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daniel brockman

Latest Articles

Nine-step program

The best pedals ever to happen to rock music
The history of rock, as a technical story, is a mix of skilled craftsmen and total doofuses sticking their fingers in wall sockets over and over.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | September 08, 2008

Metallica

Death Magnetic | Warner Bros.
It’s hard to say who detests Metallica more.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | September 10, 2008

A Place To Bury Strangers have it in for your earbones
The history of rock is littered with crazies who have craved nothing more than volume on top of volume, who have short-circuited themselves in the pursuit of the purity of noise.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | September 08, 2008

Mirror ball

Fables of deconstruction
The stirring pop hits of the day can’t help but reflect the refracting cracked mirror of our nation’s increasingly emotion-laden psyche.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | September 08, 2008

You may now unpeg your pants

Regeneration Tour at Bank of America Pavilion, August 20, 2008
If the inaugural Regeneration Tour seemed likely to play out as a string of “We’ve played our big hit, now what” moments, well, guess again.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | August 26, 2008

Guitar solos?

Obits go back to basics
“It actually feels really liberating, like a moment where you’re like, ‘Boy, am I glad to be an adult!’"

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | August 19, 2008

Three 6 Mafia

Last 2 Walk | Sony
Last 2 Walk is a club-banging record, but it’s hard to recommend something so by-the-book.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | August 19, 2008

Retro active

The Regeneration Tour reheats the ’80s
The ’80s, pop culture’s most tenacious decade, were a mix of greed, technological breakthrough, and hope for a bright future.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | August 12, 2008

Millionaires

Harpers Ferry, August 10, 2008
Millionaires played the kind of set I wish I’d see more of: high-energy, hit-filled, and mercifully short.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | August 14, 2008

The Faint

Fasciinatiion | Blank.wav
It’s as if I were at a party where they’re endlessly playing “Dead or Alive” while some guy next to me mumbles nonsense in my ear and some kid in the corner hits random keys on a Juno.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | August 12, 2008

At home away from home

CSS take on the world — again
“We love all the pop stuff.” says Sá. “We do love the Pixies, but we also love Mariah, you know?"

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | August 05, 2008

Miley Cyrus

Breakout | Hollywood
Breakout is a puzzling mishmash that makes sense only if you read between the lines and see the 15-year-old trapped in a machine that is partly of her own design.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | August 04, 2008

Melvins

Nude with Boots | Ipecac
Hey Melvins, a question.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | July 29, 2008

Risky business

Santogold finds her own way
I know I can’t be the only person whose ears perked up earlier this year on hearing the chorus of the then-new Ashlee Simpson single “Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya).”

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | July 29, 2008

The new girl

Katy Perry storms the boys’ club
“I am the pink in a sea of darkness.”

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | July 15, 2008

Japanamayhem

Boris are completely out of control
Although Boris might seem just another Japanese drone-happy drop-tuned stoner-rock outfit, close inspection reveals instead a 16-year investigation of the meaning of sound and music itself.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | July 07, 2008

Sweet and lo-

Your cynicism is no match for Times New Viking
“You know, sometimes capturing the cleanness of how everything sounds is a futile attempt,” says Times New Viking vocalist and keyboard slapper Beth Murphy.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | June 24, 2008

The numbers of the beast

Iron Maiden at Comcast Center, June 20, 2008
As a million fingers air-guitared frantically, Maiden put on a fireballing motherfucker of a show.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | June 26, 2008

Judas Priest

Nostradamus | Epic
It’s a ridiculous album, sure, but also the most grandiose metal record likely to be released this year.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | June 17, 2008

Distinguished flannel

Mudhoney at the Middle East Downstairs, June 6, 2008
The world-weariness of the whole thing made it clear why this is the wrong band to look to if you’re trolling for Day-Glo flannel nostalgia.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | June 16, 2008

Teenage kicks

M83 at the Middle East Downstairs, June 2
Gonzalez and Kibby humped their machines in unison as if the devices were all that stood between them and some serious Dionysian revelry.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | June 10, 2008