“It seems to be OK for musicians to act, but it doesn’t seem OK for actors to play music.” — Rob Mailhouse, Dogstar Is Dogstar a celebrity vanity project? Or is it a legitimate musical act, hampered by the celebrity … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Dogstar – Not That Terrible After All

This Spotlight has another long tangent that is more about me than the music, so you can skip the first few paragraphs and start where I say OKAY if you wish. Over a year ago, I posted my first Artist Spotlight about … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Bonnie Pink (Redux)

After few more chapters the 40 minutes long dystopian arthouse movie used to open the latest tour is over. Just when the metaphor for Distorted Angels and the messiah about to save the world settles in your mind, a rather … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Archive

Bill Irwin is a perhaps unique multi-hyphenate in an entertainment field full of people who claim to do multiple things. Sure, plenty of actors have co-written scripts or directed an episode of a TV show, but how many of them … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Bill Irwin – Robot Clown Tony Winner

When the album poll results came out, I realized that not enough of us are fans of Adam and the Ants. Kings of the Wild Frontier was way down at #100 on my ballot, and there was no Ant representation anywhere on … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Adam and the Ants

This dude was a whistler. As in, he whistled. As a job. For money. And he was basically the best at it. You may have heard his whistling before:       That last one is not the original movie … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Muzzy Marcellino

Bienvenido a la Artist Spotlight of Francisca Valenzuela, American-born Chilean Singer/ songwriter multi-instumentalist, model, fashion designer and published poet at the age of 12 So, fairly accomplished. Also entertaining as heck. How much fun is this? Quiero Verte Mas, from her … Continue reading Artist Spotlight- Francisca Valenzuela

One of the things I love about Artist Spotlights, and about the Avocado in general, is how we personally relate to our pop culture totems. There’s an intimacy to how we talk about our influences and loves, a sense of … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: B-52’s

We Are Scientists are an indie rock/alternative/dance-punk band hailing from California. I became hooked on this band after hearing their 2006 major label debut With Love and Squalor (named after a J.D. Salinger short story) and have championed them since … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: We Are Scientists

Artist Spotlight courtesy of thunderclap_monolith People who hear Leo Kottke (pronounced Kot-Key) for the first time always say variations on the same thing: “Wow!” Followed, somewhat suspiciously, by: “Wait, that’s just one guy playing?” Indeed, Kottke, a virtuoso instrumentalist and … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Leo Kottke

Nurse With Wound is the main musical project of Steven Stapelton. Originally formed as a trio with John Fothergill and Heman Pathak in 1978, the ‘band’ was quickly whittled down to Stapleton by 1981. Since then, Stapleton has worked with … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Nurse With Wound

How much can a band change its sound while still being recognizable as itself? Today, I present Exhibit N: the rock group that rocked until it stopped. University students Takada Masako, Zaikawa Yuri, and Himeno Sayaka met at a Tokyo … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Nisennenmondai

Happy Mardi Gras Day, everyone! In honor of the holiday, I would like to spotlight the musician who, for me, best exemplifies the spirit of the celebration. Mac Rebennack, aka Dr. John, aka The Night Tripper, aka The Gris-Gris Man. … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Dr. John – All on a Mardi Gras Day

(Check out Part One for 1976-1984: Tumult and Victory and 1985-1993: The MTV Era) 1994-Present: Bearded, Rich, and Cranky In 1994, Tom Petty made a couple of significant changes. First, he broke up with longtime drummer Stan Lynch, who was a solid musician (he wrote … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: The Three Lives of Tom Petty, Pt. 2

Tom Petty, as a solo artist and member of several great rock bands, is a bit of an enigma. Here’s a 44-year-old guy who wins an MTV VMA for a song where he plays a guitar and harmonica country ballad, … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: The Three Lives of Tom Petty, Pt. 1

“DO DRUGS!” anonymous 6’4” 300 lb biker at Monster Magnet concert, circa 1999 Emerging from New Jersey’s….what the hell is in NJ anyway…swamps? Pine barrens? Landfills?….um, landscape in the late 80s, Monster Magnet became one of what Jim DeRogatis calls … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Monster Magnet – It’s a Satanic Drug Thing, You Wouldn’t Understand

Daft Punk is the House band you’ve heard of even if you don’t listen to House. Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem have actually been collaborating for a lot longer than you might expect. They first met as schoolmates and … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Daft Punk

Brothers and Sisters! I want to see a sea of hands out there! Lemme see a sea of hands! I want everyone to kick up some noise! I want to hear some revolution out there, Brothers, I want to hear a little … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: The MC5 – A Testimonial

Artist Spotlight courtesy of thunderclap_monolith He’s sold more than 150 million records, won countless awards, and is enjoying his status now as a respected elder statesman – but for the longest time, at least in my experience, it used to … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Billy Joel