Lord knows that there are thousands of record labels in the world. So how does one go about separating itself from the rest (other than through awesome music)? That would be with a good name. Thankfully, these labels all have great music as well.
Photo courtesy of the venue.
Queens, New York’s The Silent Barn is the first in ALARM’s ongoing series exploring the country’s best grassroots, Do-it-Yourself music venues and art spaces. If you play in a band and looking for new places to play, or just love supporting independent music, read on.
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Photo credit: Theo Wargo
With a demolishing dose of horn-heavy chug metal, Jerseyband stands as the logical result of loose forerunners such as John Zorn’s Naked City, Mr. Bungle, and Estradasphere. The seven-piece band’s progressive fusion touches on jazz, groove, big-band flair, and math rock, making a sonic concoction as wild as its live shows.
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In 1997, Buffalo hardcore heroes Snapcase released Progression Through Unlearning, the group’s seminal release, which stylistically advanced the genre with big riffs, conflicting meters, and punishing mid-tempo beats. Here we examine this album’s ten best moments.
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It has been eleven years since the first Calexico record was released, and despite the lengthy experience of founders Joey Burns and John Convertino, many of the same methods of producing the group’s records took shape in its latest LP, Carried to Dust (Touch and Go).
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Hard-hitting jazz trio The Bad Plus knows how to pen pieces of proprietary gold. But its three members are also known for their genre-leaping renditions of rock songs, propelled by the chops of pianist Ethan Iverson, bassist Reid Anderson, and drummer David King. Here are the group’s ten best covers.
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When Joel Grind started Toxic Holocaust in Baltimore in 1999, he hadn’t counted on becoming an anomaly: a one-man speed-metal band. Jamie Ludwig catches up with Grind after the release of his third album, An Overdose of Death, by Relapse Records on September 2.
Jazz/jam trio Medeski, Martin & Wood (shown left) leads our picks of the week, but its new disc is followed closely by dreamy hip-hop fusionist Koushik, organic hip-hop group Look Daggers, and more.
After a few years of delays, political/humorist punk group Dillinger Four will finally release CIVILWAR, its fourth full-length album and first in six years, on October 14. Its label, Fat Wreck Chords, calls the band “the Redd Foxx - mixed with Chalmers Johnson - of punk rock,” and taking one look at its track listings makes that obvious. To mark the occasion, here are the group’s ten best song titles and their themes.
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Led by Tsugaru-shamisen master Kevin Kmetz, Santa Cruz’s God of Shamisen creates cultural collisions in the form of shredding, Japanese-infused progressive metal. Scott Morrow catches up with Kmetz and bassist/producer Mark Thornton on the heels of the group’s full-length debut release.
