In the latest installment of “Cover Me,” power-pop prince Mark Bacino re-envisions his latest album, Queens English (DreamCrush/ Redeye), which dropped earlier this summer on Amazon and iTunes. In addition to granting the Bad Penny a downloadable MP3 (scroll to the bottom of the post), he wonders what the songs would sound like if they were performed by Steve Earle, Jeff Tweedy, even Archie & Edith Bunker – and seals it all with a Kiss. Continue reading
Cassorla – an indie-rock band with jazz and soul tendencies – should probably be named “Cassor-pa-ny-la”: They call Los Angeles home these days but were born in North Philadelphia, and dwelled for a spell in Bed-Stuy and Brooklyn in between. Continue reading
When’s the last time you heard an indie-rock band – or any rock band … or, hell, any band at all – pine for the day when D’Angelo would cover one of its songs? Leave it to Los Angeles’ unpredictable and imaginative troupe Cassorla to make such a wish. Continue reading
“I still get the feeling that everyone’s pissed off and frustrated with us because we don’t sound like we did in 1993,” Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo told me on April 13, 2002. Going through one of the most tumultuous periods of its career, the bandmembers – who had recently fired their manager, and were bucking their PR and A&R reps at Geffen – had just “reclaimed control of ours lives,” in the words of Cuomo. Continue reading
In light of Weezer’s new album, Hurley, plopping earlier this week, here’s a look back at a Maladroit-era interview with guitarist Brian Bell and bassist Scott Shriner. Previously unavailable online, it was conducted in February 2002. Continue reading
Keeping the Superchunk momentum going after yesterday’s release of Majesty Shredding, here’s another vintage interview previously unavailable online. This one was conducted about nine years ago and primarily revolves around their penultimate record, Here’s to Shutting Up. Continue reading
With the music-business climate perhaps more rotten than ever, there’s a growing tendency to romanticize the past. But it’s easy to forget the challenges faced by indie-rock bands and labels prior to the dawn of the Internet. Or, in the case of Merge Records, prior to the dawn of the Arcade Fire. Continue reading
Amid the increasingly incendiary debate over Islam in America, here’s a look back at a related interview I conducted with Steve Earle in 2004. In the article, now online for the first time, he admitted his previous ignorance about the religion and stressed the importance of understanding it, particularly in the wake of 9/11. He also criticized then-President George W. Bush – but admitted that Condoleeza Rice was “kinda hot.” Continue reading
Here is my recent Herald-Tribune interview with the remarkably down-to-earth frontman.
I recently gabbed with Earth, Wind & Fire drummer Ralph Johnson about music … and karate … and flying airplanes … and …
Go here for the Herald-Tribune piece.
