Authors: Ryan Michael Painter
And Now For Something Completely Autolux: A Highway Robbery
Some days you just shouldn’t answer the phone, particularly when it’s your editor calling. Yet like a fool I do, just in case she’s calling to sack me or to offer some multimillion-dollar book deal. [Autolux]”Have you heard of Autolux?” It seems like a simple question, but nothing is ever that simple. “We saw them
Show Review: Evening & Muse
It is a daunting task to live up to Radiohead comparisons. It’s twice as daunting when the band you are opening up for once stood in those shoes only to pound their way out of Thom York’s shadow. … read more
Bloc Party show review
Being labeled “the best” of just about anything is as much a curse as it is a blessing. So when a reckless journalist labeled Bloc Party the best new band in the UK, they might as well have thrown in a first-aid kit for all the bruising that the band had waiting for them. It’s hard to see past all the hyperbole and look for potential, even when you consider yourself a sympathetic fan. … read more
Futureheads at In the Venue
The Futureheads were something of an enigma to me. I was overly familiar with the hype that swirled around them but after two or three casual listens to their debut album, I can’t say that I was committed to my own opinion. … read more
Sinead O’Connor Show Review
I remember hearing Damien Dempsey’s album Seize the Day and not connecting with its dominant theme of Celtic pride but as he takes the stage, a man and an acoustic guitar standing alone against an audience anticipating Sinead O’Connor I can’t help but notice that there is something captivating about him. His introduction of each song is humorous, filled with wisdom and hope. … read more
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Show Review
While some bands are content to play the exact same set night after night, I’ve always been partial to bands that switch things around every night. So when someone in the crowd shouts out a request and BRMC guitarist/vocalist Peter Hayes responds with “We played that one last time we were here. … read more
Analogical Resurrection: An Interview with Erasure
When Erasure set out to promote 2003’s Other People’s Songs album, they hadn’t toured in four years; neither Vince Clark nor Andy Bell were sure if the fans would still be there. Perhaps they considered wearing the “irrelevant” tag the British press had so kindly tried to pin, with a nail gun, to their chest.
Calling All Bats: SLC’s Dark Arts Festival Celebrates Five Years
They say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery; either that, or someone’s trying to cash in on someone else’s success. Either way, it would seem that Salt Lake’s Dark Arts Festival has inspired a little envy in Colorado, where some scavengers have lifted the name and are throwing their own Dark Arts gala.