The Lacking Permanence

The extremely productive Messer Chups hails from St. Petersburg, Russia, and is currently going through some very heavy surf.

Sometimes you just need a pounding beat and a shout-along chorus, and this is something Naked Giants truly excel at, throwing in plenty of inventive twists and turns to keep the whole thing from collapsing into a steaming pile of riffs.

It’s been 45 years since Chrissie Hynde initially hit her stride with the Pretenders, and she hasn’t slowed down for anybody since.

Matt Sharp and The Rentals have always attracted a stellar cast of musicians to help them assemble their popsong symphonies.

The essence of R&B, with a soulful vocals that range from besotted to anguished and lush harmonic arrangements covering slow jams, hot funk and everything in between.

Billy Martin’s drumming makes me think of oxymorons like “precisely sloppy” and “intensely casual” and “red hot chill out”.

Covering the Beach Boys’ mythical album Smile from start to finish is not an original idea, but Joesph’s take on the matter is filled to the brim with inventive perspectives on a lost classic.

Soul jazz ensemble The Greyboy Allstars have been around so long they have grown into their name.

They had wandered through the town, having left the aquabus in one of the drainage ponds at the I-70 interchange. It had been a dusty drive, and the vehicle certainly could use the soaking. As they wandered through the town’s enormous collection of objects, they felt lilliputian. The dentist rattled the bag of tiles suggestively as they walked past the sign for the World’s Largest Rocking Chair. The typesetter did not hesitate to point out that at 678 inches, it was the tallest chair of any kind in the United States. It was a habit that was both tiresome and instructive. And it never got in the way of a quick game of mahjong.

A variety of acoustic guitar performances from Hitchcock, of songs both original and by others, which results in a very contemplative sort of musical journey.