2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
Justin Townes Earle's solo debut should put a quick end to the comparisons to his namesake and father that seem inevitable. There is very little of his father, Steve Earle, in his music - at least not any immediate aspect - just like there is very little that quotes from Texas folk legend Townes Van Zandt, his father's mentor.
The A.K.A.s (Are Everywhere!) is a band with no subtlety and even less sense of dynamics. Their second album starts off at a loud gallop, and doesn't let up for the remaining 30 minutes. The sound here is a largely unoriginal blend of NOFX-style snottiness, Rancid's recycled Clash guitar chords, Blink 182's empty catchiness and (International) Noise Conspiracy's thinly veiled sense of New Wave rebellion.
Trances Arc's debut is a deceptive album. After spending the first half doing little more than play presentable power pop, the band suddenly provides four songs to end the album that are actually worth playing again and again. But getting there isn't necessarily easy: for five straight tracks, the band does little more than ape most of what passes for decent modern rock.
In her native Canada, Avril Lavigne is a big star. The 23-year-old punk-popster competes with Celine Dion for Juno Awards (Canada's Grammys), and the press gossips about her life (she's not pregnant) and a recent lawsuit over songwriting credits (she settled out of court after being accused of cribbing "Girlfriend" from the Rubinoos' 1979 tune "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend").
Go ahead, just try and find someone who has uttered a discouraging word about Tilly and the Wall, an indie-pop band from Omaha, Neb., that often uses a tap dancer in place of a drummer. Comb through review after review - nothing. During an interview from her home in Omaha, bassist-singer Neely Jenkins is asked if she can think of someone who dislikes Tilly and the Wall.
As CD sales keep falling and the business is reshaped by the Internet, the music industry doesn't know what the future holds. But at least it knows where the music is: Right here in the capital of the Lone Star State, where last week's 23d annual South by Southwest Music Festival was the biggest ever, with more than 1,700 bands playing to 12,500 attendees at more than 70 venues from Wednesday to Saturday night.
Snoop Dogg has cultivated two distinct personalities for years now. There's playful Snoop, the one with the izzle-speak, the one with a show on E!, the one who drops it like it's hot. And then there's gangsta Snoop, the brooding one, the one with a violent streak, the one still allied with the Crips.
