Author: Neal Weiss
Miked - Live Reviews from Issue #13 Jan-Feb 1998
Beck – El Rey Theatre (Los Angeles, CA)
Critical darling and platinum seller, Beck the white-boy hip-hopper-folky-faux-James-Brown-punk-jokester is a bona fide star in the alt-rock ’90s. But as postmodern as his breakthrough release Odelay is, Beck seems equally at home, if not more so, bowing at the feet of folks such as Jimmie Rodgers, Bob Dylan and Sonny Terry. Time and again, while [...]
Not Fade Away - Reissue Review from Issue #12 Nov-Dec 1997
X – Beyond & Back: The X Anthology / The Blasters – American Music
If you were to hear the Blasters’ “Marie Marie” and X’s “Hungry Wolf” back-to-back, you might not think much connected them. One sounds as if it’s coming from the neighborhood bar, the other from the garage of a broken home. But these two bands are kindred spirits and were two of the finest to emerge [...]
Waxed - Record Review from Issue #12 Nov-Dec 1997
Matthew Ryan – Mayday
Well, here we go again, another singer-songwriter plucked from the Springsteen/Dylan branch of the rock ‘n’ roll family tree. Like we need it, right? But from seemingly out of nowhere comes Matthew Ryan, definitely not just another coffeehouse rocker. Hell, his debut Mayday just might be the best singer-songwriter rock kinda thing to come around [...]
Not Fade Away - Reissue Review from Issue #12 Nov-Dec 1997
Replacements – All for Nothing/Nothing for All
The seduction of the Replacements is alive and well, and, as much as I might have intended to approach this record review with proper critical distance, well, that was blown out the window like a cigarette butt at 90 mph upon hearing the first notes of a previously unreleased, supercharged version of “Can’t Hardly Wait”. [...]
Miked - Live Reviews from Issue #10 July-Aug 1997
John Fogerty – House of Blues (West Hollywood, CA)
Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Willie & the Poor Boys was probably the first rock music to sneak into my psyche. It was a reel-to-reel copy which, alongside tapes by Neil Diamond, O.C. Smith and Bread, comprised my father’s music collection. I remember spending hours staring at the cool album cover — four hippie white guys strumming [...]
Waxed - Record Review from Issue #10 July-Aug 1997
Geraldine Fibbers – Butch
As the album title intimated, the Geraldine Fibbers’ 1995 major-label debut Lost Somewhere Between The Earth And My Home staked out uncharted musical territory. It was a mesh of art-rock sonics, street-tough stances and an underlying shade of rustic country, and it left many a critic and listener tongue-tied in attempts to pigeonhole. Too alt-y [...]
Miked - Live Reviews from Issue #9 May-June 1997
Honey Ridge Creek Dippers – Ash Grove (Santa Monica, CA)
After only three or four songs by the Honey Ridge Creek Dippers, one couple in the audience decided they’d had enough. No matter that they had great seats for what was being billed as the debut performance of the trio fronted by Victoria Williams and her recently reclusive, former-Jayhawk hubby Mark Olson; no matter that [...]
Miked - Live Reviews from Issue #8 March-April 1997
Peter Case’s First Flight – Ash Grove (Santa Monica, CA)
Peter Case has stumbled across a monthly stint at the once storied and recently revived folk haven known as the Ash Grove with a bold concept: Cram raw, unfiltered singer-songwriterdom down the throats of those curious fans willing to open wide. It’s called Peter Case’s First Flight, a no-frills, no-pretensions gig that includes Case and [...]
Waxed - Record Review from Issue #7 Jan-Feb 1997
Peter Holsapple – Out of My Way
Don’t know about in your town, but here in Los Angeles, “Adult Album Alternative” (aka Triple-A) radio stuff tends to be watered-down folk-rock and HORDE-iness with a side order of Steely Dan, Dire Straits and Peter Gabriel. Sure, there’s the occasional surprise, say, some old Dylan or Van Morrison, and it is just about the [...]
Waxed - Record Review from Issue #6 Nov-Dec 1996
Slim Dunlap – Times Like This
There’s this country ditty near the end of Times Like This called “Nowheres Near”. It tells the story of a band that hasn’t been noticed after “20 fucking years.” The band is having tryouts to replace the bassist, axed for being too sarcastic. “Well we’re holding this stupid audition,” sings the wheezy-voiced Dunlap. “Some little [...]
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