Music

And you thought music was dead. It's been a pretty good year for music, with some disappointments along the way, but if anything, 2005 indicated that good bands just keep getting better.
January 19, 2006 at 12:00 am

Vlad and Joe Who Let the Kulaks Out? Everyone says that neo-Russian folk duo Vlad and Joe is just a novelty act.
December 8, 2005 at 12:00 am

When Marxist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara was captured in Bolivia and summarily executed by the Bolivian army, he never dreamed that a Penn a cappella group would name themselves in his honor.
December 8, 2005 at 12:00 am

Two years ago, a car making an illegal turn struck 19-year-old Community College of Philadelphia student Melody Gardot as she peddled through Old City on her bicycle.
December 1, 2005 at 12:00 am

Labeled by some as the second-coming of supergroup the Wu-Tang Clan, Harlem rap group the Diplomats have garnered the attention of the masses with their "pink movement." The group's leadoff man, Juelz Santana, has returned with his second solo album, What the Game's Been Missing!, backed by platinum plaque producing powerhouse Def Jam.
December 1, 2005 at 12:00 am

On most days the First Unitarian Church seems like any of Philadelphia's religious congregational centers.
November 17, 2005 at 12:00 am

When a show loses its edge, there's no reason for its soundtrack to suffer as well. By consistently bringing relatively unknown yet talented artists into the spotlight, "The O.C." enriches the musical horizons of many a viewer.
November 17, 2005 at 12:00 am

Andrew Thompson and his genius found me when I least expected it, and I'm not surprised. It was serendipity, or karma, or something Eastern or something.
November 17, 2005 at 12:00 am

I almost feel as if I'm channeling music when I improvise," says jazz saxophonist Ron Kerber. Performing at Chris's Jazz Cafe in Philadelphia on a warm November night, his eyes are shut, and at the climactic moments his countenance becomes mangled.
November 10, 2005 at 12:00 am

On their way to the bathroom on a flight to Seattle, the Black Keys spotted the lead singer from Train in first class.
November 10, 2005 at 12:00 am

We killed them. We cut them up, and we had one last show where we had little children dressed up as yetis.
November 3, 2005 at 12:00 am

While their shows have always been received favorably by fans, Wilco has not built its reputation as a live band.
November 3, 2005 at 12:00 am

Four years after Bright Flight, David Berman returns to his post as the poet laureate of indie rock.
October 27, 2005 at 12:00 am

Street Music: How is your latest album Underneath different from you older stuff? What were you trying to achieve? Isaac Hanson: I would say Underneath is probably the most mellow record we've done over the years.
October 27, 2005 at 12:00 am

MF Doom and DJ Danger Mouse are so hung up on gimmickry that to call The Mouse and the Mask a "concept album" comes almost as an afterthought.
October 20, 2005 at 12:00 am

Death Cab for Cutie isn't just [Ben] Gibbard's band," drummer Jason McGerr says, speaking about the group's lauded lead man.
October 20, 2005 at 12:00 am

During last year's Vans Warped Tour, a hand-held radio was stolen. After being threatened and even bribed by tour security, the culprit demanded only one thing in return for the over-expensive piece of equipment -- to meet Fall Out Boy.
October 6, 2005 at 12:00 am

In Toronto, if you're not in Broken Social Scene, you're aching to get in. A total of 17 members are credited for their latest release, an eponymous follow-up to 2003's critically acclaimed You Forgot It In People. While individual projects within the band such as Stars, Feist, and Metric have achieved success in the indie realm, the combined output amounts to a blissful musical orgasm that you could never expect, even from a group with that much talent. What separates this Canadian collective from supergroups like the New Pornographers is a well developed willingness to experiment.
October 6, 2005 at 12:00 am

Barrio Frio In Israel this summer, I lived with three girls from Bogot‹¨«. They were insane.
October 6, 2005 at 12:00 am

Music publications triumphantly announce when they've found "the next big thing" from the U.K. After the tenth time, it becomes hard to tell if they actually listen to some of these bands for any reason other than the fact that they're (gasp) British.
September 29, 2005 at 12:00 am