With a new album hitting stores, New York art-rock combo TV on the Radio is presented with the unenviable task of wowing fans as they did with their much-praised, post-9/11 masterwork, “Return To Cookie Mountain.” But for the follow-up, the band skews heady expectations and instead throws a New Wave dance party. Continue reading
As a performer, singer Neko Case is an intoxicating presence to be seen as well as heard. On Friday night’s concert in Madison, Wis., the country-rock songbird with the golden pipes mesmerized the audience whether it was with old favorites or the unfamiliar brand-new songs. Continue reading
Free at last from the hits-only brainwashing of longtime producer Bob Rock, Metallica has recorded a new album that takes the metal icons back to the days when they were the reigning kings of high-octane thrash. So does this mean that they’ve rediscovered themselves? Or are they simply impersonating themselves? Continue reading
The Roots and the Black Keys spearheaded an eclectic slate of underground acts at the SoCo Music Experience, a free-admission festival on Saturday in Madison, Wis. Despite the event’s birth as elaborate marketing ploy, the show exceeded expectations, attracting sonic connoisseurs and offering a lesson in musical appreciation. Continue reading
Perhaps acting under the deluded belief that some of their fans have been hanging tough through their two-decade absence, ’80s boy band New Kids on the Block has reunited and cut a new album of mature, loverman-type songs. Find out if these former teen idols still have the right stuff to win them back. Continue reading
Soundbytes Music Column 