The Daily Vault – Page 33

19 Nov

Keeping Up (Vol. 5)

Darren PaltrowitzFeature

Here are 5 quick picks for you, the loyal reader: MUSIC: We Are Balboa / Space Between Bodies – Originally hailing from Madrid, We Are Balboa now calls Brooklyn their home. With an album produced by Jon Gray (Radio 4, The Subways, Editors) and tour dates alongside The Sounds, Primal Scream, and The Charlatans UK, you would be right to assume that “Space Between Bodies” is a collection of upbeat, jangly, Brit-inspired pop-rock. But above all, there is undeniable chemistry between vocalist Lua and guitarist Carlos del Amo coming across in the music. This is the finest Spanish musical export…

11 Nov

Nailed It: Nine Inch Nails and Health Live

Bruce RuskFeature

Nine Inch Nails -- aka Trent Reznor -- has a lot to sing about. Literally, with four albums released in the past two years, which is a truly unprecedented blast of activity from a guy known for lingering obsessively over an album for four to five years. Having not seen them live for several years, I was excited to hear gobs of new material along with the venerable faves, and I was not disappointed. The VWA was a cozy little venue, with about 2,500 souls on hand. Opening act Health was a completely unknown quantity prior to the lights going…

11 Nov

Keeping Up (Vol. 4)

Darren PaltrowitzFeature

Here are 5 quick picks for you, the loyal reader:MUSIC: Hooray For Earth / Hooray For Earth – With a name like “Hooray For Earth,” you’re likely to expect a happy-go-lucky jam band. Fortunately, it’s quite the opposite with this Boston quartet. Instead of the piled-on optimism, you have yourself noisy yet structured rock filled with melody. Fans of the more subdued material from Cave In, Thrice, and Queens Of The Stone Age are likely to approve. As a sample, try the “Want Want Want” music video, which you can find on YouTube. (myspace.com/hoorayforearth)LITERATURE: Danny Goldberg / Bumping Into Genius…

25 Oct

Concert Classics Retrospective

dvadminAnnouncement

Once upon a time, the live album ruled -- the time being the 1970s. Oh sure, there had been a few successful live albums before that, notably the Beach Boys’ Beach Boys Concert, which went to #1 in 1964 – but the real heyday of the live album was the 70s, when both global superstar bands like The Who and the Rolling Stones and next-tier acts like Bob Seger and AC/DC issued live albums that captured not just the music but the full character and commitment of the artist. In the 80s, 90s and beyond the live album’s star has…

22 Oct

Keeping Up (Vol. 3)

Darren PaltrowitzFeature

Welcome to the 3rd edition of what’s intended to be a bi-weekly column. A 9-day trip to Japan alongside Mike Viola and The Major Labels has left me jet-lagged and off-schedule, yet no less in awe of new quality entertainment. But if you feel I’m missing something that’s worthwhile and deserving of column space, please reach out with an e-mail: darren.paltrowitz@gmail.com. Here are 5 quick picks for you, the loyal reader: The Changes / Today Is Tonight – As I was visiting the New York office of Kobalt Music Publishing, I heard some great music playing off a desktop and…

15 Oct

Heavy And Heavier With Human Abstract, 36 Crazy Fist, All That Remains and Trivium

Paul HansonFeature

There can be no doubt -- the concert bill headlined by Trivium on Monday, October 6, 2008, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was tailored to a select few. Those who like the music that echoed through Hawkeye Downs like their music heavy, loud, and fast. While the small crowd was vocal during the actual music, it was quiet between when a band quit playing a song and started the next one. And that's not a complaint. The roar of guitars and drums and bass and keyboards and screaming -- yes, lots of screaming -- needed to cease every so often to…

06 Oct

Mixtape Mondays: Mama Mixtape

Julia SkochkoFeature

[Editor's note: Cover images of albums previously reviewed on the DV have been linked to the review.] "She Sells Sanctuary" – The Cult There's nothing cynical about this one. It's a straight-up rock ‘n’ roll love song anchored by a soaring guitar hook and Ian Astbury's sturdy English yowl. When you were a week old, we took a family trip to the diner. You still weren't nursing, or sleeping, or smiling. You were a scowling, spiky-haired bundle of complications. That night, when you started kvetching in your baby seat, I picked you up and paced around the table, bouncing in time…

30 Sep

Kansas Retrospective

dvadminAnnouncement

Some months ago there was a lively discussion on the Daily Vault staff writers’ e-mail list about the criteria for choosing featured artists for our monthly retrospectives. A consensus formed that the artist chosen should meet two or more of these criteria: 1) groundbreaking, 2) influential, 3) large sales, 4) longevity, 5) historical/representative of a specific era or style of music. There was also the sixth “X ingredient,” as identified by the inimitable Duke Egbert: “some damn fool is willing to do the majority of the work.” Kansas, the Midwestern prog-rockers gone arena rockers gone 80s power balladeers and back…

22 Sep

Golden Smog’s Marc Perlman: The Daily Vault Interview

dvadminFeature

Among its many distinctions, Golden Smog is the only band I know whose name is a take-off of an obscure character from The Flintstones that was itself a parody (the Flintstones character the Golden Fog was based on Mel "The Velvet Fog" Torme). It is also, technically speaking, an alt-country-rock, or Americana, or whatever “supergroup.” Of course, being the iconoclasts that they are, the Smog’s own members immediately reject this label. Yes, the group is made up of members of Soul Asylum (Dan Murphy), the Jayhawks (Gary Louris, Marc Perlman), Run Westy Run (Kraig Johnson) and Wilco (Jeff Tweedy), and…

20 Sep

Buckcherry, ShineDown, and Saving Abel Live

Paul HansonFeature

There are at least two tiers in concerts these days. On one tier, you have established bands like Rush that use traditional rock show elements like giant video screens, laser lights, and pyro to compliment their music. On the other tier, you have less-established bands like the three I saw on Tuesday, September 16, 2008, at the iWireless Center in Moline, IL. The headliner, Buckcherry, did not have a giant video screen, laser lights, or pyro to compliment their music. Instead, Buckcherry’s Josh Todd used his charismatic approach to singing to win over the crowd. Todd is a mixture of…