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.
Welcome to this re-post of an Avocado Artist Spotlight on Chapel Hill guitar heroes Archers of Loaf: four guys who made rock music that was frequently full of off-kilter eccentricity, unbridled aggression (burly, arty garage-punk? Apocalyptic noise-pop?), and a strange, … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Archers of Loaf
Fleetwood Mac is really 4 or 5 different, only tangentially related bands. Starting as a spinoff project from John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers as a vehicle for Peter Green to continue his blues work, they suffered through an unusual number of lineup … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Fleetwood Mac
“Drop the “The.” Just “Alkaline Trio.” It’s cleaner” – Mike Park to Matt Skiba. Probably. Growing up in the northwest suburbs of the Chicagoland area, they were among the more well-known punk acts, despite getting little radio play. I’d say … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Alkaline Trio
Whether you know him as the novelty songwriter of ditties like “Yellow Snow” and “Valley Girl”, the crazy innovative musician that first showed up on the Steve Allen show playing a bicycle, the tireless free speech advocate the fought Tipper … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Frank Zappa
Warren Zevon was born in Chicago, IL in 1947. He was an esteemed singer-songwriter, often known for his cutting and hilarious lyrics and interesting ballads, first writing songs for vocalist Linda Ronstadt and the band The Turtles. He didn’t really … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Warren Zevon
“You can never give / the finger to the blind.” And with that bizarre, hilarious non-sequitur dryly delivered over a rubbery, wobbly slow-motion guitar riff, Luna took off. Luna was the successor to songwriter/guitarist Dean Wareham’s beloved cult band Galaxie … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Luna
Alt-metal, desert rock, stoner metal….the Queens of the Stone Age wear many shoes and they all manage to fit. In light of the recent release of their latest LP Villains, I’m going to take a look at the career of the … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Queens of the Stone Age
I bloody love The Dollyrots. Everything about them is a smile generator. They’re an explosion of happy pop-punk where you’re never more than 3 minutes from a “Whoo!” The Dollyrots are Kelly Ogden on bass and vocals and Luis Cabezas … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: The Dollyrots
I first became familiar with Jon Brion while watching Paul Thomas Anderson’s melodrama Magnolia somewhere around 2003. While watching what is, in my opinion, one of the best movies ever made (I felt that way while watching it that first time), I … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Jon Brion
As pop music junkies, I’m sure everyone reading this has that favorite band that came oh so close but never quite broke through; usually they have a decent first record or two, then make that leap into the awareness of … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: The Smithereens
Usually I do these chronologically, as most artists have a career arc of building to (x) and then declining, and that leads to a fairly easy narrative to construct. Juno Reactor don’t have any sort of narrative, as they seem … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Juno Reactor
Singer, songwriter, music producer, model, actress. Janelle Monáe wears a lot of hats. And a few suits. She is quirky without being annoying, creative while still being accessible, and eclectic while still having her own identity. She is beloved by … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Janelle Monáe
Being Brazilian musical royalty seems pretty cool. Besides the benefits of being rich, you get to grow up with incredible musicians hanging out with your fam all the time, jet-set around the world, and live off the goodwill of millions. … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Bebel Gilberto -Electro Bossa Nova Is Actually Pretty Great
The guiding voice and often the only voice (writer, composer, guitarist, pianist, and vocalist) behind the low-fi rock of the Mountain Goats, John Darnielle today is an acclaimed author whose early autobiographic rock songs turned into bizarre lovecraftian poetry and … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: The Mountain Goats
There was a brief period during the latter half of my teen years where I watched MTV. During those years, one of my favorite MTV shows was Twelve Angry Viewers, where twelve…people…would discuss a set of music videos and declare which … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Portishead
Gorillaz is a band that plays… well, it’s hard to figure out what exactly they play, because it exists at a strange crossroads of rock, soul, electronic, and hip-hop that usually somehow hashes out to be a peculiar sort of … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Gorillaz
As a teenager surfing through Pitchfork’s daunting Top 100 Albums of the 80’s list, one square in particular caught my eye. Galaxie 500’s On Fire: the perfect band name, the perfect album title, and an incendiary album cover that seemed to … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Blake Babies
Kayo Dot are the weirdest, most confounding band in the world, and possibly ever. Each of their 9 bizarre albums has its own distinct mood and personality, to say nothing of how they actually sound. At times, the band appears … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Kayo Dot
“If I could kick his head in, fickle little boyfriend, I’d be satisfied If I could smack some sense into his senses, I might feel alright” Lines from ‘Wishing He Was Dead’ there, a song which encapsulates what I love … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: The Like
You know those Youtube videos that are just like “How every _____ song is written”, where some guy walks you through the recurring themes and formulas a certain artist tends to return to over and over again? If they ever … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Phantogram
Although music is very important to me, I rarely bring it up on the Avocado. For one, I don’t know that I’ve listened to much of anything that anyone else here has. There’s the Beatles and the Stones, and then … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: The Capstan Shafts
