Remember when we said we’d share our list of 25 other unmissable records the first week of January? Whoops. Thing is, the first month of this new year, we were still listening to and falling in (and out) of love with records from 2011. Discovering albums we should’ve shared months ago and finding out what [...]

Your sizable song-filled Saturday touts: ► Aimee Mann [pictured above] returns with her traditional Christmas show over at the Wiltern with friends such as Paul F Tompkins, Michael Penn, Tim Heidecker, and many more. ► NYC's Cavemen plays another SoCal show at Orange County's Detroit Bar with support from L.A.'s Races . [Check out their video for "Easy Water." ] ► Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter , whose band members include Whiskeytown's guitarist Phil Wandscher) headline the Bootleg Theater. The Watson Twins and [...]

We keep our eyes peeled for new tour dates announcements each week and compile them on Tuesdays for this handy column… After selling an estimated 70 million albums, and years of public feuding and bickering, the Brothers Gallagher finally pulled the plug on Oasis in 2009. Liam collected the pieces of their shattered band to form Beady Eye , who put out their debut album Different Gear, Still Speeding , earlier this year. Not to be outdone by his younger brother, Noel has announced the formation of a band he's [...]

John Clark Even before anyone heard a note, there was little doubt that Wild Flag would be fantastic. With two-thirds of Sleater-Kinney in Janet Weiss and Carrie Brownstein, Mary Timony of Helium and Rebecca Cole of The Minders , they had about as unimpeachable a pedigree as any band really could. And yet, as history has shown many times, a lot of things look good on paper but don't live up to expectations in reality. Wild Flag is not one of those things. I was able [...]

Tomorrow night I'll be at the Death Cab for Cutie + Frightened Rabbit show at RIMAC, most likely singing the words to all the songs under my breath while trying to objectively cover the show but my review is going to look something like the diary of a sixteen year old girl, with all sorts of, "holy shit, and theennn they played Transatlanticism and it reminded me of that one time where I liked that boy but nothing happened" followed by claims that it was the best show.. [...]
Morning time in Pickathon-land started with kids-o-plenty dashing past me; an act which sent plumes of dust both skyward and camp-ward like mini Mt. St. Helens eruptions. But since grinding dirt between my teeth had now become par for the course, I was happy to wash it down with hot coffee. Tents, cars, ferns, feet, faces, and clothes were already cloaked in a finely ground layer of filth. The “Oasis” had showers on the menu for $6, but I hadn’t reached my breaking point yet. I was basking in it with everyone else. A marine layer of clouds shrouded us [...]
It's a busy week, you guys. In addition to the Outside Lands Festival (or, as I know it, Stay the Hell Away From Golden Gate Park Weekend) and the San Jose Jazz Festival, the Bay Area will also host concerts from two of the most defining artists on the pop landscape, for better and worse [...]

Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter Marble Son Station Grey Records Considering how Marble Son has been billed as Jesse Sykes' electric rock album, it's surprising how little its opening track, "Hushed by Devotion" does to further this story line. Yes, Sykes' voice is as brilliant as ever - Husky, smoky, and a little rough around the edges; Nuanced, foreboding, and surprisingly calm. The problem is not Sykes, but her backing band, The Sweet Hereafter, who are thoroughly unconvincing as a heavy psych-rock outfit. The riffs wander with [...]
Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter got their first mention here on Hidden Track back in January of 2007, during HT 1.0, when we had a reoccurring feature around these parts called Listen To This Shit , which featured a mix of music that former E-i-C Slade Sohmer had advised to shove in your ear holes. While that initial post made mention that Sykes sounded eerily like a female version of Widespread Panic front man John Bell, it appears as if a lot has changed in the three and a half years since. [...]
Firstly, we'd like to apologize for being late with this week's Best New Releases - work and family issues took over, plus, we wanted a few days to really listen to all of the tracks and put together an overview of the bands and artists who have the most exciting new albums out this week. [...] Read more, get songs or stream the entire mix on Indie Rock Cafe
Here are a few songs from some of better albums released this week. Boston Spaceships – “Tabby and Lucy” (mp3) from Let It Beard. Buffalo Killers – “Circle Day” (mp3) from 3. Direct Hit! – “Monster in the Closet” (mp3) from Domesplitter. Fruit Bats – “Tangie and Ray” (mp3) and “You’re Too Weird” (mp3) from Tripper. Moonface – “Fast Peter” (mp3) from Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I’d Hoped. Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter – “Come to Mary” (mp3) from Marble Son. Continue reading…
Marble Son is the fourth album from Seattle outfit Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter , and it signals something of a departure from the sparser alt-country of its predecessors. It’s a record that takes the band into heavier, guitar-laden territory while retaining sufficient light and shade to stand out as refreshingly different. “Hushed By Devotion” is a lovely, long track to get proceedings underway. It clocks in at over eight minutes, half of which is taken up by an extended instrumental that moves from an insistent folk-rock riff into early Yes territory via something akin [...]
"Act on Impulse," the first track from We Were Promised Jetpacks' sophomore release, shows the Scottish noise-makers further developing their sound which at first came off as a welcome, albeit, slightly redundant take on agitated indie-rock, punk and early emo. Here, with a patient, two-minute instrumental build-up, and a second, two minute build before the noise comes, they've increased the effectiveness of their good, old-fashioned guitar swarm without sacrificing any of their edge. We Were Promised Jetpacks' second album, In the Pit of the Stomach, will be released October 3rd on Fat Cat Records. [...]

MP3: Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter - Hushed By Devotion Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter have never written a bad record. Ever. But while they're always completely great, nothing from their camp was ever fuck yeah worthy... until now. Perhaps influenced by recent time spent with Southern Lord , the opener to their newest LP "Marble Sun" will slowly burn throughout until a burst of fire proceeds to melt off your face. The rest of the album follows suit, though in a more subtle [...]
With an unmatched focus on environmental sustainability, Pickathon Music Festival 's only vice is some wonderful noise-pollution for neighboring Portland, Oregon. Taking place in Happy Valley, OR between August 5th and 7th, the indie-roots festival bypasses the normal list of festival regulars , to establish an eclectic family-friendly bill of banjo pickers, acoustic outfits, soul legends, and other bluegrass greats. For its 13th installment , Pickathon already tapped Mavis Staples, Bill Callahan, Lee Fields & The Expressions, plus the Fruit Bats and others, and are now completing the lineup with 11 new acts - pushing the [...]
![Jason Isbell w/ Langhorne Slim @ The Earl, Atlanta [Concert Review]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/2936878_lg.jpg)
Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit need to be witnessed in the South. I had seen Isbell with and without the 400 Unit in San Francisco before relocating, but the crowd wasn't quite right and Isbell's performance felt less genuine. That was not the case last Friday night at The Earl in Atlanta. The ex-Drive-By Trucker from Muscle Shoals, Alabama took the stage to a packed house of Southerners hellbent on singing every line of every song. The night also included Langhorne Slim, Jesse Sykes and Phil Wandscher, and Mimicking Birds as part of the Paste Magazine Tour. [...]
Seattle in the summertime is full of festivals ... Capitol Hill Block Party, Bumbershoot, and this weekend, a triple header of smaller festivals that are just as worthy of your time and attention. Best of all, none of these festivals are going to set you back a day's worth of work and they are purely [...]
Seattle in the summertime is full of festivals ... Capitol Hill Block Party, Bumbershoot, and this weekend a triple header of smaller festivals that are just as worthy of your time and attention. Best of all, none of these festivals are going to set you back a day's worth of work and they are purely [...]

MP3: Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter - Don't Let Me Go It's my birthday and it's snowing like a mother fucker here, so I'm going to post a ton of songs today, mostly some slow burners that are perfect birthday/snow songs (I don't know what the fuck that is, really these are just songs I like a lot). So I'm kicking things off with Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter . "Reckless Burning" is a great album that's been in my arsenal for some time now and I feel like [...]