Tangy: Rocking in spite of it all Tangy overcomes personal challenges to release a new CD Rich Albertoni on Friday 05/02/2008 On the morning of Dec. 14, 2005, Ken LaBarre checked into St. Mary's hospital for outpatient knee surgery. But he didn't check out that afternoon as planned. >MoreThe Madison Symphony Orchestra: Verve and vulgarity MSO goes all-Russian John W. Barker on Friday 05/02/2008 The Madison Symphony Orchestra closed its season last weekend at Overture Hall with an all-Russian festival, in both repertoire and performers. Vladimir Spivakov, familiar from past visits as both conductor and violin soloist, took the podium to open with Shostakovich's "Festive Overture." This glitzy piece was commissioned in 1954 to celebrate a Bolshevik anniversary. As such, it demonstrates what made Western critics often consider the composer a superficial Soviet party hack, before we came to understand his full range and depth. It is, in fact, gloriously loud and successfully trashy music only a master craftsman could create, and Spivakov made no bones about its extroverted vulgarity. >More
TOUR STOP
Tegan and Sara: Sister act Twin musicians revel in confusion Tom Laskin on Friday 05/02/2008 A recent appearance on the Tonight Show proved once again that when it comes to spunk — and heart — Canadian twins Tegan and Sara Quin have few peers in the pop-rock world. >More
MadTracks -- 'All We Are' by 8889 April Williamson on Thursday 05/08/2008 10:43 am, (6) Recommendations Pop rockers 8889 have been working for a few years on their new album Zoology, the follow-up to their well-received 2005 debut release My Music Plan. If the five men behind the band have spent a long time in the studio, it's because they now have a growing reputation to uphold: "Dandelions" from that first album won the 2006 Madison Area Music Award for Best Pop Song. >MoreThe Kissers bid farewell to Madison An open letter from Ken Fitzsimmons Ken Fitzsimmons on Wednesday 05/07/2008 6:32 pm, (2) Comments, (7) Recommendations We decided to play our last show on June 7, 2008 at the High Noon (appropriate of course since it is the new incarnation of O'Cayz). Coincidentally this show will almost exactly mark the ten-year anniversary of our weekly gig at O'Cayz. >MoreIsthmus Jazz Festival announces 2008 schedule Dean Robbins on Tuesday 05/06/2008 7:00 pm The Isthmus Jazz Festival broadens its scope for this year's four-day extravaganza at the UW Memorial Union. >MoreUW Choral Union sets sail on Ralph Vaughan Williams' vast 'Sea Symphony' John W. Barker on Monday 05/05/2008 4:34 pm, (3) Recommendations Beverly Taylor replaced the beloved Robert Fountain as the UW Music School's choral director in 1995. One of her first concerts with the Choral Union was a brave presentation of "A Sea Symphony" by Ralph Vaughan Williams, together with the composer's "Five Variants on 'Dives and Lazarus'" for string orchestra. I attended that, and was mightily impressed by the performance and its enterprise. >MoreMadTracks -- 'Captain America' by Tangy Rich Albertoni on Sunday 05/04/2008 1:30 pm, (4) Recommendations I could be completely wrong on this, but I have to believe that at least one of the members of Tangy owned a copy of Boston's self-titled debut album back in 1976 -- yes, the one with the flashy UFO on the cover. Somewhere in the tender teen brains of Ken LaBarre or Michael Patrick, I'm thinking "More than a Feeling" and "Peace of Mind" made an indelible mark. >More
MadTracks -- 'In the Ring' by The Rebuilts Tom Laskin on Thursday 03/27/2008 1:35 pm, (8) Recommendations Add meat-and-potatoes Milwaukee/Madison rockers The Rebuilts to the list of Wisconsin bands who are looking back at early punk and rockabilly for inspiration. In their case, you can almost hear Johnny Thunders and Sid Vicious whispering encouragement in the background as lead singer Skip Peer hiccups and snarls his way through the lyrics of "In the Ring" from their 2007 EP Four on the Floor. >MoreMadTracks -- 'Idle American' by The Cutouts Tom Laskin on Thursday 03/20/2008 3:16 pm, (9) Recommendations With local roots that stretch all the way back to jocular party punks Phil Gnarly & the Tough Guys, The Cutouts are prime representatives of a strain of garage-flavored pop that flourished in Madison during the '80s and early '90s. On "Idle American," vocalist/bass player Scott Olson expresses familiar fuck-all teen angst with a sneering nasal tenor that's got "mangy pug" written all over it. >More
Announcing nominees for the 2008 MAMAs Kristian Knutsen on Monday 03/31/2008 9:35 pm, (5) Recommendations The Madison Area Music Awards announced its 2008 nominees during a party at the Brink Lounge on Monday night. Presented by founder Rick Tvedt and MAMAs chair Roy Elkins of online music promoter Broadjam, the event also served as a fundraiser for the group, which has the charitable mission of raising funds for and supporting music education for school children in Madison. >MoreJens Lekman defends precious pop at UW Music Hall Eric Bescak on Monday 03/31/2008 10:27 am, (7) Recommendations A crooner of idealized loves and commonplace countretemps, Jens Lekman handily endeared the UW Music Hall's full house Sunday night. It was proof that his pop aesthetic increasingly written off as "precious," a close relation to the maligned "twee" deserves its praise. >More
Watch Screamin' Cyn Cyn & the Pons play at SXSW 2008 on Tuesday 03/25/2008 The Madison-based record label Crustacean Records hosted its first showcase at the 2008 South By Southwest music and multimedia festival in Austin, Texas on Thursday, March 13. Punk quartet Screamin' Cyn Cyn & the Pons was one of three local bands to play at the show. This live concert video of their performance was created by Hinckley Design & Production. >MoreWatch Droids Attack play at SXSW 2008 on Monday 03/24/2008 The Madison-based record label Crustacean Records hosted its first showcase at the 2008 South By Southwest music and multimedia festival in Austin, Texas on Thursday, March 13. Metal trio Droids Attack was one of three local bands to play at the show. This live concert video of their performance was created by Hinckley Design & Production. >More
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