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Bryan Reed

Interview: Dex Romweber (Part 2)

June 1, 2012

It’s easy to get bogged down in Dex Romweber’s past. He is, after all, the leader of cult-favorite neo-rockabilly firebrands Flat Duo Jets, which is perhaps how he is best known to his fans, including Cat Power’s Chan Marshall, X’s Exene Cervenka, Neko Case, and Jack White, who has called Romweber “a huge influence.”
Not to

Interview: Dexter Romweber (Part 1)

May 31, 2012

It’s easy to get bogged down in Dex Romweber’s past. He is, after all, the leader of cult-favorite neo-rockabilly firebrands Flat Duo Jets, which is perhaps how he is best known to his fans, including Cat Power’s Chan Marshall, X’s Exene Cervenka, Neko Case, and Jack White, who has called Romweber “a huge influence.” Not

Live Review: M. Ward & the Lee Ranaldo Band

May 18, 2012

I imagine M. Ward has been described, once or twice, as an “old soul.” The Portland singer/songwriter earned cultural currency by ignoring it, and his timelessness was on full display Tuesday night at Page Auditorium. Lee Ranaldo, who opened the show with a set of songs drawn mostly from his recent album Between The Times

Hush Arbors: Rest and Restlessness

January 30, 2012

Minutes before I was supposed to call Keith Wood, the sole constant in Hush Arbors—and not just in terms of personnel—I received an e-mail. “I’m in the car,” Wood wrote. “Last minute, decided to head down to NYC with Thurston [Moore] for his show tonight. I’m driving and we’re kinda racing down.” In other words,

Free Jazz Bitmaps

January 19, 2012

“Genres are almost a thing of the past,” Nick Butcher said. The Chicago-based musician and designer was talking to me from his Sonnenzimmer print studio as he finished up the packaging for his third album of carefully crafted electronic-pop collages, which builds upon a series of six ultra-limited 7” singles called, collectively, Free Jazz Bitmaps.
“If

Tape it Up and Try Again

November 7, 2011

For most of his life, fame eluded Syl Johnson. He came close a few times, with minor hits like “Different Strokes,” “Come On Sock it To Me,” and his commercial pinnacle, a cover of Al Green’s “Take Me To The River” that cracked the Top 10 on the 1975 R&B charts. Later, rap stars from

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