Blogcritics Category: Music: Alternative Rock

Best of 2008: Counting Crows, Oasis, Black Keys, Dave Carter, B.B. King, The Bittersweets, Mudcrutch, R.E.M., Coldplay, Gutter Twins, Glen Phillips

Josh Hathaway — Thu, 8 Jan 2009 18:39:57 EST

2008 was a great year for music.
It's become an annual rite of passage in the music business. Every year, the trade papers are filled with stories about how this year was worse than last year. If the music execs were hoping we'd get so tired of reading that story that we'd start to ignore it -- you know, 'the boy who cried wolf' routine -- it hasn't...

Bands to Watch in 2009

A.L. Harper — Thu, 8 Jan 2009 13:47:35 EST

Scouring our Band of the Week database, to re-introduce you to bands that are likely to achieve huge mainstream success in 2009.
Independent music is a very hot topic right now on the music scene. It used to be that indie bands were really only popular within a region and with local fans, but with the internet becoming a dominant force for indie music there are now thousands of bands to choose from. Wading through all those would be a huge chore. But BC is here to help! ...

Music Review: Fiftywatthead - Fogcutter

Jordan Richardson — Thu, 8 Jan 2009 11:55:32 EST

A monstrous obsession with the Art of Loud.
Out of the working-class chill of Windsor, Ontario, the last thing one might expect would be an extreme music outfit the likes of Fiftywatthead. Yet this unspeakably vicious metal quartet has emerged from the Canadian city, slugged on the peninsula near Detroit, to deliver a total assault on the eardrums.Heavy as shit, deafening as hell, and lethal...

Music Review: Crystal Stilts - Alight of Night

Jordan Richardson — Sun, 4 Jan 2009 18:09:57 EST

Is it possible to be both boring and fascinating? I think so.
Amid fuzzy guitars, awkward and distant vocals, and a hazy sense of boredom, Crystal Stilts’ Alight of Night is quite an interesting piece of work. The band, out of Brooklyn, is sure to polarize listeners. Having dropped out of the sky in a bundle of shoegaze ennui, Crystal Stilts got their shit together in 2003 and released a debut single...

Music Review: Ween - At the Cat's Cradle, 1992 (CD/DVD)

The Masked Movie Snobs — Fri, 2 Jan 2009 20:48:06 EST

All hail Boognish and go buy this set.
Written by Fumo VerdeWeen fans will dig this one. At the Cat’s Cradle, 1992 is a two-disc set, the first a CD recorded live at the Cat’s Cradle in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on December 9, 1992. At this time the band included Gene Ween (vocals & guitar) Dean Ween (vocals & guitar) and at bass and drums Yamaha Digital Audio...

BC Music Editors Pick the Best Albums of 2008

Connie Phillips — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 18:05:49 EST

Our music editors name their personal favorites of 2008.
It's that time of year when we take stock in the year past and look forward to what's ahead. For those of us who love music, it can also mean grading the releases of the past 366 days and deciding for ourselves what's the best. Blogcritics' music editors are no exception to that rule, and what follows is our own little guide to...

Best Songs of 2008: Raconteurs, Black Keys, Bittersweets, Dave Carter, Jon Foreman, Glen Phillips, B.B. King, Oasis, Ryan Adams, Phil Keaggy

Josh Hathaway — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 11:33:50 EST

Here are a few of the 2008 tracks that dominated my iPod...
With thanks to the late Layne Staley I try not to plan the funeral before the body has died but there's only one Tuesday left in 2008 and there's nothing I'm in a hurry to go out and buy. Three years down the road I may come across a 2008 album I missed and want to amend this list, but for now, for better and worse these are...

DVD Review: Christmas on Mars

El Bicho — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 02:52:59 EST

Hopefully it comes with a gift receipt.
Subtitled A Fantastical Film Freakout Featuring The Flaming Lips, Wayne Coyne’s directorial debut was seven years in the making although it’s not clear why he thought it was ready to be released as the film has a lot of problems.Christmas on Mars opens moving the viewer through space and ventures to a manned station on Mars where a...

Music DVD Review: Lydia Lunch - Video Hysterie: 1978-2006

David L. Miller — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 09:04:19 EST

If you�re looking for a new experience pick up Video Hysterie: 1978-2006 to satisfy your lust for the weird and absurd.
Known for her violent, orgasmic spoken word performances and the twisted characters she portrays in R. Kern’s short films, Lydia Lunch is perhaps the scariest, and sexiest, artist you’re likely to be exposed to.With the release of Video Hysterie: 1978-2006, Lunch lovingly subjects her fans to the aforementioned orgasmic rants set to a...

Music Review: The Verve - Forth

Charlie Doherty — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 04:14:27 EST

British rock icons The Verve have made a respectable comeback record. Enjoy it now, before they break up again!
The Verve was without question one of the best British rock groups of the 1990s. But they broke up in 1999 after ten years together and after the most successful period of its career. Singer Richard Ashcroft then launched a mildly successful solo career in the early 2000s. Now, nearly ten years later, the band is back together and has made Forth...