Cal Roach | Milwaukee Record

Milwaukee Psych Fest returns to Cactus Club, brings Feck out of retirement

May 13, 2015

Like most pop culture terminology, the meaning of “psychedelic” has changed over the years. As a description of music, it entered the lexicon a half-century ago as a drug reference. Nowadays, it might have no c...

Sufjan Stevens faces death, finds life at Riverside Theater

Cal Roach

April 24, 2015

In a move that surprised no one, Sufjan Stevens followed up his Crazy Experimental Album (2010’s The Age Of Adz) with a Stripped-Down, Back-To-Basics Album (Carrie & Lowell, released a few weeks ago). The n...

Poliça debuts new songs, kicks off 2015 tour at Cactus Club

Cal Roach

April 8, 2015

When Poliça played Turner Hall three years ago, it was still basically a popular novelty band: two drummers and charismatic lead singer Channy Leaneagh, whose trademark was everyone’s favorite vocal effect, Aut...

TV On The Radio dials up powerhouse performance at Pabst Theater

Cal Roach

March 25, 2015

Spring in Milwaukee is looking like OG Pitchfork heaven, as the hippest acts from the turn of the millennium are due to parade through the Pabst Theater collective. Heading off The Decemberists, Sufjan Stevens,...

Exclusive: Listen to Midwives’ brief, blistering self-titled LP

Cal Roach

February 17, 2015

For their third release in under a year, Midwives don’t go with a radically different formula, but this self-titled LP still feels like a significant step forward for the band’s sound. In terms of two-minute ha...

Sleater-Kinney keeps sold-out Riverside Theater on its feet

Cal Roach

February 16, 2015

Milwaukee Gen-Xers had two options for making themselves feel old Sunday night: SNL 40, or the Sleater-Kinney reunion tour, which made its stop at the Riverside Theater. The Washington trio released its comebac...

Painted Caves learn to trust their instincts after life-altering trip to India

Cal Roach

February 4, 2015

Remember last November, that initial bitter cold attack of winter? That was about the time the members of Milwaukee’s Painted Caves hopped on a plane, flew to India, and headlined an outdoor music festival in t...

Wilco refuses to play it safe for 20th anniversary show at Riverside Theater

Cal Roach

December 4, 2014

A 20th anniversary tour could be considered a victory lap; any band that makes it through two decades deserves to trot lazily around the country playing the hits. That’s not Wilco’s style, though. The band just...

Ryan Adams captivates crowd, serenades security guard at Riverside Theater

Cal Roach

October 15, 2014

If your first impression of Ryan Adams’ new self-titled album is that it sounds more like Bryan Adams than usual, you’re not alone: the younger, hipper Adams has taken to covering Bryan’s “Run To You” on his cu...

Stop Making Sense, Take Me To The River, and the long, strange career of Jerry Harrison

Cal Roach

October 2, 2014

Anyone who attended last year’s Milwaukee Film Festival screening of the brilliant Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense will tell you it’s hard to have more fun in a movie theater. Attendees danced spon...

MFF2014: Alloy Orchestra breathes sonic life into Man With A Movie Camera

Cal Roach

October 1, 2014

Last year’s Milwaukee Film Festival brought us the once-in-a-lifetime event that was Altos: Earth, featuring the local group performing a live, original score to Alexander Dovzhenko’s silent Soviet classic. Cam...

Aaron Freeman leaves Ween behind at Turner Hall

Cal Roach

September 26, 2014

One could almost look at Aaron Freeman in child-star terms. The erstwhile Gene Ween began making prank music with partner Mickey Melchiondo (a.k.a. Dean Ween) in eighth grade, eventually scoring a novelty hit w...

Strand Of Oaks radiates emotion, gratitude at Turner Hall

Cal Roach

August 19, 2014

Many fans were taken aback by Strand Of Oaks’ new album, HEAL, and its aggressive rock bluster. Timothy Showalter’s music has been getting progressively more ambitious since the low-key folk-rock of his 2009 de...

Brady Street Festival 2014: A minute-by-minute recap

Cal Roach

July 28, 2014

While Brady Street may not retain much of its former countercultural artsiness, the intersection of Sciortino’s Bakery, St. Hedwig’s Roman Catholic Church, and Art Smart’s Dart Mart alone suggests the neighborh...

Author Cal Roach