This week sees the release of a new album by The Veils, who have a special place in our hearts as one of those bands that we absolutely, wholeheartedly believed at one point would be massive . Everyone has a band like this — a band they tipped for greatness, a band that they can't quite believe the world never cottoned onto. And sadly, the best part of a decade later, The Veils remain a band whose charms are appreciated by a select group of fans but have largely evaded the rest of the world. So [...]

Alina Simone - "Just Here to Watch the Show (demo)" . Saint Petersburg has been around much longer than me, and it will be here after I'm gone. It will be solid and regal under blue sky. It will be radiant and proud. It will let its gold domes wink at dusky midnight, it will hold a million people in its squares. The trees here are taller than the trees at home, and the forest around the Polytechnic is full of trilling birds. I imagine studying there, in vaultlike classrooms with peeling walls, all day spent staring at an exploded [...]
Halloween is officially a new kind of holiday. Sure, we dressed the kid up last year, but he couldn't even walk back then. We put him in a Western-ish shirt he already had, cut out a star from some shiny paper, called him a sheriff and called it a day. Not so this year. This year my brilliant wife created this owl outfit and we've thus far participated in two different neighborhood events full of a zillion other kids from around the way. When the entertainment at the block party on Saturday was three local boys, all on guitar and [...]

In high school there were journals - there are organized on my dresser, gathering dust, giving testament to the person that I was in my yesteryear, full of heartbreak and love for The Beatles. In my "I Quit College And Now I Work At A Bar" years, I kept journals too. They are hidden, for they are fucked and scouring through those pages might send me into an ignorant spiral. Whoa, shit just got deep there... Anyway, mix. I have omitted Ryan Adams, Iron & Wine, and things like Chris deBurgh, Chris Isaak, and Michael Bolton. Though that [...]
by Jay Mattson Canada has been a venerable bastion of good music for the past decade. The New Pornographers, Broken Social Scene, Wolf Parade and Death From Above 1979, just to name a few, have all hailed from our neighbor to the north. Vancouver’s Black Mountain joined the fray with a 2005 self-titled debut that [...]
Cat Power: American Flag Doris Day: That Jane From Maine Matt Pond PA: New Hampshire Scud Mountain Boys: Massachusetts Blossom Dearie: Rhode Island is Famous For You Simon & Garfunkel: The Only Living Boy In New York The Mountain Goats: Going To Maryland Nation of Ulysses: You're My Miss Washington, D.C. Ryan Adams: Oh My Sweet Carolina [...]

Recently expanding the cast from his previous recording, Matt Lajoie's Cursillistas project with newly acquired siren Dawn Marna is set to release their newest LP, Joint Chiefs , on Digitails Recordings in the coming week. Described as "the dust bowl meets peyote music" and "Barn Owl meets Brightblack Morning Light", the desperate ramblings of "Bona Dea" are incredibly vast and I would even draw comparisons to some of our recent favorites, Woodsman. At over seven minutes and with so many intricate layers, I recommend a clear night sky and some headphones. Just a note: [...]
So I'm going to start promoting a lot more lesser known bands. Major labels are just pissing me off. I was ready to post the first musicleech playlist like two weeks ago (tracklist below), but a bunch of the songs on there were from major label bands and I'm not trying to get sued so I asked them if I could include their songs on my mix and like none of them responded (it's been two weeks)... So... I'm not going to waste my time. I'm going to start posting mixes on here, with bands that actually need [...]
jesse plume Download: VOICEsVOICEs "Flulyk Visions" (Radio Edit) (Produced by Prefuse 73) (from the Origins EP out January 2010 on Manimal) L.A. RECORD is happy to report that the long-awaited VOICEsVOICEs EP (w/Prefuse 73!) has a firm January 2010 release date and tours to follow with Hope Sandoval, Brightblack Morninglight and theeee Gaslamp Killer! Above is the first [...]

Photography by your boy Tsuru Prints available over on Etsy ! WOW! What a weekend! Yeah, yeah, yeah.... there were photoshoots , prepping for Craftin' Outlaws , and even getting our house listed (you wanna buy a house in beautiful Harrison West in Columbus, OH? Contact me), BUT on top of that, in case you didn't catch it by, you know, scrolling down and shit, we had not one [...]

If you're willing to throw down 15 bucks for a cassette tape, you might as well do it right now. ND Shineywater, one half of New Mexico-based astral wanderers Brightblack Morning Light , has released a limited edition cassette EP recently recorded and hand duplicated using solar power. This isn't just environmentally conscious, it's smart. Do you have any idea how much sunshine they get in New Mexico? Record your next full-length the same way, dude!
Nomadic hippies/matador recording artists play a last minute show after reportedly having van troubles

Image From Here During the summer, down here on the Florida East Coast, we typically get a brief rain shower in the late afternoon. I don't know all the reasons why it happens that way but it usually does. Lately, we have been getting a lot of storms, more than usual. It may be odd to say but I like these summer rain showers. There is something cleansing about these storms and the rain. And there is also something beautiful when it is mixed with thunder and lightning. I know that may sound weird to [...]

Image From Here During the summer, down here on the Florida East Coast, we typically get a brief rain shower in the late afternoon. I don't know all the reasons why it happens that way but it usually does. Lately, we have been getting a lot of storms, more than usual. It may be odd to say but I like these summer rain showers. There is something cleansing about these storms and the rain. And there is also something beautiful when it is mixed with thunder and lightning. I know that may sound weird to [...]

Scott Walker: Scott 2 and Scott Walker Sings Jacques Brel After seeing the documentary 30th Century Man a few months back, my brilliant wife and I were both hankering to get a proper Scott Walker album or two, no longer content with the six or seven miscellaneous downloads we've accumulated over the years. These two were used at Amoeba, so these two we brought home. Both are pretty much outstanding. Scott Walker Sings Jacques Brel might have the edge, since Scott 2 's three best [...]

Helvetia Hometown: Seattle, Washington Album: The Acrobats (Buy) Year: 2008 Label: The Static Cult Label MP3: Helvetia - Old New Bicycle Notes: New Album 'Junk Shop' coming out September 15th Studio Hometown: Gothenburg, Sweden Album: West Coast (Buy) Year: 2007 Label: Information MP3: [...]
Buy Tickets Download: Rodriguez "Sugar Man" (from Cold Fact out now on Light In The Attic)

Photos by: Nicole Browner Earlier this year, I attended one of those Brightblack Morning Light showcases at Cafe Du Nord. It was so resolutely weird (both good and bad weird), that in hindsight, it has proven to be a personal turning point for my overall consideration of the Bay Area's so-called "freak folk" or your 'term of choice' movement. Symbolically, at least. Like a plume of smoke, the 10 mph soothing and repetitive soul stoned picnic that is Brightblack, wafted over a suspiciously passive audience, a great number of which funneled out [...]

This past weekend, the Northside Festival descended upon Brooklyn, NY, providing a full weekend of music showcases. As one should expect, Consequence of Sound was on site to take in the sites and sounds. First up, is a report from our own Carlos Destres... Thursday, June 11: Day One What felt like a world away from Manhattan began with a little swarm of clouds hanging in the sky, intermittently drizzling some rain on the sidewalks of Williamsburg. Nevertheless, across two towns, revelers descended upon the north side of [...]

via Auditory Threshold This past weekend, L Magazine cured NYC's SXSW envy with the first Northside Festival , a music and art-filled four days in North Brooklyn. Known for being musician and artist friendly, Williamsburg and Greenpoint were the obvious choice locales for a Brooklyn-based music festival. With a dense population of music stages and art galleries, North Brooklyn is dream come true for a music lover, and I thank L Magazine for taking full advantage of the local culture for the festival. [...]