Search Results for "Steven Mirkin"

Because he is better known from usually inferior cover versions of his songs (Judy Collins’ “Suzanne” being the blandest), Montreal’s Leonard Cohen (who died in November 2016) was frequently taken for a singer/songwriter in a sullen variation on the James Taylor sensitive mold. But this world-weary, ironic commentator on romantic despair had more in common…

Most listeners, if they have come across Yoko Ono’s music at all, remember the squeals of her “bag” music on Side 2 of Live Peace in Toronto 1969, the intense B-sides found on early-’70s John Lennon singles or as Lennon’s equal partner on Some Time in New York City and Double Fantasy. (Although the former…

A vehicle for New York drummer/producer Anton Fier’s restless musical talent, the Golden Palominos evolved from edgy downtown supergroup — at one memorable show, the lineup included Fier, David Moss (drums/noise), Arto Lindsay (guitar/vocals), John Zorn (reeds), Bill Laswell (bass) and Jamaaladeen Tacuma (bass); the double rhythm section packed a wallop in unison, but more…

The three guys of Supernova — Art (bass), Dave (drums) and Jo (guitar) — would have you believe they came from the planet Cynot 3, landed on Earth and formed a rock band in order to capture the world’s supply of tinfoil. Onstage, they dress up in Speedos and super-hero capes, shave geometric shapes into…

Nebraska native Matthew Sweet played in Oh-OK and Buzz of Delight before launching a career as the great pop hope, a guitarist, singer and songwriter with one foot in the indie-pop demi-ground and the other in the commercially viable land of melodic rock auteurs. Sweet’s solo debut, Inside, was something of a nexus for likeminded…

Since leaving the Del-Lords in 1990, New York singer/guitarist Eric “Roscoe” Ambel has made a name for himself as a producer specializing in unpretentious rock with a distinct country edge. Working out of Coyote Studios hard by Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal, Ambel has manned the board (and sometimes played guitar) for records by such rootsy acts…

Like Patti Smith a decade earlier, Suzanne Vega was selected from an “underground” New York scene — in this case, the post-rock neo-folk crowd that outgrew new wave for acoustic guitars and sensitively poetic lyrics — and elevated to preeminent status with a major label record deal. Singing in a cool, wispy voice, Vega resembles…

Although Jersey City, New Jersey’s P.M. Dawn arrived on a trancey pop carpet of soft-spoken rap, the duo quickly shook off the constraints of any particular musical style and made itself sui generis. While they initially shared a less aggressive attitude and knowledge of history with Arrested Development, the Cordes brothers — Attrell (aka Prince…

During its short lifespan, Pony showed lots of potential. Plainly enamored of the dissonant force of punk, the New York trio had some good songs and a charismatic (if somewhat somber) frontman in Dallas Crowe; on the right night, Pony was magnificent live. All the band lacked was the cohesion that would allow its contradictory…

When Chicago guitarist Brett Sparks decided to get a band together, he avoided all the hassle of finding and auditioning musicians by recruiting his wife Rennie and best friend Mike Werner and teaching them to play, respectively, bass and drums. Thus was born the Handsome Family. With Brett writing the music and Rennie contributing lyrics,…

If you could put a jigsaw puzzle together in such a way that a completely different picture appeared, you’d have an idea about De La Soul’s originality, about how the trailblazing trio turned standard rap elements into something totally unique. Humorous without being too goofy, libidinous without being sexist, and sociopolitically aware while steering clear…

Following the breakup of Hoboken’s Bongos in 1986, singer/songwriter Richard Barone moved across the river to New York and set about retooling his trademark amalgam of British Invasion, glam and American jangle-pop into more mature, less frenetic music. Recorded live at New York’s Bottom Line in 1987, Cool Blue Halo finds Barone fronting an acoustic/electric…

Newark-born guitarist Marc Ribot is largely known for his work as a sideman. He got his start in the Real Tones, a pickup band that backed NYC-visiting soul singers, including Wilson Pickett; since then, his edgy playing can be heard on albums by Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Sam Phillips, Syd Straw, Marianne Faithfull, Foetus and…