AltWeeklies Wire
David Lynch: The Big Dreamnew
"No, no, no, I don't drink that foreign beer," legendary filmmaker/weirdo David Lynch chortles at the end of the electro-blues vamp "Sun Can't Be Seen No More." This being Lynch, the whole song is sung through a vocal modulator that transmogrifies his pipes into something akin to an asthmatic Donald Duck...
Tucson Weekly |
Michael Petitti |
08-09-2013 |
Reviews
Tags: David Lynch
Meomena: Momsnew
Portland, Ore.'s Menomena is a modern group yet to release a truly forgettable or misdirected album—more than can be said for most of their peers. Given the rather acrimonious departure of Brent Knopf, one might think Justin Harris and Danny Seim would have had to reinvent their sound...
Tucson Weekly |
Michael Petitti |
11-04-2012 |
Reviews
The Tallest Man on Earth: There's No Leaving Nownew
A couple of years after his breakthrough sophomore album, The Wild Hunt, Swedish singer/songwriter Kristian Matsson has toned things down for There's No Leaving Now, but it's still a beguiling, dark work.
Tucson Weekly |
Michael Petitti |
08-30-2012 |
Reviews
Islands: A Sleep and a Forgetting (Anti-)new
Only a heartless pustule or jaundiced cynic would actively cheer for heartbreak. Still, the history of popular music teaches that albums inspired by heartbreak are often a prickly sort of brilliant.
Tucson Weekly |
Michael Petitti |
04-02-2012 |
Reviews
Los Campesinos!: Hello Sadness (Arts & Crafts)new
A first listen to the sturdy fourth album by Welsh cadre Los Campesinos!, Hello Sadness, can be distressing. Gareth Campesinos! snarls uncomfortably naked lines; the music vacillates almost incongruously from overcharged to restrained; and the whole ordeal feels profoundly removed from the band's previous work...
Tucson Weekly |
Michael Petitti |
12-15-2011 |
Reviews
Serving the Peoplenew
Handsome Furs broadens its horizons.
Tucson Weekly |
Michael Petitti |
09-01-2011 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: handsome furs
Okkervil River: I Am Very Farnew
Will Sheff is operating on a higher plane these days. On Okkervil River's stunning I Am Very Far, Sheff revels in ambiguous and evocative imagery that keeps pace with inspired studio wizardry.
Tucson Weekly |
Michael Petitti |
06-27-2011 |
Reviews
Tags: Okkervil River, Will Sheff
Cerebral yet Carnalnew
Titus Andronicus hopes to avoid pillow fights on this trip to Tucson.
Tucson Weekly |
Michael Petitti |
06-23-2011 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Titus Andronicus
Man Man: Life Fantasticnew
For a band that essentially occupies a niche -- the Beefheart, Zappa, Waits niche -- Philadelphia's Man Man circumvents the easy dip into parody or novelty by making memorable, swaggering music that is somehow simultaneously indebted and unique.
Tucson Weekly |
Michael Petitti |
06-16-2011 |
Reviews
Tags: man man
A Living 'Blues Cat'new
The legendary Buddy Guy refuses to even think about slowing down.
Tucson Weekly |
Michael Petitti |
06-13-2011 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Buddy Guy
Fleet Foxes: Helplessness Bluesnew
There are two readings of Fleet Foxes' genial sophomore album. First, it is slightly dull; innocuous folk rhythms jostle against Robin Pecknold's demotic lyrics and boys'-choir three-part harmonies. Second, it is a nice experiment; its halcyon melodies, occasionally restrained, are loose enough to allow for some intriguing gambles.
Tucson Weekly |
Michael Petitti |
05-10-2011 |
Reviews
Wanda Jackson: The Party Ain't Overnew
This album's music is occasionally too misplaced
Tucson Weekly |
Michael Petitti |
02-24-2011 |
Reviews
Tags: Wanda Jackson
Deerhoof: Deerhoof vs. Evilnew
Calling the members of Deerhoof musical dilettantes is disingenuous. The San Francisco group's lengthy career may be cultivated on a healthy musical curiosity, but there is nothing superficial or casual about the band's methods or products.
Tucson Weekly |
Michael Petitti |
02-24-2011 |
Reviews
Tags: Deerhoof
Avey Tare: Down Therenew
The hypnotic, icy and alien Down There is the first solo album by Animal Collective's Dave Portner.
Tucson Weekly |
Michael Petitti |
12-27-2010 |
Reviews
Tags: Avey Tare
Kanye West: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasynew
It seems abundantly clear that Kanye West is an ass. It is also amply clear, with the release of his gnarly, brilliant My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, that no one in hip-hop has mastered the role of the self-hating villain as well as West.
Tucson Weekly |
Michael Petitti |
12-08-2010 |
Reviews
