A best of DVD compilation from years 2 and 3 of the Makeshift Music co-produced concert/festival benefiting the Church Health Center.  The film features exclusive live performances from Snowglobe, The Magic Kids, John Paul Keith and the One Four Fives, River City Tanlines, Antenna Shoes, Al Kapone, Lord T and Eloise, The Coach and Four, J.D. Reager, Two Way Radio, Jason Freeman, Jeffrey... read more

The brand new album from Memphis’ favorite roots-pop chanteuse.  Features contributions from a host of well-known local musicians, including Dave Cousar, Paul Taylor, Rick Steff (Lucero), Nahshon Benford (Lucero, Snowglobe), and Jonathan Kirkscey (Mouserocket).  FOR A LIMITED TIME, ALL COPIES ARE SIGNED BY THE ARTIST. Tracklist: 1. Damn Love Song 2. You Can’t Keep Me 3. Red... read more

Re-issue of the classic LP by Jay Reatard’s original band, The Reatards.  Also includes 21 bonus songs that were previously only available on long out-of-print cassettes.  Released by our friends at Goner Records. Tracklist: 1. I’m So Gone 2. Stacye 3. I Love Living 4. When I Get Mad 5. C’mon Over 6. Out Of My Head Into My Bed 7. You Fucked Up My Dreams 8. It Ain’t... read more

The latest LP from the indie/experimental Memphis group.  Very weird and fun.  Released by BAA Music Group. Tracklist: 1. The Latest Headlines From The Most Important News 2. Young Smiles No Teeth 3. It’s A Beauty 4. They 5. Movie Night 6. It’s Entertainment 7. Tunica 8. America 9. Lizzy’s Internet Dream 10. Pop It Right Now 11. Just Busted 12. I Don’t Read 13.... read more

The sophomore release by Memphis’ own John Paul Keith.  Released on the Fat Possum subsidiary label Big Legal Mess. Tracklist: 1. Never Could Say No 2. You Devil You 3. Anyone Can Do It 4. Songs For Sale 5. Afraid To Look 6. The Man That Time Forgot 7. I Think I Fell In Love Today 8. Dry County 9. Somebody Ought To Write A Song About You 10. Bad Luck Baby 11. I Work At Night 12. The... read more

Amazon.com sez: Johnny Romania’s debut cd, “popchaser,” is a refreshing mix of pop, rock, and electronica. Heavy on the synthesisers, the album creates an ambient mood, yet, at the same time, does not fall into the cliche’ of pop/electronic as many albums lately have. Johnny Romania’s sound is distinctly their own. Musical hightlights include the spacy “my... read more

Ten More Years: Shangri-la Records cd spans the time of 1989 through 1999, documenting the first ten years of naïve Shangri-la Projects madness. The collection features the greatest hits of the 1990s by bands as diverse as 611, the Grifters, the Simple Ones, Strapping Fieldhands, the Memphis Goons, Citizens’ Utilities, Doug Easley, and even the legendary Mr. Will Roy Sanders. A great... read more

Too big for a 7″ but not big enough for a full lp, this slab of beautiful misery arose out of a winter of discontent in Memphis. As of this date, Eureka is the only record cut in the full spector of Shangri-la Projects’ slapback. Unleashed circa spring, 1995. Tracklist: 1. Eureka IV 2. His Jesus Song 3. Slow Day For The Cleaner 4. Whatever Happened To Felix Cole 5. Founder’s... read more

Two Cups for a Tale, the Simple Ones’ second cd, was produced at Rakapolis Studios under the production guise of legendary drummer Roy Berry, now in Lucero.  While studying under their friends the Grifters, the Simple Ones pop crafted their own niche of ’90s guitar rock that will leave your headphones wanting more.  Currently lead guitarist/singer Jared McStay can be found... read more

The first Simple Ones cd Worth the Weight combines many of their great early singles plus some new heavy hits to sway your head.  Important safety tip for Lucero fans:  Roy Berry drums for this band! Tracklist: 1. Hubba Hubba 2. Rift City 3. The Wrath of God 4. Drunken Kiss 5. Pen 6. Left in Space 7. Disco Infernal 8. On My Nerves 9. Watch This Sucker (Come On, Let’s Go!) 10. Jim’s... read more

A full-grown mouth of a meal of great Memphis bands rocking the sweat shops and apartments of the ‘90s. Many of these folks you have heard of — the Oblivians, ’68 Comeback, & Impala — and others you gotta hear.  17 tracks in all and not a clunker in the bunch.  A great period of Memphis music represented here! Tracklist 1. Gibson Bros. “Emulsified” 2. Monsieur Jeffrey Evans... read more

Hailing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Strapping Fieldhands have to be one of the finest, most enigmatic American bands to arrive on the continent since Syd Barrett & company moved to Athens in the early ’80s. The easy-on-the-ear pop hits “Ben Franklin Airbath”, “the Oath,” & “the Author in Her Ear” put the Fieldhands in a league of... read more

Following many small & large tours & much college radio hoopla, the Grifters went back to Easley Recording for this tour de force of amazing songwriting & guitar fussing.  Our biggest seller (4 stars in le Rolling Stone!), we all went out & bought new shoes.  Released in May, 1994. Tracklist: 1. Rats 2. Maps of the Sun 3. Dead Already 4. Black Fuel Incinerator 5. Skin Man... read more

One Sock Missing full-length lp/cd came out in April, 1993 to rave reviews & cart-wheeling kids everywhere.  Recorded on 4-track mostly in the infamous flower shop where Dave & Stan worked (& where the band practiced at night) & then smoothed over somewhat at world-famous Easley Recording, the heat and beautiful pop dissonance from this record melted turntables across the... read more

All Music Guide sez: Lucero’s Nobody’s Darlings is the sound of the Replacements, 20 years later, a little more sober, and from Memphis instead of Minneapolis. In other words, the band’s occasional feints toward country music and electric blues come off with a lot more credibility and just as much enthusiasm. Just like the Replacements’ Pleased to Meet Me,... read more

All Music Guide sez: 1372 Overton Park might be Lucero’s major-label debut, but the Memphis-based band retains all of their rough-and-tumble indie charms. Gruff-voiced frontman Ben Nichols still sings about people with dead-end lives: the type of characters whose “heroes are the losing kind.” But Nichols definitely finds ways to make these troubled souls... read more

The Memphis Flyer sez: A bit of a stop-gap product while waiting for LaVere’s full-length follow-up to the still-going-strong Anchors & Anvils, Died of Love is a five-song, 22-minute hodgepodge of an EP: two traditional songs, two covers, and a new version of the A&A standout “Washing Machine.” There are none of the songwriting surprises here that animated... read more

All Music Guide sez: The simple arrangements add to the album’s left-of-center appeal, with steel guitars, fiddles, and guitars whipping up a lazy mixture that falls somewhere between old rock and country with perhaps a touch of jazz thrown in. At one moment, LaVere and company cover Tex-Mex (“Overcome”), the next, funky rock (“People Get Mad”). Even on a fairly... read more

All Music Guide sez: Telecaster-wielding John Paul Keith has been rattling around the fringes of the roots rock arena since around 1994. He has racked up hundreds of smoking shows with a variety of outfits including the V-Roys, one of his earliest, with little to show for it. The Knoxville, TN based guitarist/vocalist moved operations to Memphis in 2005, took a few years to put together a... read more

All Music Guide sez: Every bluesman needs a catch phrase. Mississippi Fred McDowell’s was, “I do not play no rock & roll.” Well, Monsieur Jeffrey Evans isn’t strictly a blues guy, but it is one of the ingredients in his long-simmering musical stew (along with folk, country, bluegrass, and rock & roll). His catch phrase — at least for the purposes of this... read more

Prefix sez: Matador Singles ’08 may be Reatard’s most complete album-length accomplishment to date. It eschews the “same song over and over” criticism that’s been lobbed at Reatard by people only familiar with his latest works. (When I saw him open for the Black Keys in Minneapolis this spring, one particularly drunk guy kept yelling “Same song!” during every break. I think the... read more

The Memphis Flyer sez: This collection of singles from Memphis punk savant Jay Reatard is essentially a bit of housecleaning from his old label (garage-rock-identified indie In the Red) — a way of emptying the vault before an upcoming singles collection from Reatard’s new label (indie-rock behemoth Matador) ushers in a higher-profile phase of Reatard’s rocketing career. The 17... read more

All Music Guide sez: Blood Visions is considerably more listenable in terms of fidelity: R. Stevie Moore’s ’70s and ’80s albums would be a reasonable home-recording touchstone. Musically, it’s also a big step up, as well as a step into the past. Blood Visions has the antic, jumpy quality of many now-obscure new wave records of the early ’80s, from the era when... read more

The Memphis Flyer sez: In Spin’s list of 2009′s best albums, it’s no accident that Watch Me Fall lands at #13. Nor is it a surprise that 65 of the 75 assigned words are reserved to attack Reatard’s character. The favored alternate-reality of the press is that Watch Me Fall magically appeared while Reatard spent the entire year inserting the F-word into his Twitter.... read more

The Memphis Flyer sez: Make no mistake about it, this children’s music album from local musicians Harlan T. Bobo, Doug Easley, Tim Prudhomme, and Alex Greene is quite weird, and, truthfully, I’m not completely sure that if I had younger kids I would let them listen to it. That said, it’s still a hoot to listen to as an adult. Highlights include Easley’s beautifully... read more

The Memphis Flyer sez: At a precise moment stuck between what he himself calls a “slippery past” and an “uncertain future,” Harlan T. Bobo crafted this beautiful, shivering hymn to hard-won contentment. From joyfully tongue-in-cheek title to righteous opening (“Sweet Life”) to swooning climax (“Drank”) and every bull’s-eye musical choice... read more

C-60 sez: Backed by members of the Reigning Sound, Fuck and Viva l’American Deathray Music, and recorded at Easley McCain Studio, Harlan’s record has already been hailed as the best Memphis record of the last five years by the Memphis Flyer. Too Much Love made every Memphis music writer’s Best Of list and was named Record of the Year 2005. And rightfully so- it’s a... read more

The Memphis Flyer sez: Harlan T. Bobo became an instant icon in his corner of the local music scene with his lovelorn 2004 debut Too Much Love. To his credit, Bobo declined to offer up Too Much Love 2 with this follow-up, which instead investigates the roots and limitations of the romantic messiness that made his debut so popular. And, over time, I’ve found I’m Your Man to be... read more

All Music Guide sez: Yarber’s honesty and delivery, not to mention his appreciation of a well-written song, somehow make this scattered collection of songs sound timeless and essential. Tracklist: 1. White Lie, Black Eye 2. Stupid Cupid 3. Wire Tapper Calling 4. Dollar to Death 5. Teeny Weeny Little Bit 6. Make it Hard 7. Bank, Gun, Jail 8. Head of the Class Clowns 9. Earthquake... read more

The Memphis Flyer sez: From the chugging chords that open “Flipside Kid” to the snarling, swinging lyrics of “I Want You,” Jack Yarber, aka Jack Oblivian, lays down yet another incredible rock record. “I don’t care what they say,” he growls on “Golden Age,” playing both guitar and drums and pushing “record” on the four-track... read more

The Memphis Flyer sez: On Memphis, the Magic Kids (Bennett Foster, Alex Gates, Will McElroy, Michael Peery, and Ben Bauermeister, with Scandaliz Vandalistz’ Alice Buchanan and Katherine Dohan apparently auxiliary members) showcase their genial, ramshackle deployment of myriad traditional, pre-punk influences: Peppermint Twist rhythms, Foster’s Lou Christie-style near-falsetto... read more

Robby Grant strikes again with another batch of off-kilter pop gems! Highlights include “Naked As a Jaybird” featuring ex-Clear Shelby Bryant, “I’m Your In”, and “Your Black Eye”. Track listing: I’m Your In It’s Not the Things You Want Tell Them All Naked as a Jaybird You Don’t Need It Let The People Sing/The Computer Thing Moments Tune Your Black Eye I Don’t Think Why ... read more