Michigan Indie Review

Song: And So On I feel like a naked, dancing wood-nymph after listening to "Celestial Harp & Flute," the instrumental duo of DL Turner (harpist and composer) and Nancy Ruth Holtzman (flautist). Although the sound sample's only forty seconds long, for a half-minute there I was prancing through a field of daisies and pondering the transcendent beauty of God's creation. Specializing in weddings and formal occassions, "Celestial Harp & Flute" can make your special occassion, as one happy customer put it, 'sound like the angels (are) descending from heaven.' I wish I'd had 'em at my wedding, but I'm not sure Elvis would have appreciated it. - Mitch Phillips

Editor Mitch Phillips takes you on yet another seedy adventure; this time to watch The Love Junkies help the locals indulge in some "Nasty Little Pleasures" at The Hamlin Pub in Rochester, MI. "Johnny Love spins, crawls, jumps and climbs nearly every available platform in the room; the floor, the tables, the chairs, the speakers and, at one point, a barstool and lets the barkeep fill his mouth..." The Love Junkies @ The Hamlin Pub 6-22-01 review by Mitch Phillips Free At Last Napoleon K is a free man. After thirty days in the hole, another ninety with an electronic dog collar bungied to his ankle (add fourteen to that for blowing a piss-test), months of therapy, weeks of court dates and thousands of dollars made out to “The State Of Michigan,” K has finally been remanded to my care - provided he stays away from baseball bats and minivans. It’s a long story. He celebrates his newfound freedom by demanding I take him to see a live band. I celebrate by let...

Loadstone warms you up to their precarious mood with an innocuous groove and understated complaints, then slams your head against the garage door again and agian until you admit, to God and all present that "Nobody Notices" or really gives a damn when you're having a lousy day. Band: Loadstone Song: Nobody Notices After reading Loadstone's influences (Ailce In chains, Silverchair, Creed, Goo Goo dolls, Rage Against The Machine, Fuel, Korn, Papa Roach, Weezer, etc..) I was pleasantly surprised to hear the tone of this cut. Loadstone's "Nobody Notices" is much snottier than their listed influences (with the possible exception of Weezer). And it's not nearly as slick, polished or overproduced as those nationally distributed acts. This leads me to the conclusion that Loadstone's real influences are the sympathetic vibrations of the garage door at 120db, too much alcohol, too little sleep and just being really, really pissed-off at the world. "No...

What happens when a bunch of starry-eyed boys begin writing songs in the midst of their hormone-ragin' puberty? A weepy dedication to the girl of the moment. Random Reviews Band: Bowen Song: Maria Whispy girl-centered ballad (that, of course begins with a simple acoustic picking pattern coupled with a smooth wandering bass line that makes me want to sing, "Every Rose has it's Thorn") reminiscent of hair-band follies that lament, "oh, my life just would not be complete without such-and-such girl by whom every other girl pales by comparison (at least until next week). If I can't have her I swear I'm-a-gonna cut my hair, whine to my friends when I'm drunk, or (groan) write yet another weepy rock ballad that nobody can understand like I can." The lack of dynamics in this selection are NOT improved by the tempo change near the end in which neither verse nor melody are improved. Even if the dramatic tempo change were coupled with a key m...

The Wrenfields at Memphis Smoke Royal Oak, Mi. Wednesday, March 28 2001 review by Mitch Phillips The Invitation A month and a half prior to my mid-week arrival I received an invitation from Noreen Novrocki, asking if I’d come see her alt/country/roots sextet, The Wrenfields. I received a three-song EP in the mail with the usual promotional materials and a nice e-mail complimenting my past work. (Sly move - always appeal to the writer’s ego when trying to get press. ) She even offered to pay for my drinks. (Very sly move - especially if you know the writer has a predilection for liquor but only a budget for beer.) I’d already agreed to cover the show, even if I couldn’t admit to the reasons. But then I played the EP. Then I played it again. And again. In fact, I played it so much I destroyed the disk. It won’t even cue-up anymore. I’m going to miss it terribly until the full-length CD comes out sometime this summer (so if you’re reading this Noreen, I really need an advanced copy ...

Blush / Sweaty Suede Lips / Atomic Numbers and Deathgirl.com St. Andrew's Hall, Detroit 3-24-01 Live music events are for voyeurs like me and, luckily, exhibitionists like the dozen or so plaid-skirted, knee-socked, pigtail-ponies who sauntered through the crowd and hovered over the balcony rails at St. Andrews Hall for the Blush / Sweaty Suede Lips / Atomic Numbers / Deathgirl.com show on Sat. March 24th. "School-grrlz" feigning pre-pubescent naiveté and bearing upper-thigh seem to have become a fashion (or is it fetish?) in Detroit, much to my delight. It makes you wonder what the next decade will bring to the crowd's dress - or lack thereof. Blush I missed Blush - again, which is a stupid shame. Not only was it billed as their CD release party, but they were to perform with a more electronic approach, having recently lost their drummer, Kelly, a former Stun-Gun-ner who's sold her kit to pursue her passion for sequencing. By all accounts, (even the oth...

A Disclaimer... Date: Friday, March 16, 2001 @ 23:25:58 EST Topic: Opinion Writer Mitch Phillips gets defensive about his sometimes brutally honest reviewing style. A Disclaimer.... by Mitch Phillips Recently I’ve been accused of taking pleasure in thrashing local bands in my reviews when I should be, by all means, promoting them. After all, this website exists for this very reason. So shouldn’t I do everything I can to make them look good? My response to this criticism was an emphatic NO. 'It does no good to be another yes-man in the local music scene,' I recently responded to a slighted bandmember by e-mail. 'Too often reviews are written by close friends and/or hangers-on who have nothing constructive or objective to say about a band's music or their performance which is of no use to anybody.’ Or they only go see the great bands who are already getting good press and leave the struggling, shitty bands to their own devices without any feedback. I don't ...

Robb Roy at The New Place Lounge Date: Wednesday, March 07, 2001 @ 05:46:18 EST Topic: Show Reviews Long working local band takes our reviewer from The New Place in Dearborn to a dance-hall on Telegraph where he proceeds to put Robb Roy's music to the "Booty Test." Dearborn Michigan May 20, 2000 review by mitch phillips Heavy Metal Dues I first met Graham Strachan on a shipping dock in 1990. He was hauling scrap metal for a salvage company with longtime friend Michael Kudreiko. Despite his being covered from head to foot in rust, grease and metal shavings, I knew instinctively this guy was a bandhead (poor guy with a pony tail - not exactly genius on my part). But like alcoholics, musicians are predetermined to find each other in any crowd. I told Graham I was gigging the club scene in my off hours and he told me he was the singer for a band called Robb Roy. "Yeah, I've heard of you guys, " I said with vague recollection; their name had already been ...

By mitch phillips at The I-ROCK, Feb 3, 2001 Although I'm not a balding, nostalgic metalhead and I'm too old to be a peevish punk, I found myself at the I-Rock anyway after receiving an invitation from Gary Jibilian to check out his new duo Jibilian/Glass. Exploited Youth•Mad City Pleasure Zone• Jibilian/Glass • Violet Skin at The I-ROCK, Feb 3, 2001 Worship My Stick Although I’m not a balding, nostalgic metalhead and I’m too old to be a peevish punk, I found myself at the I-Rock anyway after recieving an invitation from Gary Jibilian to check out his new duo Jibilian/Glass. “Fans of King Crimson, Gordian Knot and Dixie Dregs will love this music, but to be honest, every single person who hears these tunes genuinely loves it, “ Jibilian crowed immodestly in a recent e-mail. I was intrigued by the prospect of seeing anyone live up to that claim. I’ve been a staunch fan of King Crimson since their reformation in 1980 with studio legend Tony Levin holding down the bottom e...