The Dresden Dolls' new album is like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich — predictable, yet digestible. Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione make up the playtime duo still marching to the "cabaret-punk" beat with songs about gender changes, orgasms and alcohol.
Ani DiFranco's 2002 solo performance at Carnegie Hall is something of another world. The political edge is razor sharp, and the kinship between performer and audience is cosmic. Released April 4, the new live album sounds like it's captured a moment in history. You hear the politically charged songstress pouring her heart out with intensely interwoven lyrics and incredible six-string finger picking, but it's difficult to take it all in. The concert, recorded just seven months after Sept.
By Erik Adams For The State News Following the release of The Flaming Lips' 2002 album "Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots," the band became seasoned travelers, spreading a gleeful in-concert gospel with the aid of confetti, rabbit costumes, fake blood and a giant balloon that enabled frontman Wayne Coyne to walk on the hands of devoted fans.
Guster hits the local scene tomorrow night for a show at the Auditorium. Drummer and youngest member Brian Rosenworcel recently conversed with The State News about an upcoming Guster studio album, MySpace.com and Ping-Pong balls. State News: What's the band's pre-show ritual? Brian Rosenworcel: Generally, everyone takes a dump in the dressing room during the half-hour changeover between the opener and our set.
Most of their students and colleagues know Steve McCornack, John Sherry and René Weber as professors, and Jayson Dibble as a graduate student. But on Thursday night, they will become Pug Muckfe, Johnny Pustular, Kärl Messer and Gurgle McPhestus, as their old-school punk band "Stooge City Liberation Front" takes Harper's Restaurant & Brewpub, 131 Albert Ave., by storm. "We call ourselves a punk rock band, but we really play stuff from before there was punk to after there was punk," said Sherry, an assistant communication professor.
Neko Case charmed a standing-room-only audience Saturday night with a delicately twangy performance in Lansing.
Broken bottles, vomit and country music — an equation for rowdiness that amounted to fun for many at the Hank Williams III concert.
Lead singer Stephen Pedersen seems to be going through a therapy session rather than making a rock album. But is Criteria trying to make a rock album?
If you're looking for something to wake up the neighbors or piss your mother off then The Sword is the band for you. What does The Sword sound like?
Touted as "the best rock band in America that nobody knows" by author Stephen King, Marah just wants to write songs that have meaning — something that is missing from today's music, said Dave Bielanko, vocalist and guitarist for the band. Bielanko, his brother Serge Bielanko (guitar/vocals), Kirk Henderson (bass/keys), Dave Peterson (drums) and Adam Garbinski (guitar) make up the quintet from Philadelphia, whose first record debuted in 1998.
Katie Fletcher For The State News "Lights and Sounds" is the newest release from Yellowcard, the pop-rock group whose last few songs were released among a flurry of California-themed singles from similar bands.
Barr combines spacey jazz with spoken words hitting on the offbeats. The band is one of kind in umpteen ways.
By Erik Adams Special for The State News As you can read in any rock magazine of note (Spin and Harp, for instance), Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis set out to make her solo debut, a soul album in the vein of 1971's "Gonna Take a Miracle" by Laura Nyro and LaBelle.
The Union Ballroom hosted an almost contradictory event Friday — an arena rock show in an intimate environment. Contradiction or not, it was definitely a hand-clapping good time for audience members when Almost Queen — a Queen tribute band — hit the stage with screaming guitar solos, monstrous drum beats and heavenly vocal range. "Really, we started the band when we found a guy that looked exactly like Freddie Mercury," said Tom Cavanagh, guitar player for the tribute band, before the show. Cavanagh, who has a striking resemblance to Queen's guitar player Brian May, was right about his band mate Joseph Russo looking like Queen's late great lead singer Mercury. Russo wore the trademark white tank top with white jeans and, of course, sported the Mercury mustache.
It's interesting that Eminem chose a greatest hits album to possibly be his last. The album was released Tuesday, but many people probably already own most of the songs collected on "Curtain Call." Eminem's breakout hit "My Name Is" was released in 1999, just more than six years ago.
Writing and performing original songs for a class grade might be normal for a music major, but others interested in music could only dream about having that option — until recently. Music Professor John Kratus wanted to give MSU students who weren't music majors an opportunity to take a music class and got his chance when the Integrative Studies Department was asking for ideas for new courses.
Chinese Happy has been playing shows consistently for about two years and has members living in Detroit and Lansing, which helps both the band's dedication and fan base.
Los Angeles, Houston, New York City ... Lansing. Within the past few years, Mac's Bar has put Lansing on the map — literally.
Performing at an art gallery seems like an ideal venue for Charlemagne. The spacey, indie-pop band's second album "Detour Allure" is full of thoughtful lyrics, soothing pop melodies and calm vocals.
Skip the double dates and block-party keggers for one night. Pop Entertainment has planned an electrifying concert tonight at 8 p.m.