camper van beethoven Archive
01 Jan 2020
30 Days Out: January 2020 #1: Interstellar Echoes, Cracker, Camper Van Beethoven, 3rd Annual Women in Music Series, Beach Fossils
For five and half years, I wrote a twice-monthly column for Asheville, N.C.’s superb altweekly Mountain Xpress. That column, “30 Days Out,” previewed upcoming live shows of note, focusing on both local/regional and nationally/internationally touring artists, across a (if I do say so myself) wide cross-section of musical styles. The column ended after more than
23 Jul 2015
Hundred-word Reviews for July 2015, Part 3
Blues, r&b, post-jazz and country-flavored singer/songwriter music: never let it be said that I only write about rock. Here are five fine releases in a wide array of musical styles. Rusty Wright Band – Wonder Man Take the attitude of big-band swing and electric guitar blues, and apply it to uptempo rock’n’roll, and you might
14 May 2015
Hundred Word Reviews for May 2015, Part 9
Today’s roundup of capsule reviews focuses on reissues or previously-unreleased material by acts who came to prominence (or something approaching it) in the 1980s or later. Old 97’s – Hitchhike to Rhome In the 1950s, country and rock’n’roll were sometimes hard to discern form one another. Then they split into to two very different styles,
12 Feb 2014
Album Reviews: Camper Van Beethoven — Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart and Key Lime Pie
You know that marketing term “early adopter?” Those are the people who bought CD players in 1984. They bought Blu-Ray players before there were any Blu-Ray discs available. And they maybe, just maybe, bought a CD-i player and a DCC player back in the 80s. Me, I’m what they call a “late adopter.” I didn’t
10 Mar 2009
DVD Review: Cracker & Camper Van Beethoven — The First Annual Camp Out Live at Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace
OK, here’s the thing: I like Cracker. And I really like Camper Van Beethoven. Camper’s genre-blending of Eastern ethnic sounds with, well, everything from C&W to punk to bluegrass was way ahead of its time. And while listening to them now, it’s hard to remember just how groundbreaking they were. But their music still holds