Jun 14, 2011, 4:17pm
GLUE
Once Astrid Swan was meant to the be the princess of Finnish pop, but she always seemed to be too stubborn to accept the impositions of music biz. With her third album, Better Than Wages, she fully embraced the indie sounds with a full album of straightforward guitar pop. This year Astrid has taken another turn [...]
Hear a sample from Astrid Swan 's upcoming album "Hits (Pavement for girls)" which, yes, just so happens to be a tribute to Pavement , the band that ruined indierock forever: http://soundcloud.com/soliti/a strid-swan-box-elder

Pavement — Box Elder (Blackbird Blackbird Remix) In the strangest crossing of musical paths since Weed and Foxes in Fiction belted out "Teenage Dream" , Blackbird Blackbird has brought us this lush new rework of "Box Elder" . Stripping the Westing/Slay Tracks classic of its jangly riffage, he warps it into a shimmery synth-pop jam. Let's hope he's got a "Rattled by the Rush" in him. [ mp3 [...]

So maybe we actually don't make it another two years , that makes all that is upcoming much more important, and as a child on Christmas Eve or a virgin jumping in a lusty bed; the anticipation is part of the fun. WTD is all boned up on the coming of 2011 and are prognosticating what we will all soon enjoy. Perhaps we left a few out and perhaps these records will be out soon after the New Year starts, but we aren't here to guess who might release this year. We will be rolling out some wonderful goods [...]

Photo by Nicole LaRae. Grand Rapids based blog Halfway House Music did an excellent sounding session with Surfer Blood including a cover of Pavement's classic Box Elder which you can check out below. Visit Halfway House Music for more downloads from the Surfer Blood session including "Floating Vibes", "I'm Not Ready" and "Fast Jabroni". Surfer Blood - Box Elder (Pavement Cover) ( via Stereogum )

Two guitars, four necks, zero drum thrones, countless pseudo-psychedelic hooks with hints of punk around the rims. I promise, it's even better than it sounds. I wasn't sure what to expect, but by the end of the night, Box Elders had won me over. Maybe Nebraska isn't so bad after all. Except for the damn Stuhr Museum. Edward Durrell Stone was such a hack. Box Elders - Hole in My Head

Regular readers of this blog surely know how much of a sucker I am for garage rock and how thrilled I am with the strength of the scene over the past couple of years. One of the staples of this scene is Goner Records from Memphis, Tennessee. Though they've been around for about twenty years now, they continue to release the newest and freshest bands in the scene. If a release has the Goner label on the back, you can expect nothing but the finest quality. One of my favorite bands on the label in [...]
Sled Island is pleased to announce the initial musical lineup for the Sled Island Music and Arts Festival at multiple venues throughout Calgary, Alberta. The full Sled Island 2010 festival lineup will be announced May 1st and will include more than 200 bands, films, visual art and other programming. The first 90 bands out of the bag: Girl Talk (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) [...]
The Calgary-based Sled Island festival has announced its initial musical lineup featuring 90 acts including Girl Talk, the Melvins, !!!, Built To Spill, Deerhoof, Why?, Les Savy Fav & more.
Atlanta's unique flower punk band The Black Lips is currently prepping their fifth studio album, which guitarist Ian Saint Pe claims might be released by the end of summer. With two recording sessions out of the way, the band is full on its way to another spectacular record, one described by Saint Pe as including a mix of "garage stuff, punk stuff, and a little of that Atlanta hip-hop". Wow. Plus, they're considering embarking on another tour later this fall in support of the new released (assuming it remains on schedule). As Billboard reports, [...]

Ah, back to regularly scheduled programming. You'd think after a week of doing nothing but watching music (and drinking beer and eating tacos) I'd be a little tired of it. No- all I want to do is go see more bands (and drink more beer, though frankly I'm a little burned out on Tex Mex for awhile). This show is definitely on the pricey side of the spectrum at $17, but the Black Lips never fail to put on a show. The Atlantan scuzz rockers are known for their ridiculous antics and petulant behavior. I've heard they've toned it down [...]

While it seems that most of the world has been partying at SXSW some bands have actually been on tour playing a different city every night. One of those bands being the Box Elders , who happen to be on tour with Black Lips . Box Elders released a wonderful 73 of self proclaimed Cave Pop in 2008 (which is shockingly still available through Grotto Records ), and followed it up with a excellent first LP, Alice and Friends , on Memphis' Goner [...]

Recommended Show: MONDAY, MARCH 22, 2010 BOX ELDERS @ BRUAR FALLS 245 Grand St Brooklyn, NY 11211 $6, 8PM Expect things to get back into a bit of a groove over the next few days (not just with shows in the City, but music news as well, which has been a little lackluster for the past few days). Box Elders are sure to be a bit of a jarring experience to come back to on a Monday night, but maybe they're just the right thing to shake [...]

Production Simple Presents Black Lips with Box Elders & Midnite Sons Thursday, Apr 08, 2010 at Headliners Music Hall Doors 8pm/ 18 and Over / $10 advance / $12 day of show Black Lips- I'll Be With You Tour Schedule: [...]

Check out the Black Lips on the West Coast!

Marcus Roth/ Paolo Proserpio I should start setting aside Tuesday posts for concert announcements - every Monday brings an absolute deluge of them, yesterday through to this morning being no exception. But even on a day filled with big announcements, there was this. Toronto Island Concert isn't the catchiest name - apparently calling it the Olympic Island Festival is now verboten? - but it really doesn't matter what you brand a show that features Pavement , Broken Social Scene and Band Of Horses because [...]
Monday, December 14, 2009 Well hot damn, again again again, that always looming end of year has crashed down upon me, and as always I'm ill-prepared and forgetful. Let me be honest for a second, the end of the year seems to take me by surprise every year, and every year I look back on the albums I've listened to, and most often can't remember which ones stood out whatsoever. Instead I see a blur of music, an imaginary stack of albums that could be from 2009 or could be from 1909. [...]

First, a word on lists. Lists are essentially useless, but people who love music often love making them. It's impossible to make an ultimate "best" list, because all music means something different to different people. But that doesn't mean there's no such thing a useful list. There's a few different "best of" lists I could have made. I could have done the "Best" Songs or Albums of 2009. Or the "Most Important" Songs or Albums of 2009. That would probably go something like this: 1) Dirty Projectors 2) Animal Collective 3) Grizzly Bear. Bo-ring. That's not useful or [...]

Charlie B. Barkin' (mp3) by Car Stereo (Wars) I Believe In Fate ( Sebadoh Cover) (mp3) by Superchunk You Don't Have To (If You Don't Want To) (mp3) by Gentleman Jesse And His Men Starting Over (mp3) by The Black Lips African Rhythms (mp3) by Mi Ami Green Flag (mp3) by Growing [...]
Earlier this week we posted about the imminent new release from MM faves, the fuzzed out, machine gun rock'n'rollers Brimstone Howl. Their new album Big Deal. What's He Done Lately? is out next week and we've been listening pretty much non-stop since we got hold of a copy.We are delighted to report that we think it is their best yet, and frontman John Ziegler was good enough to answer a few