RIYL: Hot Chip, Junior Boys, LCD Soundsystem, Islands and New Order
Local Band!
Rcougar: electronic/rock four-piece inspired by the '80s New Wave. Performances tap into a range of mediums, including projections, lights, and sounds.
"One of the best new bands in town, drawing comparisons to Built to Spill and probably ripping off some '60s pysch/garage/pop band from Sweden nobody's ever heard of, if you haven't seen R'Cougar yet we STRONGLY urge you to do just that." - TucsonScene.com
Syracuse, NY
Last year, not long after Ra Ra Riot released an excellent debut EP, their drummer drowned in the ocean after a show. While his death has influenced much of the content on their follow-up, The Rhumb Line, it hasn't weighed the band down, drawing a heap of industry buzz and critic's raves with comparisons to Arcade Fire, Vampire Weekend, Islands, The Dodos and label mates Nada Surf.
"Ra Ra Riot combine Arcade Fire's orchestral reveries with Vampire Weekend's pop sensibility for an album that's both effervescent and heartbreaking." 4 stars - Rolling Stone
"The Rhumb Line... (is a) poignant testament to Pike's life and his former bandmates' resilience." 7.5/10 - Pitchfork
"Ra Ra Riot... expertly guides its mischievous, youthful interpretation of indie rock around dueling violin and cello strings. The result is an album comprised of ten new-wave-meets-orchestral tracks that range from ebullient come-ons to studied hymns of grief." - Spin
"Ra Ra Riot has a potential hit on its hands with this debut LP." 7/10 - No Rip Chord
RIYL: Snow Patrol, Broken Social Scene and The Airborne Toxic Event
Local Band!
"With their ghostly vocals reminiscent of Robert Smith and deliciously catchy melodies, Race You There is a refreshing look at indie rock." - State Press Magazine
"They are truly original and their latest EP, aptly entitled Catalyst, is an excellent example of talented musicians pooling their collective energies en route to creating something that is unique and imaginative." - Froglix Radio
"Acosta's sweet-sounding vocals mixed with his classical training and the rest of the band's self-taught grit sounds much more like a coyote and bear having a a relaxed, drunken pow-wow." - College Times
"We foam at the mouth when talking about Race You There...these guys are amazing musicians/performers." - AZ Overload
RIYL: Joan Baez, Natalie Merchant, Alison Krauss and Shawn Colvin
Los Angeles, CA
RIYL: The Black Heart Procession, Sparklehorse, Midlake, Sebadoh, Wilco, Meat Puppets and My Morning Jacket
"The Radar Bros' sixth album finds Jim Putnam breaking in another lineup of the band... But a new set of collaborators hasn't had much audible impact on the Radar Bros; The Illustrated Garden is still dominated by the same sort of graceful but languid melodies and artfully incongruous lyrics that have been Putnam's stock in trade since the group's first album in 1996." - All Music Guide
"After several solid albums - many of them released by Merge - and almost 15 years of effort... The "Americana" tag sticks thanks to the general country-rock tropes and all the natural imagery, but as usual the group excels at blurring the edges of an already blurry genre with spacey (but never indulgent) psych leanings... The Illustrated Garden sure sounds great... (and) each track glows like a golden hour snapshot." 7.0/10 - Pitchfork
"The Illustrated Garden is full of simple, muted pleasures. And while there may not be a lot of spectacle here, there are layers that peel away as you listen, revealing songs with surprising staying power." 7.5/10 - Prefix
"The Illustrated Garden... spins the mood that Radar Bros. fans have come to expect: that feeling of being happily sunbaked and mildly delirious, subsisting on pure sensory intake." - The Onion AV Club
"The Illustrated Garden is a sumptuous honey-hued helping of soft-souled pop, unhurried Americana and the occasional spry rush of pop." - Mojo
"The Illustrated Garden is... a solid addition to a healthy catalogue." 4/5 - The Skinny
Fresno, CA
RIYL: Pavement, Flaming Lips, Andrew Jackson Jihad and Talking Heads
"At turns wry and censorious, Rademacher uses its rough-hewn indie rock - barbed-wire guitars, funhouse keyboard lines... shout-sung vocals - to dissect what it’s like to make rough-hewn indie rock." - Buzz Bands LA
"Rademacher's standout If U Got Some Magic, for example, is taken from the band's 2007 full-length debut, Stunts, but its appearance here will have you kicking yourself for ignoring the smart, sprawling piano anthem." - Pitchfork
"Rademacher... Fresno's paragons of nonchalance as art." - San Francisco Bay Guardian
Ames, IA
Quite the buzz spinning around Radio Moscow... Recently signed to Bomp records, their debut is produced by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. Fans of Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and The Black Keys should take note.
"Radio Moscow put the power back in power trio. They ride a wave of wah wah guitar infused, dirty-ass psych-powered blues rock in which one can smell the aroma of Old Granddad and non filtered cigarette smoke." - Modern Fix
"Marrying the bluesy psychedelic fervor of Cream with the big, precise fretwork of Jimi Hendrix, Radio Moscow relish in distortion and grittiness. Prevalent are themes of heartache, heartbreak, and drug intake, sometimes accompanied by instrumental forays into tumbleweeding country and East Indian-influenced soundscapes." - Spin
"Radio Moscow should have no trouble roping in fans with its giant riffs and knowing nods to '70s blues-infused rock... summons up the soul of Hendrix and licks of Cream-era Clapton." - The Nerve
"Radio Moscow offers a feast worthy of gorging... with a boozy confidence of the Allman Brothers... Radio Moscow doesn't really fit in a modern context. The band exists out of time. And like those two bands, Radio Moscow also manages to take a well worn style and make it its own. An astonishingly good debut. Recommended." - Stoner Rock
San Diego, CA
RIYL: Her Space Holiday, Caribou, The Helio Sequence and Four Tet
"Rafter Roberts has been a producer for bands as far-flung as the Fiery Furnaces and Arab on Radar, so it's not a shock that his own music sounds like a compilation of the work of three or four bands (who sometimes seem to be playing all at once). Sex Death Cassette is Rafter's messiest, and poppiest, music yet; it plays like Roberts and crew threw an album of perfect pop songs on the ground, shattering it into bits that are just as catchy, and a lot more unpredictable... the album's collage rock is often dazzling, and never the same from moment to moment." 4 stars - All Music Guide
"Rafter Roberts plays in indie pop band Bunky, pals around with Sufjan Stevens, and engineers albums by California bands like Black Heart Procession and Pinback... Sex Death Cassette reel of curios and bagatelles that stick in your head the way good jingles do, though since they aren't selling anything besides Rafter's sensibility, their compositional craftiness is wedded to a lo-fi humility." 7.5/10 - Pitchfork
"Sex Death Cassette is an exhilarating journey, and even moreso an honest one because it's an album that stays completely true to the moment of its creation." 7/10 - Pop Matters
"Blanketing weird-pop gems in a wash of hazy production, Sex Death Cassette brings to mind summer vacations and afternoon naps... the songs are all united by Rafter's incredible production skills, which alone are worth the price." 9/10 - XLR8R
Los Angeles, CA
"Rainbow Arabia tread curiously close to the sounds of hip-hop acts like M.I.A. and Santogold. But with freewheeling ideals, punk urgency, and Middle Eastern-inspired instrumentation, Rainbow Arabia manage to find a tone all their own." - Spin
"Rainbow Arabia are out for your hips, and this first effort is strangely propulsive... what really sticks out are the serpentine guitar lines that slither their way through their EP, sometimes taking on the shape of post-punk spikes, garage crunch, and Edge-like delay effects. That sort of guitar eclecticism is mirrored in turn by Tiffany Preston, whose yips, yaps, and prairie crows work well in the Rainbow Arabia's efforts to transport as much as immerse." - Pitchfork
Austin, TX
"It isn't likely that anyone is going to accuse Ramsay Midwood of being glossy or ultraslick anytime soon. Earthy, gritty, rugged, and soulful... Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Levon Helm, and Ramblin' Jack Elliott have obviously had a major impact on his work; so have Bob Dylan and Tom Waits. There are traces of Bruce Springsteen in some of Midwood's writing, and there are times when he brings to mind the darker, moodier side of bluesmen John Lee Hooker and Lightnin' Hopkins." - All Music Guide
"Ramsay Midwood is a jumble of experiences and ideas that don't quite fit together right. His music isn't square, with the edges trim and symmetrical. No, it's as rough and real as his voice, with jagged bits that stick out and draw attention. No samples, no robot machine beats, no quantization: The sound of Ramsay Midwood is dust, brush, stone, and scrub, as timeless and American as music can be." - CD Baby
Genre: Burlesque, Sketch Comedy, Circus, Juggling, Singing, Dancing, Slapstick, General Mayhem and Debauchery, and Drinking!
St. Louis, MO
Genre: Burlesque, Sketch Comedy, Circus, Juggling, Singing, Dancing, Slapstick, General Mayhem and Debauchery, and Drinking!
It's that special time of year for roasting your nuts by the fire, gropings from Santa, and spreading holiday cheer like glitter herpes! Why not share it with those wacky Randy Dandies as they present a heartwarming holiday special benefiting the Hurricane Sandy Relief fund of Red Cross. We guaranteed it will make you warm in your special parts! Featuring local Burlesque All-Stars and Guest Celebrities! Plant yourself beneath the mistletoe for some XXXMAS kisses! Get your picture taken with Santa and his disgruntled elf! Be there with bells on and get ready to ho ho ho! Merry F*^&ing Christmas, B*tches!
Starring:
Bibi Dazzle
Whiskey Kiss
Kristy Kreme
Bettie La Bootie
Priscilla Pincushion
and more!!!Musical Entertainment By:
Schmeil Diamond
Christy StricklandPhotos by Insomiac Studios
Los Angeles, CA
Randy Weeks is an amazing songwriter. Lucinda Williams shares this opinion, as she included his "I Can't Let Go" on her platinum album Car Wheels On A Gravel Road. He was a member of The Lonesome Strangers, and also sang background vocals on a lot of Dwight Yoakum's best stuff and toured extensively with him. If you are a fan of Gram Parsons, Steve Earle, Robbie Fulks, Buck Owens, Teddy Morgan, and/or Dwight Yokam you'll dig Randy Weeks.
"The Lonesome Strangers were one of the great cowpunk bands to emerge from the same 1980s Los Angeles scene that produced acts like Dwight Yoakam, X and the Blasters. Jeff Rymes and Randy Weeks, the band's core members, were known for their close country harmonies, which evoked the work of legendary duos such as the Delmore Brothers and the Everly Brothers... Weeks hasn't entirely abandoned his country roots, but he has added a healthy dose of soul and blues to the mix... If Robbie Fulks and Tony Joe White were somehow merged into one person, Weeks might be the result." - Salon
"Roots rocker Randy Weeks has made a great album here (Madeline), and it's hard to know whether more credit should go to the no-frills arrangements, the no-nonsense hookiness of his tunes or the unassuming grace of his voice... Great, great stuff." 4 1/2 stars - All Music Guide
RIYL: Peter Tosh, Eddie Grant, Toots & The Maytals, Burning Spear and Bob Marley
Local Band!
"Ras Jammie has got one low, deep voice... comes on like Prince Far I without so much gravel, and the authority he conveys is one reason Thin Line is a disc that casts a considerable spell... An unassuming work full of quirky, compelling singing and a steadfast reggae foundation, Thin Line is thick with pleasure. " - Reggae Reviews
"Ras Jammie returns with Thin Line... an independent release with a sound all its own from an artist with a deep, resonant voice." - The Beat
"Wherever he is from, (Ras Jammie's) music has a vibe straight from Jamaica with interesting touches in dub beats and instrumentation. Vocally sounding almost like a mellowed out rastafied Chuck D." - Music Morsels
RIYL: Maxi Priest, Peter Tosh, Sublime and Jack Johnson
Local Band!
St. Louis
Local Band!
RAW: Natural Born Artists of Tucson - "Holiday RAWk" Showcase
An eclectic evening of local arts and entertainment! Local artists displaying their work, live performance art, fashion, music by local musicians, and more!
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