REVIEW: RIVER CITY EXTENSION – DELIVERANCE (2015)
River City Extension knows how to win an unfamiliar crowd over. I’ve seen it. It was in August 2012. New Jersey’s River City Extension was touring as openers for enchanting Portland rockers Blind Pilot. I was covering the Milwaukee concert for Mezzic, primarily to review headliner Blin
REVIEW: FIELD GUIDES – BOO, FOREVER (2014)
On their debut album, Boo, Forever, Brooklyn-based Field Guides deliver a collection of songs that merge literary inspirations with charming pop likeability. The album was a decade in the making for Field Guides creator, Benedict Kupstas, and his revolving jam of contributing musician
REVIEW + PHOTOS: PEARL JAM AT THE XCEL ENERGY CENTER (ST PAUL, MN)
Pearl Jam (Seattle, WA)October 19th, 2014 (21st Anniversary of Vs.)Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, MN Pearl Jam made their long overdue return to Minnesota on Sunday night, eight years after their last trip through, opening for Tom Petty. Not having a notch in my PJ show belt yet, but a 20 year
REVIEW: PEAKING LIGHTS – COSMIC LOGIC (2014)
Peaking Lights is made of married couple Aaron Coynes and Indra Dunis. The pair used to be based in Madison and ran favorite local thrift store, Good Style Shop. The space was located near East Washington and the Capitol but has now moved to the Project Lodge’s old real estate on Johnson Street. B
REVIEW: INTERPOL – EL PINTOR (2014)
“All the Rage Back Home” the lead single off of Interpol’s fifth album, El Pintor, recalls an excitement, a fevered energy that hasn’t been notably prominent in the band’s most recent releases, especially the epic and atmospheric previous effort, 2010’s self-tilted Interpo
REVIEW: DOUBLE EWES – DOUBLE EWES (2014)
Double Ewes seem to be the stalwarts of the yearly Rock County Folk Symposium. The event has occurred for the past four years at the band’s front man Whilden Hughes’ family estate in Janesville. This year it has been moved to been to Camp Rotamer (still in Rock County), which features bathrooms
REVIEW: THE DELPHINES – HUSH (2014)
Most people, or at least most drummers, are struck by the Delphines’ refashioning of the Victor DeLorenzo type minimalist drum kit. While some other bands (namely Animal Collective) have used a similar set-up, the style does seem to have a genuine Milwaukee suggestion. The band’s new release,&nb
REVIEW: SHARON VAN ETTEN – ARE WE THERE (2014)
The sad-eyed, acoustic guitar-playing singer-songwriter with painstaking songs about love, hurt, the expectations and the disappointments: it’s nothing new to music, it’s been done time and time again, and it’s not going away anytime soon. Sharon Van Etten has quickly become a stando
REVIEW: CON SOLO – THE CRIMSON FUTURE: PART ONE (2014)
Con Solo is an artist featured with the Catch Wreck music collective. The unit is comprised of DJ *hitmayng and CRASHprez, both artists are well connected to the Milwaukee and Madison hip-hop community. Last year at UW-Madison’s Revelry Festival, CRASHprez opened for Chance the Rapper. This y