Bill Callahan @ The State Room 11.23 with Judson Claiborne

Bill Callahan seems like the minimalist indie songwriter par excellence, letting his lyrics, often more spoken than sung, work their dry yet poetic magic, but on stage with a full band, you realize that they are capable of a much more deep and uncanny array of tricks. They surprised from the get-go, opening with a cover of the Velvet Underground’s “White Light/White Heat,” in tribute of the recently departed Lou Reed. Callahan is perhaps the only singer who could deliver the lines more dryly than Reed. … read more

Blondes Have More Fun: Lissie Sets The Bar High with Back To Forever

Lissie took a different approach and recorded this album with her band, rather than as a solo artist. Lissie originally played with studio musicians, but she says, “I have really honed a sound together through touring the last few years, so it was important to me and just natural that they be on Back to Forever.” It’s not always easy to bring the same attitude to an album that exists during a live performance, but “… the attitude and rock we bring live is present on this album” she says.  … read more

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin @ Kilby Court 11.22 with Army Navy

From the get-go, the small cluster of people to my right, all huddled beside the large speaker hanging from the ceiling, are in their thrall. Two kids with jet black hair are laboring over a sharpie mural on the plywood wall, only stopping intermittently to do something that resembles a dance, but is more likely some ancient satanic ritual, their possessed bodies twisting along with those sweet bass lines.  … read more

Cat Power and Nico Turner Live @ The Depot 11.25

Nico Turner playing guitar live on stage.

It wasn’t utterly packed—just full. Cat Power draws an interestingly eclectic crowd: professors, obligatory hippies, hipsters and maybe a vegan–straight edge kid, too. After the release of her electronica album, Sun, it seemed that there was a yearning for the older, more classic styling of Chan Marshall, and there was no better way to realize that desire than an intimate, seated setting where she would perform solo. … read more

From Dylan to Modernity: An interview with of Montreal’s Kevin Barnes

“Every creative decision I make happens organically and I don’t question it. I don’t think, ‘Is this good for my career or bad for my career? It’s whatever I’m just naturally interested in and just sort of driven to do, in a way. I don’t really question it,” says Barnes. It is Barnes’ avid interest in the world and lack of musical inhibition that has allowed of Montreal to experiment with a spectrum of different sounds and ideas that would make most musicians jealous. It is this kind of unbridled passion for life and music that makes of Montreal so unique.  … read more