
"Describing her sound as `rock noir`, Rykarda Parasol's music evokes moody cinema drenched in gin and white-collar crime. Her personal songs depict bad love and bad deeds in stark simplicity." All the necessary melodrama surrounding this talented lady and her multicultural family tree is wholly justified, if anything the hype is a little subdued. While Siouxsie vocal references are duly made and PJ Havery/Nick Cave post goth narratives break the ironic surface, Rykarda`s delivery is no accidental scenario. It will almost make you laugh, it will certainly make you cry, [...]

"The Octagon's Will Glass and Zachary Mexico met as kids in boarding when Glass made fun of Mexico's Green Day t-shirt. The guys huddled together in dorm rooms, late at night, drinking from warm 40's of St. Ides and handles of Captain Morgan, listening to Motown, Astral Weeks, Guided by Voices, Dead Kennedys, and The Grateful Dead. Eventually landing in NYC, Glass and Mexico met up with bass player The Bunny, forming The Octagon and touring behind two albums." `Warm Love And Cool Dreams Forever` seems a rather whimsical, if not [...]

"Though grounded in a traditional rock line up of guitar/vocals (Logan Middleton), bass (Sean Neesely), drums (Grant Van Amburgh), and organ (performed on FEVER by Austin Jenkins and Logan Middleton), The Laughing also utilizes a vast array of percussion, bells, dulcimers, ukuleles, synths, clarinets, flutes, blankets of noise and lush harmonies. Varied instrumentation and ornamental arrangements adorn core song structures and melodies that take cues from the likes of Harry Nilsson, Os Mutantes, Jorge Bem, Silver Apples, Love, Roxy Music, Sonic Youth, 13th Floor Elevators and more". For the [...]
"The New Loud is a three-piece electro/punk/new wave band from the blue collar city of Milwaukee, WI. It`s debut EP, `Can't Stop Not Knowing` consists of six tracks including an intense, frenetic cover of Radiohead's 2 + 2 = 5. The EP was produced by band member Shane Olivo and displays a tight mixture of electronic elements and natural sounds, layered obsessively with some songs using up to 80 tracks in the mix". The achievement of organised rowdiness within decades of tight lipped musical influences is commendable and especially being rather [...]

It`s the time of the week where sifting through the promotional emails is equivalent to putting the cat out. You never want that box to be on the verge of overflowing, it`s almost an environmental issue. I`d much rather post publicity supplied material than miss the opportunity to share some fantastic music. "I'm Here To Kill is System and Station's third EP (to go along with four full-lengths with a fifth is due in April 2010) and first to appear in the vinyl format (180gram). "System [...]

"The psychedelically syncopated sounds of Cleveland's Mr Gnome draw on a visceral mix of contrasting textures. Masculine and feminine, soft whispers and shrill yelps, pounding drums and soothing lullabies combine to form a discursive indie-rock collage. The duo's jagged symphony of sound has them compared to a scattershot of artists ranging from Portishead, Cat Power, Massive Attack, and Joanna Newsom, to Death From Above 1979, Blonde Redhead, Sonic Youth, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs". `Heave Yer Skeleton`, the follow-up to mr. Gnome's debut full-length, `Deliver This Creature`, promises to be no less a musical twist [...]

Yay, we made it to the weekend and only YOU got dysentery! Hope you've entered the IFC Radiohead Fanatic Contest, I just want all that clutch vinyl [ IFC Sweepstakes ] How NOT to Light a Bonfire [ COED Magazine ] Cinema 16 Returns to the Bell House, NYC [ BBQ Chicken Robot "The Hood Internet" Matt & Kim vs. The Beastie Boys [ I Rock I Roll ] gorilla vs. booze III video recap [...]

The Pomegranates [ MySpace ] are hitting the road for a month-long string of shows supporting Everybody, Come Outside! (out 4/14), the dreamy and sure-to-be hit album from the Cincinnati art-poppers. The band will be accompanied on the tour by Merge Records artists, Wye Oak and if you're not sure where you've heard their name, I would like to point out that during the Fanatic Promotion SXSW showcase in Austin, an especially enthusiastic audience member jumped the barrier to join the group on tambourine. That's probably the [...]

LA-based noise-poppers, The Happy Hollows [ Official Site , Myspace ], are coming here to New York in a few weeks for CMJ , so I thought we should take a second to pass along some of the new info from their upcoming EP, Imaginary . The Happy Hollows are an infectious trio, one that will surely score big with the kids and folks packed into the Blender Theater that night, but don't take my word for it. Come grab some mp3s and read more info [...]
LA-based noise-poppers, The Happy Hollows [Official Site, Myspace], are coming here to New York in a few weeks for CMJ, so I thought we should take a second to pass along some of the new info from...