In This Issue...
Tegan and Sara: Hurts So Good
As far as kiss-offs go, Tegan and Sara’s Sainthood is a whopper. Not so much 13 tunes of “How you like me now?” but rather 36 minutes of emotionally resonant, hard-won truths and “light bulbs.”
In This Issue...
Tokio Hotel: Human Connect to Human
Before I even locate the well-appointed midtown Manhattan hotel that Tokio Hotel is staying in, I hear the unmistakable sounds of giddy teenage girls. This is a common sight and sound wherever the handsome, young men of Tokio Hotel might be, anywhere around the globe.
In This Issue...
Gary Lightbody is Always ‘Up’ to Something
Gary Lightbody, eternally on tour, has just woken up somewhere in Middle America. I know this because he tells me so, and because the words aren’t coming as easily as the garrulous singer would like, given the earlier hour he’s been asked to rise to discuss Snow Patrol’s first greatest-hits compilation, Up to Now, and new single “Just Say Yes.”
In This Issue...
The High Life on the Highline with Basement Jaxx
There is nothing like a crisp autumn day chatting with one-half of the dynamic duo that is South London’s Basement Jaxx (Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe). Buxton was in high spirits despite a packed day of press and a schedule that would take the boys to Chicago to deejay a rave…
In This Issue...
Echo & the Bunnymen: Stirring ‘The Fountain’
One of the standout tracks on Echo & the Bunnymen’s excellent new record, The Fountain, finds Ian “Mac the Mouth” McCulloch enjoying a rather tongue-in-cheek conversation with Jesus Christ. That Mac would place himself in this situation on “Shroud of Turin” is no surprise, given the singer’s infamous ego, wit and penchant for snark.
In This Issue...
Har Mar Superstar: Don’t Believe That Tweet
It took me about a day to realize that Har Mar Superstar was not indeed finger banged by NME writer Alex Hoban. Tours and all of the energy that surround them can provide enough muck for a library of Marquis De Sade novels, so his tweets were quite believable and I was worried.
In This Issue...
Dragonette is Poised to Thrill
Canada’s Dragonette seem about ready to explode since the recent release of their second album, Fixin To Thrill. The follow up to 2007’s electro-pop debut, Galore, the new record, while still very danceable, shows more new wave influences. Witty and charming, lead singer Martina Sorbara has all the makings of a pop icon…
In This Issue...
Via Tania: Moon Songs and Happenstance
The glamorous, yet humble Via Tania, aka Tania Bowers, wasn’t so sure she wanted to be a front woman until someone suggested she take on the role of singer when she was still a teenager performing music with her sister in Australia, where they grew up. In those days, she wasn’t yet eighteen…
In This Issue...
The Mary Onettes: Sink or Swim
It’s only been Gothenburg, Sweden’s The Mary Onettes’ second tour of the U.S., and already fans are singing along to their songs in the farthest reaches of Brooklyn, at places like Union Hall. “I could feel the connection and it made it seem very intimate,” says frontman and main songwriter Philip Ekström.
In This Issue...
Tahiti 80: The Most Un-French, French Band There Is
Tahiti 80 take me back to my high school days when I was just discovering the world of European pop music. The late 90s was a goldmine for Euro-poppers to win over US notoriety (and not just the likes of Robyn and The Cardigans). For French bands, there seems to be a continuous dividing line between entering the Anglo world or staying in France to make it.
