Tucson Weekly Rhythm & Views

The Melvins did more to influence the whole U.S. sludge-metal-noise-punk scene than any other band. Sure, you could make a case for Black Flag or Swans as being the genre's true pioneers, but it really wasn't until 1987's Gluey Porch Treatments that it became cool to slow things way, way down, and revel in excruciatin… Continue

Not one to offer up much in the way of new tricks, Grand Archives' Mat Brooke instead maintains a remarkable level of quality control.

A veteran of both the cult-favorite Carissa's Wierd and the quickly ascendant Band of Horses, the Seattle singer-guitarist sounds content to remain firmly planted at the easy-listening… Continue

The music of the band Headlights combines electronica, chamber-folk and drone-pop, highlighted by minimalist, repetitive keyboard and guitar patterns that bring to mind Brian Eno and Philip Glass jamming with Velocity Girl. Singer Erin Fein, who also plays keyboards, escorts the band through this hypnotic landscape with enchan… Continue

This pairing of a nasally voiced indie rocker from the Northeast with a collection of New Orleans musicians has yielded a strange hybrid, like alienation finding a solid footing.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah singer, songwriter and guitarist Alec Ounsworth journeyed to the Crescent City with producer Steve Berlin, who assemb… Continue

Each release from ex-Dire Straits mastermind Mark Knopfler secures his rep as a classic songwriter—at the expense of his ranking as a guitarist.

Knopfler's sixth solo effort, Get Lucky, is his best in terms of his material, yet it’s his weakest fret-board effort. It’s a tradeoff that many will accept given the… Continue