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.
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. Malcolm Rebennack was born in New Orleans in 1940, but his music was born long before that. While he had little formal musical training, as a young teen he was able to meet and learn from many of the great New Orleans musicians, including Little Richard and, most importantly, Professor Longhair. To understand where the music of Dr. John came … 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 “stoner rock’s Holy Trinity” (along with Kyuss and Sleep); with a demo titled Forget About Life, I’m High on Dope their goals were obvious, even though stoner rock wasn’t really a thing until the mid-90s. Main creative force Dave Wyndorf filtered British Rock and US psychedelic music through his own sensibility, describing his lyrics as blending “cynicism, optimism, satire, sex, deluded fantasies … 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 by 1992 had formed a rock band, Darlin’, along with French alt-rock guitarist Laurent Brancowitz. While Darlin’s sound isn’t much like them at all, one of their notable influences (and the source of their name) was the Beach Boys, whose song of the same name they covered. Darlin’ broke up in 1995, but Brancowitz and the bots have remained friends … 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 revolution! Brothers and Sisters, the time has come for each and every one of you to decide whether you are going to be the problem or whether you are going to be the solution! You must choose Brothers, you must choose…It takes five seconds – five seconds of decision, five seconds to realize your purpose here on the planet; It takes five seconds … 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
I first became aware of Brian Setzer when he played Eddie Cochran and covered “Summertime Blues” in the 1987 sleeper hit La Bamba. This was pretty inspired casting – most of the big-name musicians in the movie were played by real musicians rather than actors, and Setzer not only lives for this style, but he’s got charisma to spare in portraying the young Cochran. What I didn’t know was that Setzer was on his way to being washed up. The band that made him famous had broken up three years earlier, and while he’d been working consistently, he sure wasn’t … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Brian Setzer – Rock ’til You Pop
Chaos Chaos consists of sisters Asya and Chloe Saavedra. Lead vocalist and keyboardist Asya was born in 1992 while drummer and background vocalist Chloe was born in 1994. I mention their birth years only because they released their first album … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Smoosh/Chaos Chaos
This is going to be a fairly music-heavy spotlight, since I believe that in many cases the music speaks for itself better than I could. Pink Floyd’s origin story is somewhat murky and hard to explain, to make it short, they coalesced from about 1963 to 1966 in Cambridge, England, where most of the band had gone to school. In their early lineups they were known as Sigma Six, later the Tea Set, but upon finding another band also called the Tea Set, lead singer and guitarist, Roger Keith “Syd” Barret, improvised a new name based on his record collection, … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Pink Floyd
The Legendary Pink Dots are a long running psychedelic, literary, industrial, rock band. They formed in 1980 in London, though they’ve been based in Amsterdam since 1984. The band is fundamentally composed of Edward Ka-Spel (born Edward Francis Sharp) and … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: The Legendary Pink Dots
I’m starting this Spotlight with the best tracks first. If you listen to nothing else today, listen to these two songs. http://www.dailymotion.com/… Those are the first and second tracks off of Supermodified, Amon Tobin’s fourth major studio LP, which came out in 2000. At the time, he was an up-and-comer in the world of IDM (intelligent dance music, if you can believe that) and DJ culture. I have very little specialized knowledge on this kind of music; I just know what I like. So if I get something wrong in this feature, it’s up to you to correct me in the … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Amon Tobin – Orphan Black, Splinter Cell, and Brazilian Jazz
Kanye West. What a singular artist. No other rap musician has created so many classic albums, each with a unique sound and each so influential in its own way. At the same time, very few figures in any sphere of the entertainment industry have been the source of so much controversy. The VMAs, “BILL COSBY INNOCENT!!!!”, the lyrics to “Famous”, his recent Trump comments… Is Yeezy an egotistical prick, or a misunderstood mad genius? How self-conscious is he? Is he having a breakdown? Is it all an act? However real it is, one thing is certain: Mr. West has created … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Kanye West
If you were going on a road trip, this is the CD mix I would be really pushy about making you listen to on the way: “Red Sea, White Sea” There are two schools of thought on how to start a road mix. (Probably way more than that, but I can think of two.) Either start with something calm to ease yourself into the drive, or start with something upbeat and a little adventurous. I take option B. Any good road trip is a little adventure, which is something Shearwater singer/songwriter Jonathan Meiburg knows something about – and which informs … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Shearwater
Artist Spotlight courtesy of Dragonfly If one were to make the “Mount Rushmore” of Pittsburgh music, who would be on it? Nineteenth century songwriter Stephen Foster is a given, as is legendary composer Henry Mancini. Slot number three would most … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Donnie Iris
Natural Snow Buildings are a duo from Paris, consisting of Mehdi Ameziane and Solange Gularte. Formed in 1997, they make long droning soundscapes punctuated by psychedelic folk elements, all filtered through an, at times, very lo-fi production. They were extremely … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Natural Snow Buildings
You might not expect that an optometrist who taught himself modern recording techniques would win a Grammy Trustees Award (i.e., the recording academy’s lifetime achievement honor). But then again, never be surprised by anything you read in an Artist Spotlight. Continue reading Artist Spotlight — Rudy Van Gelder, Jazz’s Most Important Optometrist
I primarily know RJD2 as a DJ/producer who creates R&B/soul-inflected soundscapes from obscure samples, reflecting and refracting their original sources to make music that never existed before simultaneously sound like a reverent homage. But I say “primarily,” because I don’t … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: RJD2 – ’70s Soul, Underground Hip Hop, and Don Draper
Jerry Goldsmith was, in my mind, the quintessential film composer. He might not have been The Best Ever, and feel free to rage about that question in the comments, but he was certainly among the most dependable. His scores often pushed the envelope and started new trends in film music, but they also stayed out of the way, complementing the action on screen rather than overpowering it. He had only a couple scores that became iconic in the public imagination, and only one Oscar win, but this Spotlight will show that his influence was wider than you’d think. Goldsmith was … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Jerry Goldsmith
Kate Bush released her debut, The Kick Inside, as a 19 year-old. This always amazes me for a lot of reasons – most obviously, just wow, really? 19? It’s a totally self-assured in performance and conception for someone so young. Bush has one of of those voices that’s as idiosyncratic as it is powerful and she could easily be self-conscious about unleashing the whole range of her vocalizations. She could have had some industry hack write some safe pop songs for her and she still would have stood a good chance of pop stardom as a teenager. The thing is, … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Kate Bush
