopped at the Cactus Club in October to perform with Collections of Colonies of Bees, we were transfixed. Their album “Private Cinema,” released in June, featured awesome artwork from Friends With You, and their live show […]
November 16, 2007
what Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings when 8 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 17 where Turner Hall Ballroom, 1034 N. 4th St. how much $15 Sharon Jones, along with the Dap Kings, has been credited with spearheading the funk-revival movement, what with kids getting down from Long Beach to Milwaukee to Toronto. Jones honed her chops […]
March 21, 2008
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