Jack White The Third ManIt's the day after Jack White has formally debuted his two new bands ― one all-female and one all-male ― at his Third Man Studio in Nashville and six weeks ahead of the release of his first solo album, Blunderbuss. There's definitely a sense of "mission accomplished" in the air....
Cannibal Corpse Staring through the Eyes of the Banned[Editor's note: Cannibal Corpse are a death metal band who utilize horror-themed imagery, lyrical content, song titles and artwork that may not be to everyone's taste. Proceed with caution.] When the members of death metal granddaddies Cannibal Corpse got together back in 1988 they...
Sinéad O'Connor Nothing Compares 2 HerHas there ever been a more conflicted, tragic, talented musician than the bald child advocate, bipolar-afflicted, anal-sex-loving, Pope-picture-tearing, angel-voiced former-priest Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor? In short, no. And though she's been recording and making music since she was 14 years...
Leonard Cohen Beautiful LoserHe's the little Jew that wrote the Bible, who believes love is the only engine of survival. He is still the thinking woman's sex symbol, and has been for the last 40 years. He is the young wunderkind poet who set Canadian literature aflame. He is the 32-year-old who suddenly decided to become a...
The Stone Roses They Are The ResurrectionIf you were to go by pure, raw talent, there may not be a better rock'n'roll band in history than the Stone Roses. With Reni's loose grooves behind the kit, Mani's effortlessly fluid bass lines, John Squire's iridescent guitar jangle and Ian Brown's Northern swagger, their DNA certainly presents...
Kid Koala Starting From ScratchIf you watch five episodes of The Muppet Show, followed by five episodes of Kids in the Hall, then you read The Little Prince, then watch two Charlie Chaplin movies, and then check out any of my albums or books, they'll make complete sense to you," jokes Eric San, the Canadian...
Ryan Adams The Heartbreak KidThere will probably come a time ― hopefully far in the future ― after Ryan Adams leaves this world, when music scholars will pore over the hundreds of songs he's written, looking for clues as to who he was. There certainly will be plenty of leads for them to follow, but today, 20 years...
Red Hot Chili Peppers Miraculous Masters of MayhemBack in the early '80s, no one could have guessed that Red Hot Chili Peppers would go on to become one of the world's most successful rock acts. The band's original formula was hardly made for longevity: their goofy hybrid of rock, funk and rap initially failed to make much of an impression on...
Sepultura Troops of DoomIt's tough to imagine that a group of clueless Brazilian kids who, in the mid-'80s, worshipped at the altar of pseudo-Satanist thrash metallers Venom would later achieve commercial success with an album that bordered on nu-metal. But so it goes: from their early raw death metal discs, to a...
"Weird Al" Yankovic Alpocalypse Now… and ThenHe could've been a fad — a one-trick pony whose skilled mockery might get tiresome quickly. But for 30 years, "Weird Al" Yankovic remains the most successful and sharpest satirist of our time, absorbing trends in music and pop culture, and spewing them back at us, charmingly highlighting the...
Dr. Dre The PioneerIt's hard to imagine what hip-hop might sound without Dr. Dre. The 46-year-old producer wields a formidable influence that extends deep into popular music; he's been involved in countless classic records in his more than 25-year career. As one of the original members of N.W.A., he helped to put...
Sloan Never Hear the End of ItIn early 1991, four middle-class, self-trained musicians with a love for noise rock, punk, hard rock and the Creation Records roster drew an international spotlight on Halifax, Nova Scotia when they helped initiate a buzz around the city's growing music scene. Their success, their early deal with...
Dave Grohl Times Like TheseHe's become one of the biggest figures in contemporary music, a celebrated and sought-after singer, songwriter, guitarist, and drummer who is widely known as one of the nicest guys in rock. Dave Grohl, a hyperactive and heavy-handed drummer from Virginia via Ohio, rose to prominence in the early...
Richie Hawtin Master of MinimalismRoundly considered one of the great techno innovators of the past two decades, Richie Hawtin was a young kid from Windsor who fell in love with Detroit's new club music, and then went on to conquer it. In creative terms, the Richie Hawtin story is one of talent innovating upon inspiration: over the...
Gilles Peterson The TastemakerBritish DJ Gilles Peterson is one of the finest examples of the DJ as curator. Unlike hip-hop entrepreneurs who diversify their "brand" with clothing and beverages, Peterson has stuck to musical evangelism, exploring the intersections of jazz, culture and technology from past to present. He came to...
Phil Anselmo Far Beyond Driven"The human being is an imperfect machine and I'm a perfect example of that," declares Philip Hansen Anselmo, one of extreme music's most revered, respected, reviled and recognizable artists. Over the course of his 42 years, this New Orleans native has been through more trials, tribulations and...
Michael Gira From Uncompromising Swans to Ethereal Angels of LightSumming up Michael Gira's 30-year career (so far) isn't easy to do in a few words. The man behind the utterly uncompromising Swans and the more evocative Angels of Light may have started off in New York's No Wave underbelly of the early '80s, but he was always more extreme a personality than...
Robert Plant The Mighty RearrangerWhat's to become of a Golden God as retirement age looms? Robert Plant's bare-chested swagger and Valhalla-storming vocals redefined the image of the rock'n'roll singer in the 1970s. But all of his sexual posturing hid a true musicologist, someone as at home in Mississippi Delta juke joints as in...
JUSTIN BROADRICK Napalm Death - Godflesh - Techno Animal - Jesu - Pale SketcherThough he's been the ceaseless ambassador for some of the most extreme music to see the light of day since the mid-'80s, Justin K. Broadrick's range and tastes as a musician are so wide that few fans have an easy time wrapping their heads around all this legendary UK artist has accomplished over...
The Roots Band of BrothersThe history of the Roots is rife with the themes of collaboration, improvisation and experimentation ― hallmarks of a vintage jazz ensemble all; the Roots are not jazz, yet they are that too. Forever refusing to deliver the expected album and neglecting to bite their collective tongue, the...
POP & ROCK: Beach House - Bloom
It's the day after Jack White has formally debuted his two new bands ― one all-female and one all-male ― at his Third Man Studio in Nashville and six weeks ahead of the release of his first solo album, Blunderbuss. There's definitely a sense of "mission accomplished" in the air....
[Editor's note: Cannibal Corpse are a death metal band who utilize horror-themed imagery, lyrical content, song titles and artwork that may not be to everyone's taste. Proceed with caution.] When the members of death metal granddaddies Cannibal Corpse got together back in 1988 they...
Has there ever been a more conflicted, tragic, talented musician than the bald child advocate, bipolar-afflicted, anal-sex-loving, Pope-picture-tearing, angel-voiced former-priest Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor? In short, no. And though she's been recording and making music since she was 14 years...
He's the little Jew that wrote the Bible, who believes love is the only engine of survival. He is still the thinking woman's sex symbol, and has been for the last 40 years. He is the young wunderkind poet who set Canadian literature aflame. He is the 32-year-old who suddenly decided to become a...
If you were to go by pure, raw talent, there may not be a better rock'n'roll band in history than the Stone Roses. With Reni's loose grooves behind the kit, Mani's effortlessly fluid bass lines, John Squire's iridescent guitar jangle and Ian Brown's Northern swagger, their DNA certainly presents...
If you watch five episodes of The Muppet Show, followed by five episodes of Kids in the Hall, then you read The Little Prince, then watch two Charlie Chaplin movies, and then check out any of my albums or books, they'll make complete sense to you," jokes Eric San, the Canadian...
There will probably come a time ― hopefully far in the future ― after Ryan Adams leaves this world, when music scholars will pore over the hundreds of songs he's written, looking for clues as to who he was. There certainly will be plenty of leads for them to follow, but today, 20 years...---c.-of-Warner-Music-s.jpg)
Back in the early '80s, no one could have guessed that Red Hot Chili Peppers would go on to become one of the world's most successful rock acts. The band's original formula was hardly made for longevity: their goofy hybrid of rock, funk and rap initially failed to make much of an impression on...---c.-of-Nuclear-Blast-s.jpg)
It's tough to imagine that a group of clueless Brazilian kids who, in the mid-'80s, worshipped at the altar of pseudo-Satanist thrash metallers Venom would later achieve commercial success with an album that bordered on nu-metal. But so it goes: from their early raw death metal discs, to a...---c.-of-Sony-Music-s.jpg)
He could've been a fad — a one-trick pony whose skilled mockery might get tiresome quickly. But for 30 years, "Weird Al" Yankovic remains the most successful and sharpest satirist of our time, absorbing trends in music and pop culture, and spewing them back at us, charmingly highlighting the...---c.-Universal-Music-s.jpg)
It's hard to imagine what hip-hop might sound without Dr. Dre. The 46-year-old producer wields a formidable influence that extends deep into popular music; he's been involved in countless classic records in his more than 25-year career. As one of the original members of N.W.A., he helped to put...---Lisa-Mark-s.jpg)
In early 1991, four middle-class, self-trained musicians with a love for noise rock, punk, hard rock and the Creation Records roster drew an international spotlight on Halifax, Nova Scotia when they helped initiate a buzz around the city's growing music scene. Their success, their early deal with...
He's become one of the biggest figures in contemporary music, a celebrated and sought-after singer, songwriter, guitarist, and drummer who is widely known as one of the nicest guys in rock. Dave Grohl, a hyperactive and heavy-handed drummer from Virginia via Ohio, rose to prominence in the early...
Roundly considered one of the great techno innovators of the past two decades, Richie Hawtin was a young kid from Windsor who fell in love with Detroit's new club music, and then went on to conquer it. In creative terms, the Richie Hawtin story is one of talent innovating upon inspiration: over the...
British DJ Gilles Peterson is one of the finest examples of the DJ as curator. Unlike hip-hop entrepreneurs who diversify their "brand" with clothing and beverages, Peterson has stuck to musical evangelism, exploring the intersections of jazz, culture and technology from past to present. He came to...---Kate-Richardson-s.jpg)
"The human being is an imperfect machine and I'm a perfect example of that," declares Philip Hansen Anselmo, one of extreme music's most revered, respected, reviled and recognizable artists. Over the course of his 42 years, this New Orleans native has been through more trials, tribulations and...-2---c.-of-Young-God-Records-s.jpg)
Summing up Michael Gira's 30-year career (so far) isn't easy to do in a few words. The man behind the utterly uncompromising Swans and the more evocative Angels of Light may have started off in New York's No Wave underbelly of the early '80s, but he was always more extreme a personality than...
What's to become of a Golden God as retirement age looms? Robert Plant's bare-chested swagger and Valhalla-storming vocals redefined the image of the rock'n'roll singer in the 1970s. But all of his sexual posturing hid a true musicologist, someone as at home in Mississippi Delta juke joints as in...
Though he's been the ceaseless ambassador for some of the most extreme music to see the light of day since the mid-'80s, Justin K. Broadrick's range and tastes as a musician are so wide that few fans have an easy time wrapping their heads around all this legendary UK artist has accomplished over...
The history of the Roots is rife with the themes of collaboration, improvisation and experimentation ― hallmarks of a vintage jazz ensemble all; the Roots are not jazz, yet they are that too. Forever refusing to deliver the expected album and neglecting to bite their collective tongue, the...
