Author Archives: Andrew Lee

Casey Spooner confides that he doesn’t know what day it is, where he is, or what’s going on as he’s talking on the phone. On his first major set of dates with the performance art duo Fischerspooner, the singer is reveling in the adrenaline rush of a wild and successful tour. “With every show on […]

It’s fitting that Elvis Costello and his Imposters pulled out the impassioned rocker “(What’s So Funny About) Peace, Love and Understanding” Friday night at Royce Hall, in Costello’s last series of performances as Artist-in-Partial-Residence. Like a fifth-year student anchored in summer school to fulfill his science GE, Costello finally satisfied the quota he committed to […]

The fusion of musical styles has always come easy for Simon Shaheen. The Arabic multi-instrumentalist started his musical career at the age of five, when he picked up both the oud and the violin. “I was also listening to a great variety of music: Turkish music, Indian music, American jazz,” Shaheen said. “When I came […]

Tortoise’s eclectic brand of music may prove the four members have a cooler record collection than most indie nerds, but that’s not all they can flaunt. They’re also outstanding musicians, capable of putting on a stellar live show to boot. The Chicago-based, avant-garde quintet played a set Friday at the Henry Fonda Theater that careened […]

When Pere Ubu released “Story of My Life” in 1993, frontman David Thomas was quoted about his band’s seemingly reckless approach to music, and why, after nearly 25 years, he still kept doing it. “It’s kind of like people who became communists in the ’30s,” Thomas said according to online magazine Perfect Sound Forever. “Even […]

Dressed in a mustard-colored suit and swaying freely on stage, a passionate Mikey Dread brought the political, spiritual and musical positivity of reggae to Westwood Plaza Monday at noon. “A lot of people don’t know what reggae is all about, all they know is Bob Marley and ganja. Bob Marley and ganja. But there’s more […]