Music Stories
Number 3, and counting $-- DMB hits the roadIt would be news if the Dave Matthews Band were not planning a summer tour. That story isn't going to happen and no one seems happier than Matthews himself. "I'm always fired up to go out with the...read more Mar 20th, 2003
Color us happy: Jumpin' acts keep audience movingPalomar, 63 Crayons, and VHS and the Babiesat Tokyo RoseMarch 6 Spring Break! Yes, fellow residents of Charlottesville, last week signaled the yearly migration of many of this town's young and...read more Mar 13th, 2003
Cough, cough: Solo act chokesMike Doughty at Starr Hill218 Water Street March MadnessSam Wilson Quartet at Orbit Billiards   It's been a while since I made the scene, and even longer since I produced a string of words for...read more Mar 13th, 2003
Transported: Choruses take us to HeavenBach Motet: Festival Chorus, the Virginia Consort, and the Youth Choraleat Cabell HallMarch 2 Pictures of Johannes Brahms tend to show him in his later years, disguised from the nose down by a dark...read more Mar 6th, 2003
Trixie & Ian: Strange narratives set to musicScene Creamers with Trixie Deliciousat Tokyo RoseFriday, February 28   Ian Svenonius, singer with Scene Creamers, began his inter-song dialogues with a comment that set the tone for the rest of...read more Mar 6th, 2003
Cheaper than Nikes: APC docks with ShippThe collaboration of Anti-Pop Consortium and Matthew Shipp has easily twin-peaked their respective careers. Hip-hop, modern classical, free jazz, and glitch (music centered on unpredictable,...read more Feb 27th, 2003
Otherworldly: Holst's Planets soothe soulsCharlottesville and University Symphony Orchestraat Cabell HallSunday, February 23 I made it two minutes too late. By the time I reached Old Cabell, panting from my parking lot sprint, auditorium...read more Feb 27th, 2003
Riff rush: Party anthems make you smileCD ReviewThe DonnasSpend the Night I'm ashamed to say that The Donna's new album, Spend the Night, (Atlantic) is my latest guilty pleasure. Nobody takes The Donnas seriously, and for good reason....read more Feb 20th, 2003
To the quick: Cave finally finds his placeThe quiet that fills Nocturama, the new release by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, is one of peace, not suffocation. As a teen in his native Australia, Cave was the neighborhood hellion, a boy whose...read more Feb 20th, 2003
Skipping billies: Dave & Tim show bypasses CharlottesvilleWidely thought to be his first solo tour, Dave Matthews' latest performance schedule turns out to be a duo tour with longtime DMB sideman and guitar virtuoso Tim Reynolds. Unfortunately for locals,...read more Feb 20th, 2003
Highlighting the best: Songwriters Showcase II The music was under way by the time I arrived at Starr Hill for the second installment of the Songwriters Showcase. I got there in time to catch the last few tunes from Irishman Paul Kasey, a...read more Feb 13th, 2003
Snoredom: Only an occasional wake-up actUVA's "Fest Full of Rock," as a first-time effort, had a decent roster; I'd heard of most of the bands and looked forward to the chance to see them in action. Even with minimum publicity, the line-up...read more Feb 13th, 2003
LDOM: Organic music with soulThe CD jacket of Inner System Blues, the third album by The Last Days of May, is covered with multihued portraits of sad-faced, weary businessmen. They stand in groups, immobilized by despair, as if...read more Feb 6th, 2003
Stars in the shed: Rapunzel's makes listening easyThe Jan Smith Band and Brady Earnhartat Rapunzel's Coffee & BooksSunday, February 1 Saturday night was my second time ever at Rapunzel's Coffee & Books in Lovingston, and I have to say that I...read more Feb 6th, 2003
Metal lineup rocks the RoseAre You...?, Bonestorm, and Municipal Wasteat Tokyo RoseFriday, January 24   True metal was born in '70s Britain, when Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and Co. took the sludge of Black Sabbath and...read more Jan 30th, 2003
More than OK: Afro beat band wins convertsAntibalasat Starr Hill Music HallFriday, January 24 Antibalas first brought afro-beat to Starr Hill in September, 2002. At that time very few people knew of the 12-piece behemoth band out of New...read more Jan 30th, 2003
Divine descendant: Rose line-up not watered downSomer Waters the Others, and Civil War Re-enactorsat Tokyo RoseFriday, January 17 Friday night at Tokyo Rose, despite the absence of the headlining act (the Carlsonics), the rare sound of strings...read more Jan 23rd, 2003
Learning to swing: Boogaloo group fills in the spacesLike Cream, CSN&Y, or The Traveling Wilburys, Phatback Boogaloo is an all-star super-group, although of the homegrown variety. The four members of this jazz act all currently play in other well-...read more Jan 23rd, 2003
Art imitates death: Kool J Muhammad and DJ Malvo "Born To Kill"It all started when DJs Squeeze and Mike Brie (founding members of the Kobra Kai battle DJ crew) came across a hard-to-find record by West Coast gangster rapper Eazy E. Around the same time, the...read more Jan 16th, 2003
Bewitching duende: Flamenco comes to townZamora and Granadaat the Twisted Branch Tea BazaarSaturday, January 11 To put it simply, flamenco is the moody child of Andalusian folk and gypsy form. It's as identifiably Spanish as the running...read more Jan 16th, 2003