michael alan goldberg

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He, himself, and Hi

“I was always the kid who hated to do group projects at school because I always thought I could work better on my own.”
Eric Elbogen's Say Hi comes into its own
By MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG | October 16, 2009

Fly by night?

For a decade, Eric Johnson's primary songwriting vehicle has been Fruit Bats, but the Portland-via-Chicago singer and multi-instrumentalist has always dipped in and out of other projects — Califone, Vetiver, Ugly Casanova among them.
Fruit Bats aren't a Shins side project
By MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG | September 11, 2009

Bit players

What do you get when you cross NYU music-technology majors just out of their teens, vintage Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy gear, traditional rock-and-roll instruments, a mysterious, robot-building fellow named José with half a middle finger
Anamanaguchi are a shock to the systems
By MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG | June 05, 2009

Shiny happy people

In the event of thermonuclear war, only two things will survive: cockroaches, and the smiles on the faces of Matt Johnson and Kim Schifino.
Matt & Kim let the good times roll
By MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG | March 16, 2009

The electric company

We all know how in 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, the previously all-acoustic Bob Dylan took the stage with an electric guitar, plugged in, enraged fans, and destroyed the folk-music scene forever.
The Builders and the Butchers plug in, take off
By MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG | February 02, 2009

Andrew Bird's whistled, wily works

"Steamy, fecund, decaying, kind of mossy, woodsy . . . cloudlike, thick, saturated."
Setting the mood
By MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG | January 27, 2009

Doing it live

Crystal Stilts hit the road
Crystal Stilts hit the road
By MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG | December 04, 2008

Interview: Girl Talk

David Thorpe chats up Gregg Gillis
David Thorpe chats up Gregg Gillis
By DAVID THORPE | November 10, 2008

Wandering star

Cleaning the kitchen of her Brooklyn apartment a few weeks ago — shortly before hitting the road in support of her fourth full-length, The Living and the Dead (Anti-) — singer-songwriter Jolie Holland was struck by an idea for her fifth album.
Jolie Holland’s got demons on her trail
By MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG | October 27, 2008

A history of violins

To paraphrase (very loosely) Ben Franklin, wherever you go in this world of ours — and that includes Sweden, native land of Dungen mastermind Gustav Ejstes — nothing is certain but death, taxes, and being picked on mercilessly if you’re a kid who plays
The bigger, better sound of Dungen
By MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG | October 21, 2008

Lady killers

“Maybe over there? Try over there . . . ” The muffled voice in the background sounds defeated.
Vivian Girls find fans, lose shoes
By MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG | October 08, 2008

A place of pure love

Far from being morose, Sykes is witty, sharp, and charmingly self-depreciating after each of her lengthy musings on life, energy, and the universe.
Jesse Sykes and her Sweet Hereafter
By MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG | September 16, 2008

Nervous energy

“If I actually stopped to think about what’s going on, I’d probably shit myself,” says James Rushent, singer/bassist for UK electro-rock quartet Does It Offend You, Yeah?
The unlikely rise of Does It Offend You, Yeah?
By MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG | August 26, 2008

Can you feel my love, Buzz?

A chat with Mackie Osborne
By MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG | August 08, 2008

Unstoppable force

“Basically it’s like, if you get what we’re doing, then no explanation is necessary, and if you don’t, then no explanation is possible.”
The sludgy juggernaut of the Melvins
By MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG | August 04, 2008

Old souls

“The very first Bouncing Souls show was a battle of the bands in high school. We took third place out of four bands. We sucked, though — we were terrible. Horrible ."
The Bouncing Souls stay relevant
By MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG | July 15, 2008

Two for the road

Most music fans discovered the Watson Twins — 31-year-old identical sisters Leigh and Chandra — via their backing vocal appearance on Rabbit Fur Coat , the 2006 solo debut from Jenny Lewis.
The Watson Twins escape the shadows
By MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG | July 07, 2008

Polvo give it another go

The North Carolina quartet’s noisy sound was music to a select group of ears.
After a decade-long hiatus, the progenitors of math rock find their chemistry still exists
By MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG | June 17, 2008

Twin reverb

For the better part of his prolific songwriting career, Texas singer/guitarist Will Johnson, when not releasing albums under his own name, has donned distinctive hats for his two bands.
Centro-matic and South San Gabriel
By MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG | June 09, 2008

Drear as folk

It’s that feeling of overwhelming sorrow tempered by the faintest sliver of hope that’s evoked by the music of two veteran Pacific Northwest songwriters and long-time friends who share a bill at Great Scott this Saturday night.
The bleak interiors of Damien Jurado and Jeremy Enigk
By MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG | May 28, 2008

Soul purpose

The BellRays — whose married core is singer Lisa Kekaula and guitarist/bassist Bob Vennum — have been making music since 1990.
The BellRays get us all kinds of worked up
By MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG | May 19, 2008

Eastern promises

Balkan trends with DeVotchKa and Firewater
By MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG | May 12, 2008

King of the hill

“I didn’t think anyone would come to these shows. I figured the venues would be half-empty, and it hasn’t been that way at all,” says Sparklehorse mastermind Mark Linkous.
Mark Linkous revives his Sparklehorse
By MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG | February 20, 2007

Guest lists

What small, private lists like this remind us is that big, honking institutional lists are largely fictions, mirages of a consensus that no longer exists, if it ever really did in the first place.
What 30 of the Phoenix 's music critics liked this year
By PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | January 02, 2007

Making nice

‘If this breaks up, it’s not like I can go sell a Basquiat like Lars Ulrich.’
Deftones go on a healing tour
By MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG | December 01, 2006

Work ethics

You can file Jason Molina with the über-prolific. Magnolia Electric Co., "Lonesome Valley" (mp3)
Jason Molina and Magnolia Electric Co.
By MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG | September 15, 2006

Harmonic convergences

Beyond their artful, crackling, dueling-guitar geometrics and layers of cunning rhythms, the Futureheads' most distinguishing and potent weapon is their four-part vocals.
The Futureheads get past the post-punk blues
By MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG | June 28, 2006

Harmonic convergence

“I don’t know what to do with myself,” Ross Millard mutters, shrugging at his mates as he sets his guitar down at the rear of the small stage at the back of Seattle’s East Street Records and ambles toward his mic stand.
The Futureheads get past the post-punk blues
By MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG | June 28, 2006

Beast masters

“I think that what we do very naturally as a band is quite predictable,” says Mogwai guitarist and de facto leader Stuart Braithwaite.
Mogwai celebrate 10 years of loudness
By MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG | May 10, 2006

Vocal musings

“My voice is a bit like a piano with a dodgy key on it or something,” Beth Orton chuckles quietly over the phone as her tour bus rumbles toward the Canadian border.
Beth Orton finds her comfort zone
By MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG | April 04, 2006

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