Each Wednesday, we pick three local musical acts, link to a site where you can listen to their songs for free, then ask you to spend a few moments of your time to tell us what you think about them. Some may be great, others may be middling or awful — that’s for you to decide — all we ask is that you listen with an open mind.
Ah, Halloween! As the evenings cool off and the crisp winds pick up, gently swaying the limbs of trees and the rocking the creaky, antiquated houses of Asheville, don’t you just want to curl up in your house with a cup of tea and a good book and await those happy trick-or-treaters? Or do you […]
Since their first performance in 2003, Asheville’s all-female burlesque troupe, The Rebelles, have become one of the most popular acts in town. More than just a simple striptease act, the troupe forged its reputation on highly polished, politically charged shows that were as much satirical as saucy. And the crowds loved them for it, with […]
On cold nights, when the wind howls and the house creaks, the imagination comes to life. And no matter how warm and snug the blankets are, one can’t help but wonder about the creatures lurking under the bed. Fright night: Center Stage Dance Ensemble proves what you’ve probably suspected all along: There are few things […]
Though The Broomstars’ brand of skillfully executed, synth-fortified indie rock sounds anything but haphazard, the band’s inception was exactly that. Songwriter Jason Daniello was catching a shuttle at the Charlotte airport when the girlfriend of percussionist Clayton Jones saw Daniello’s guitar case and struck up a conversation. Living the Waffle House dream: If you want […]
“We’re an unusual band, and not everyone likes us, and there’s not some pop thing that we can access that would make [it] obvious,” says John Flansburgh, half of They Might Be Giants, tells Xpress. It’s an obvious statement from one of rock music’s most enduring curiosities. A tale of two Johns: Two-and-a-half decades into […]
Wonder Woman: This 1970s-era icon is of-the-moment since title-role actress Lynda Carter is currently touring in support of her new album. According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Halloween costumes reveal a lot about our personalities. French maids and sexy nurses might nod to sexual repression, fairies and princesses point to lost innocence, and animals tap into […]
A handful of highlights from last weekend’s LEAF.
“Forget adrenaline: Mamaline — as I’ve christened it — puts adrenaline to shame.” Xpress parenting columnist Anne Fitten Glenn discusses nature’s compelling parental urges.
Does the post-Staley version of Alice in Chains hold up to one reviewer’s post-grunge expectations?
The Fervor are only alt-country by default.
The “Real D” 3-D version of Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas screens tonight at midnight, and Xpress film critic Ken Hanke couldn’t be happier.
Catch two of Asheville’s favorite musicians on Letterman, tonight.
Gabriella Samuel’s The Kabbalah Handbook explores the mysticism of the Torah.
Kathleen Flinn’s tale of studying at Le Cordon Bleu offers something for every reader.
Why Asheville’s new absurdist folk-punk group is fast gaining fans.
Here’s the idea: Each Wednesday, we pick three local musical acts, link to a site where you can listen to their songs for free, then ask you to spend a few moments of your time to tell us what you think about them. Some may be great, others may be middling or awful—that’s for you to decide—all we ask is that you listen with an open mind.
It’s always been cool to be French. They created the Bohemian style, Amélie and the phrase meant to describe a certain indefinable something, “je ne sais quois.” These days, all things African are also cool—as in Afrobeat music, South Africa as the new fashion mecca, and cute, adoptable kids. But that’s another story. Uncommon grace: […]
The instructions for the upcoming Zombie Walk (Asheville’s second such event) are simple: Get ready by burying your clothes. The family that decays together, stays together: Organizer Dan Burrello (above, in suit) wants to keep the Asheville Zombie Walk a family friendly event. Sounds gross, right? But, according to the forum on Zombiewalk.com, planting your […]
It has been said that all art is political—but some art is certainly more overtly political than a painting of a bowl of fruit or a mountain landscape. There are artists whose work points out the foibles of governmental, religious or corporate policies and actions. Heinz Kossler’s “Golden Spike.” Can this work change the world? […]
When the book of rock ‘n’ roll has finally been written, one of the more unlikely names to pop up will be Can. Formed in Germany in 1968, Can was known as the genre-hopping, free-thinking purveyor of German progressive rock (known to others sometimes disparagingly as “krautrock”). Much of the band’s catalog was created through […]
