Email Author Roy Kasten

1999 Stories by Roy Kasten

• Critical Mass

  published December 29, 1999

  As anyone who's read Nick Hornby's High Fidelity knows, music critics -- especially that species known as Criticus hiparawkasauraus... More >>

• VARIOUS ARTISTS

  published December 8, 1999

  If you think about such things at all, Boston, Austin and Nashville probably come most readily to mind for their singer/songwriterly scenes. St.... More >>

• SPARRING PARTNERS

  published December 1, 1999

  Framed in neon light from a sign that reads -- inside-out and backward, as if in a mirror -- FRESH PASTA, Dave Stone solos over a Charlie... More >>

• Teddy Morgan and the Pistolas

  published November 17, 1999

  OK, you haven't heard of Teddy Morgan. His story: A Minneapolis kid struck by Bob Dylan and Lightnin' Hopkins before he was old enough to drive,... More >>

• NORTENO EXPOSURE

  published November 10, 1999

  With the spare flairlessness of a border town honky-tonk, La Onda is an essential anomaly. The building sits behind the I-44 on-ramp at... More >>

• Fred J. Eaglesmith and the Flying Squirrels

  published October 13, 1999

  For most, Fred J. Eaglesmith's career begins, if at all, with Drive-In Movie, his first stateside release to get any attention, a... More >>

• Kevin Gordon

  published September 22, 1999

  A sanctified organ whirring, a guitar strummed as if by a dying man's hand, a voice eroded past self-recognition and words so well chosen they... More >>

• FLYING DUTCHMAN

  published September 15, 1999

  The Dutchman's not the kind of man To keep his thumb jammed in the dam That holds his dreams in But that's a secret only Margaret... More >>

• Meat Purveyors

  published September 8, 1999

  What to make of this Austin, Texas, quartet, who specialize in quadruple-time, banjoless bluegrass praise songs for tall boys (as in beer and... More >>

• PARTY POLITICS

  published September 8, 1999

  Billy Bragg's first outings in the early '80s earned him the tag "a one-man Clash." It was always an unsatisfactory description, for his music... More >>

• Johnny Dowd

  published September 1, 1999

  Johnny Dowd's first album, Wrong Side of Memphis, was the musical equivalent of The Blair Witch Project, but a fair bit scarier.... More >>

• The Mollys with One Fell Swoop

  published August 25, 1999

  Like the whimsical invention of bookish, genre-gobbling roots-music fans like myself, the Mollys wear their multiculturalism on sleeves and... More >>

• STRIPPED TO THE ROOTS

  published August 18, 1999

  Rock bands don't play the Sheldon. Likely that has something to do with the hall's impeccable acoustics, which function a bit like an X-ray... More >>

• SON-STRUCK

  published August 18, 1999

  A recent boxed set of Cuban music posits an enigma as a title: I Am Time. To get the full gist of the declaration, you have to go to Cuba... More >>

• WEST END UNPLUGGED

  published August 11, 1999

  If you're not clued in to the singer/songwriter scene in St. Louis, don't blame Kentaro Sugiyama. For close to two years, he's been... More >>

• Sweet Janes

  published June 16, 1999

  Record No. 1 is a pop album of harrowing textures. Where will it find a home? Despite some occasionally thunderous bursts, the Mary Janes embed... More >>

• Listening Post

  published June 16, 1999

  MID-MO MAGIC: You can only scream so loud for so long before you go hoarse or get bored and move on to another cause, and bellows have been heard... More >>

• Country Club

  published June 9, 1999

  With the demise of MRMF and the disarray of the Blues Festival, Twangfest 3 offers what looks to be this summer's most consistent lineup of live... More >>

• Listening Post

  published May 26, 1999

  BISTRO BOOKINGS: The 1998-99 Jazz at the Bistro season ended last Saturday, but next year's schedule is already about 70 percent complete. Gene... More >>

• Ghost Upon the Road

  published May 19, 1999

  Champaign, Ill. Nov. 10, 1998. It's after the show, and Eric Andersen is charming the wine from a waitress. He smiles as placidly as a... More >>

• Listening Post

  published May 12, 1999

  SWEET RELIEF: Remember Eddie Kendricks' silky falsetto flights on the Temptations' "Just My Imagination"? It's a prime slice of Americana, but... More >>

• Listening Post

  published May 5, 1999

  RADIO WAVES: The late 1970s saw one of the great weirdo-pop explosions of all time. Punk and new wave weren't just about the handful of bands that... More >>

• Sound Checks

  published May 5, 1999

  Trey Anastasio Friday, May 7; American Theatre What to do if you're a Phish phanatic and can't wait for the group's summer tour,... More >>

• Sound Checks

  published April 28, 1999

  Truman's Water with 13 After and Ring, Cicada Thursday, April 29; Cicero's Truman's Water has always been a goddamn mess of a band,... More >>

• Sound Checks

  published April 7, 1999

  Digger Friday, April 9; Creepy Crawl Amid a sea of mediocre pop-punk bands trying to cash in and ride the Green Day wave (which has... More >>