Check out my latest Signing Story for Music Connection — this one on Nashville songwriter Jared Conrad — right here.
Jared Conrad: ‘I Didn’t Have Any Reservations’
Posted in Interviews with tags Jared Conrad on 02/27/2023 by Kurt OrzeckBig|Brave’s ‘Nature Morte’: Two Cent Review
Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags Big|Brave on 02/27/2023 by Kurt Orzeck
Check out my review of nature morte, the new album by Big|Brave, courtesy of FLOOD Magazine.
Tig Notaro’s Second Show at Treefort: Tix On Sale Tomorrow
Posted in Comedy with tags Tig Notaro, Treefort, Treefort Music Fest on 02/23/2023 by Kurt Orzeck
One of the biggest acts to anchor this year’s edition of Treefort Music Fest in Boise isn’t even a musician.
Headlining Comedyfort, the self-described offshoot of the March extravaganza, is Tig Notaro. The veteran entertainer started performing more than 20 years ago and is now one of the most talked-about comedians in the U.S.
To wit, the Notaro performance scheduled for Comedyfort — specifically, at the Egyptian Theatre on March 25 at 8 p.m. — sold out quickly. Earlier this week, organizers announced a second show; they told the Bad Penny that it will happen on the same evening at 10:30 p.m.
Continue readingToro y Moi, Chai, Liz Phair, Acid King Rock Treefort Music Fest ’19
Posted in Concert Reviews, Reviews with tags Acid King, American Football, Black Mountain, Built to Spill, Chai, Ealdor Bealu, Liz Phair, Mandolin Orange, Rituals of Mine, Sonic Titan, Toro y Moi, Treefort, Weeed on 02/21/2023 by Kurt OrzeckWith just 30 days until Boise’s Treefort Music Fest kicks off — and shortly before the Bad Penny rolls out an exciting interview series surrounding it — here’s a look back in photos (and some words) at 2019’s installment.
(Originally published by Music Connection.)
Scratch Acid, Big Black, Man … Or Astro-Man? Give Chicago Hope At Touch And Go Bash
Posted in Concert Reviews, Reviews with tags Big Black, Calexico, David Yow, Didjits, Enon, Killdozer, Man ... or Astro-man?, Monorchid, Negative Approach, New Year, Pinback, Rob Crow, Scratch Acid, Shellac, Steve Albini, Supersystem, Ted Leo, Touch and Go on 02/20/2023 by Kurt Orzeck
… And here’s my review of the Touch and Go Records’ three-day anniversary concert from September 2006.
CHICAGO — Touch and Go’s three-day anniversary bash wasn’t just a lesson in the history of the seminal record label. It was a Cliff’s Notes-like recap of the last 25 years of indie rock itself.
Underground granddaddies Big Black, Scratch Acid and Killdozer spit forth a lethal dose of abrasive, confrontational brutality, while !!!, Ted Leo and Enon courted the crowd with dance-rock appeal. And therein lied the clear distinction between the challenging approach taken by yesterday’s bands and the sheer accessibility of their successors.
Continue readingLooking Back: Steve Albini, David Yow, Rob Crow Chat About Touch and Go’s 25th Anniversary
Posted in Concert Reviews, Reviews with tags Big Black, Calexico, David Yow, Man ... or Astro-man?, Monorchid, Pinback, Rob Crow, Scratch Acid, Steve Albini, the Jesus Lizard, Touch and Go, Yeah Yeah Yeahs on 02/20/2023 by Kurt Orzeck
Now here’s a blast from the past. A blast from the past from the past, actually.
Touch and Go Records 4 eva.
Before Fall Out Boy, before the Academy Is … — hell, even before the Smashing Pumpkins — there was Touch and Go Records. Like those bands, the trailblazing record label’s reach has extended far beyond its Chicago base of operations, but come September, it’ll be enshrining its 25 years of influence with a massive anniversary gala designed to dazzle indie rock’s shrewdest scholars.
Scratch Acid, Big Black, Man … or Astro-man?, Killdozer — while they’re not exactly household names, the underground goons that shattered eardrums and tore punk rock a new one decades ago will be wreaking havoc once again in commemoration of the label that sustained them. Think of it as “A Mighty Wind” for the indie-rock masses.
Continue readingLive Review: Lucy & La Mer at LA Vegan Beer and Food Festival
Posted in Concert Reviews, Reviews with tags Lucy & La Mer on 02/17/2023 by Kurt OrzeckDug up this October 2015 article for Music Connection in which I reviewed Lucy & La Mer playing at — of all places — a vegan beer and food festival in Los Angeles. Click on the photo or title below, and you’ll be directed to Music Connection, which houses the entire review. The group’s most recent release was “Don’t It Feel Good,” a single issued in June.
Doppelgängers: Mastodon and Metallica
Posted in Doppelgängers, Features with tags Mastodon, Metallica on 02/17/2023 by Kurt Orzeck
Metallica, the biggest metal band ever; and Mastodon, one of the best metal bands of this century, share a lot in common.
For starters, Mastodon started publicly crediting Metallica as major influence shortly after the Atlanta crew became a band in 2000. Six years later, Mastodon covered Metallica’s instrumental classic “Orion” for a tribute album tied to the 20th anniversary celebration of Metallica’s Master of Puppets.
James, Lars and the gang returned the favor a couple of years after that. The thrash gods gave the Atlanta sludge-rockers a huge break by crowning them as the openers for two of Metallica’s European tours. For good measure, 2009’s Guitar Hero: Metallica featured Mastodon’s “Blood and Thunder” as one of its playable tracks.
But the common bonds don’t stop there. There’s a truly uncanny coincidence in two songs by the metal bands, both of which deserve to sit on the Iron Throne. The numbers will be familiar to fans: “Welcome Home (Sanitarium),” from Metallica’s best (or second-best) record, 1986’s Master of Puppets; and “Megalodon,” a gem of a track from Mastodon’s breakthrough record, 2004’s Leviathan.
Continue readingIn Flames Guitarist Talks About Band’s Apocalyptic New LP, Foregone
Posted in Interviews with tags In Flames on 02/14/2023 by Kurt OrzeckAfter recent conversations with Dark Tranquillity and At the Gates (soon to be published), I had the pleasure of speaking with the other band comprising Gothenburg, Sweden’s “Big Three”: In Flames. Guitarist Björn Gelotte — who joined the band in 1995, shortly after its inception — talked at length about the recently released Foregone (In Flames LP #14). Check out the piece on New Noise; a full transcript of our conversation is forthcoming.
All Souls Frontman Reflects on New LP, Tool Tour, LAPD Run-Ins
Posted in Interviews with tags Alain Johannes, All Souls, Fatso Jetson, the Jesus Lizard, Tool, Totimoshi on 02/12/2023 by Kurt OrzeckIf you’re a fan of Totimoshi, desert rock, Tool, alt-rock, Queens of the Stone Age, Fatso Jetson, Alain Johannes, the Jesus Lizard or indie rock in general, you need to familiarize yourself with All Souls. My wide-ranging conversation with frontman and all-around-good-guy Antonio Aguilar is up on New Noise‘s website. Don’t miss it.
The Bad Penny (beta) 