An in-depth look at the work of an musical artist, be they band, duo, solo artist, or composer. The flagship of the Spotlight series run by Group Therapy.
With Belly gearing up for a new tour and releases (Yay!) It seemed a good point to cover the hugely talented and hugely underrated Tanya Donelly. If you don’t mind, I’m going cover this from my viewpoint and start with … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Tanya Donelly
Artist Spotlight courtesy of Pucky It’s late 2011. A young(er) Pucky has been developing a taste for rock music slowly but surely. First, he catalogs every song played on his local JACK FM franchise, in order to establish the canon … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Guided by Voices
Artist Spotlight courtesy of Ninjaneer The year was 2001. Hip-hop was finishing its golden age as P. Diddy’s form of “product placement shiny-suit rap” (which would be picked up later by the likes of Pitbull and Flo Rida almost a … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Jurassic 5 – Or How MTV Got Me Into Conscious Hip Hop
Artist Spotlight courtesy of Leto Annie Clark, better known as St. Vincent, is an American musician. She is also the first musician whom I have ever truly loved. Her four solo albums and collaborations are some of the most exciting and … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: St. Vincent
With fear of contradiction, I place The Untouchables as the sole U.S. representative in the pantheon of second wave ska. The Los Angeles-based band formed in the early 1980s and disintegrated into a barely remembered brand name after just two albums, but, damn, what a burst of sonic joy. The Untouchables combined the mature funk of Cameo with the party punk of Fishbone to produce a sound that still cuts edges and shakes butts. Despite enjoying major label money from their earliest days, The Untouchables scored no big hits. They were too rock ‘n’ roll for urban playlists dominated by … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: The Untouchables
Content courtesy of pamelabeesly Hey ya’ll! I’m here to share a couple of my favorite tracks from the band Beach House. Primer (I’m plagiarizing Wikipedia): Beach House is an American dream pop band from Baltimore, Maryland, formed in 2004. The band consists of French-born Victoria Legrand (vocals, keyboards) and Baltimore native Alex Scally (guitar, keyboards).Their self-titled debut album was released in 2006 to critical acclaim and has been followed by Devotion in 2008, Teen Dream in 2010, Bloom in 2012, and Depression Cherry and Thank Your Lucky Stars in 2015. I feel like a lot of people roll their eyes … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Beach House
Today’s artist spotlight is dedicated to one of my all time favorite bands and a band that you probably enjoy somebody influence by them: the Descendents. A well-known band as far as punk goes, they’re pretty unknown in the mainstream … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: The Descendents
Sorry in advance for how lengthy this is or if I’m stepping out of turn. While deservedly known now as a composer, like other film composers such as Danny Elfman, Johnny Greenwood, Cliff Martinez, Mark Mothersbaugh, and Trent Reznor (a friend of his), Clint Mansell got his start as a founder, lead singer (later co-singer), and guitarist of Pop Will Eat Itself. The Poppies were founded in 1981 (though not known as such until 1986) and over the years dabbled in a number of genres including Grebo (their own made up genre full of embarrassing white people dreads), Industrial Rock, … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Clint Mansell
Artist Spotlight courtesy of GAC Subtitle: ‘She’s More Than Just Sad Puppies’ These days, it’s nearly impossible to bring up Sarah McLachlan without thinking of those tear-jerking ASPCA commercials with footage of abused and neglected animals. But even a decade ago, before that connection was hardwired into our collective consciousness, the song from those commercials—“Angel”—had already taken over McLachlan’s identity. Endlessly played on the air and dueted at event concerts, its dreamy slowness had become ubiquitous. However, it was not always so… Like many others, I suspect, I was first introduced to McLachlan’s music via “Possession,” her first significant hit … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Sarah McLachlan
