|
As a vibrant decade in Memphis music comes to an end, a look back via one critic's choices for the 10 best Memphis music albums of the past 10 years.
By Chris Herrington |
January 1, 2010
Too Much Love — Harlan T. Bobo (Goner, 2005): At the time a sideman in the Midtown band Viva L'American Death Ray Music, Bobo shocked the Memphis scene with this solo debut, first self-released in rare copies in personally handcrafted packages before local label Goner gave it a proper release. Too Much Love is an accessible but unnervingly intimate collection of songs tracking one delicate but troubled romance.
»
|
|
After a five-year hiatus, The Reigning Sound returns with bandleader Greg Cartwright's inimitable mix of pop, rock, and folk.
By Chris Herrington |
December 1, 2009
Greg Cartwright formed three modern-classic Memphis bands — The Compulsive Gamblers, The Oblivians, and The Reigning Sound — before relocating to Asheville, North Carolina, six years ago. Lately, he's spent more time in his hometown playing with the technically defunct Gamblers and Oblivians than his current band, which has been on a quasi-hiatus in the years between 2004's Too Much Guitar and the band's new Love and Curses.
»
|
|
Memphis musician Charlie Wood on the UK, new records, and whether you can come home again.
By Chris Herrington |
October 1, 2009
On his 2005 album Somethin' Else, Memphis organ master Charlie Wood delivered a sardonic, knowing paean to his hometown, pledging fidelity but with a comic caveat: "This is where I'm from/And it's where I'll stay/My heart and soul's in Memphis.
»
|
|
A young Memphis band grows up, switches gears, and sounds off.
By Chris Herrington |
September 1, 2009
"Magic Wand," the first song on Attack!, the debut album from the young Memphis band the Bulletproof Vests, leaps out of the speakers on a nimble classic-rock guitar riff and cools down with a splash of soulful organ, all serving as foundation for an identifiably Southern vocal. It sounds more than a little like the Band's "The Shape I'm In."
»
|
|
Elvis Presley (RCA)
By Chris Herrington |
September 1, 2009
Everyone knows that Elvis Presley recorded the finest music of his life in 1954 and 1955 at Memphis' Sun Studio, under the direction of strong-willed producer Sam Phillips. It is not quite as universally understood that Presley recorded the second-best music of his life — sessions that produced hit singles "Suspicious Minds," "In the Ghetto," and "Kentucky Rain" — in early 1969 at Memphis' American Sound Studio, under the direction of strong-willed producer Chips Moman.
»
|
|
Newcomers and legends alike bring national attention to the city famous for its music.
By Chris Herrington |
August 1, 2009
Cover Stars Craig Brewer's 2009 MTV series $5 Cover — which took as its subject the local music scene — may not have created any stars, but it captured the depth, diversity, and vibrancy of contemporary Memphis music.
»
|
|
Decades after Big Star lit up the national music scene. the band reunites with one for the books.
By Chris Herrington |
July 1, 2009
Perhaps no artist or band in the annals of Memphis music has had as long and significant a shelf life based on such a small catalogue and as little success in its own time as Big Star. The '70s-era Memphis rock band united former Box Tops lead singer Alex Chilton with a pre-existing trio of Chris Bell (vocals/guitar), Andy Hummel (bass), and Jody Stephens (drums).
»
|
|
Local bands share the spotlight in Craig Brewer's latest.
By Chris Herrington |
June 1, 2009
More than a dozen Memphis musicians are featured in filmmaker Craig Brewer's MTV series $5 Cover. Some of these — Lucero, Harlan T. Bobo, Amy LaVere — are still in the early stages of work on their next albums.
»
|
|
|
|
Memphis Magazine's
Searchable Restaurant
and Event Listings
AROUND TOWN
EVENTS TODAY IN MEMPHIS
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
|
