John Vanderslice

John Vanderslice has paid a decade of dues writing infectious, subtle pop grooves for the masses. His latest record, Romanian Names, is one of the most solid efforts from start to finish in his career, full of vigor and life. Unfortunately, the tracks haven’t been developed to their full potential in a live setting, falling somewhat flat compared to his elder material. In all fairness, it could’ve been an off night at Nashville’s Exit/In, but the band didn’t seem into it and it seemed a great deed to get Vanderslice himself into the performance. It also doesn’t help that half the audience left after the opener, one of the songwriting world’s most secret weapons, the Tallest Man on Earth.

—John Bohannon

In the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, Norman Cook, aka Fatboy Slim ingrained himself in American popular culture with his release You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby, more than peers like Basement Jaxx, Armand van Helden or The Chemical Brothers. The video for “Praise You” won some MTV awards, “The Rockafeller Skank” was used in soundtracks, and the later “Weapon of Choice” video featured Christopher Walken dancing and flying around a hotel. 

—PopMatters Staff

—Thomas Hauner

There are many frontmen of once awe inspiring bands that are now defunct who could learn quite a bit from Rob Dickinson. Though he has released a solo album—2005’s Fresh Wine for the Horses—he’s well aware that most people want to hear songs from his Catherine Wheel days. This fact means his fans are hopelessly devoted to seeing him live (he was even given flowers at this show!), and though it may not be the same as seeing an actual Catherine Wheel reunion, it’s the closest most of us will get to this perfection. 

—Kirstie Shanley

PopMatters attends a Balkan wedding – and funeral...

It’s a perfect summer evening for a Balkan wedding—breezy, a light coolness to the air floating just above the silky warmth of summer brushing lightly against our bare skin. Ideal weather, too, for a funeral.  Either occasion is fine with us, as both call for plenty of ‘Alkohol’ and the communal feeling it evokes.

In the company of Serbian, Russian, and Polish-speaking people we stroll the meticulous grounds and enjoy the polished staff at Ravinia, anticipating the arrival of Goran Bregović & His Wedding and Funeral Orchestra. We see three, perhaps even four generations enjoying picnics in their familial clusters. It’s a good-looking crowd, dressy even in casual attire—some dolled up just short of formal.

—Karen Zarker & Sarah Zupko

Anyone even remotely familiar with the British music scene of the 1990s might have heard of Adam Franklin who played an instrumental role in Swervedriver, a band that teetered around the shoegaze movement with a slightly more aggressive sound than many groups in the genre. If bands like Slowdive provided the dream pop lullabies, Swervedriver recalled the most visceral points in any live My Bloody Valentine set. 

—Kirstie Shanley