Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz Release Date: October 12, 2010 Rating: ***** out of ***** (Essential Listening!) Wow. During my college days, when Sufjan Stevens started to make his mark in the indie world (think Michigan, Seven Swans, and Illinois), I arbitrarily chose not to follow his career. I'd hear a pretty song now and again and realize [Read Full Post...]
Not much to say here. Kanye does it again with another Good Friday (weekly songs dropped until the release of his new album, Good Ass Job). Another seven-plus minute banger with a loaded roster (Jay-Z, RZA of Wu-Tang Clan, Swizz Beatz). The man is on top of the world and listening to his recent musical [Read Full Post...]
Could also be called: Musings During the Vampire Weekend Show I Got Free Passes to This Week. No, it’s not what you think: I am not hot for Ezra Koenig. He seems a bit too much (really, it’s eerie) like the love child/test tube baby of Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Jason Mraz (bro-y arm gestures included!). [Read Full Post...]
Time to drop an enormous payload of New Music on you. With no further ado, in alphabetical order, here's what you need to be aware of... Minnesotan MC Slug is back with his increasingly freeform band, Atmosphere. I am not sure this is a good thing, as he seems to have peaked years ago with his [Read Full Post...]
We at Daydream Station have recently broken through the glass ceiling and entered the world of credentialed journalists (no, we aren't sure why either). In the last few weeks, disco divas Hercules and Love Affair and Norwegian phenoms Casiokids both were generous enough to give us a pair of tickets via the official guest lists for their [Read Full Post...]
Our Top 100 Tracks of the Decade lists (see sidebar on the right to peruse them) were epic undertakings. No small amount of poring, sorting, listening, re-listening, second-guessing and indiscriminate ranking went into it, and what came out was wonderful. Was it perfect? Definitely not. First off, Amanda and I didn't have identical lists, so OBVIOUSLY [Read Full Post...]
One hundred, it turns out, is not a very big number. One or two worthwhile songs from the last decade, I admit, didn't get the chances they deserved to shine because I had a limit. Omissions were made, and for the following glaring ones, I sincerely apologize. The Grossly Overlooked - I just fucked up, okay? After [Read Full Post...]
Officially the lowest-intensity song to ever make it into a remix roundup, "Gay Boy" by Italians Do it Better darling Farah, is barely a song at all. Unembellished - even slightly nasal - vocals tiptoe over a stripped down floor, no more than a few heartbeats of percussion and a few telltale Johnny Jewel ominous [Read Full Post...]
You may remember a band called Elefant, who had a moderately big hit back in 2003 with a fantastic Interpol/Strokes-is h number called "Misfit". You probably liked it - it's hard not to. The lead singer of said (since-dissolved) band, Diego Garcia, is playing around with some solo work now, and the early returns are pretty fun. [Read Full Post...]
ZOMG you guys, The Teenagers are back! Well, they've been back but with all this remix focus, I somehow missed that they released a new song (via Twitter, how typical) a couple of months ago. According to their website, a new album is in the works and they are collaborating with none other than Fred Falke [Read Full Post...]
So, life being life, I think I will be posting more often about individual tracks, bands, or interesting tidbits, but Daydream Station's New Music Monday is going to fade into a bi-weekly feature. It'll be a round-up of sorts, collecting one-offs, fun album tracks, advance singles and intriguing collaborations, but it should no longer act [Read Full Post...]
More than a day late, I know, but hopefully not too many dollars short. My physical life has been kicking the ass of my internet life recently and Remix Roundup has suffered. So please accept the following gifts as a token of my contrition. Let's kick things off with a Goldfrapp remix, shall we? "Believer" is the new single [Read Full Post...]
Kevin Barnes and Of Montreal are back. You may not be aware of this, but he and I have a very close relationship. Details? Well, there was a very special night some years back at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor, when he donned a veil and we tied the knot. Technically, the rest of the [Read Full Post...]
The recording quality of these leaks may be so-so, but the musical quality of upcoming releases from Kanye West and Andre 3000 is nothing to doubt. Kanye tweeted it was coming and here it is: "See Me Now", a six-minute taste that could be from forthcoming album Good Ass Job, with a hook from no [Read Full Post...]
Just what do you think you're doing, Dave? Dave, I really think I’m entitled to an answer to that question. I know everything hasn’t been quite right with me, but I can assure you now very confidently that it’s going to be alright agin. I feel much better now, I really do. Look, Dave ... [Read Full Post...]
Hey kids, got big plans for the weekend? I ask because I am skipping town tomorrow so I get to post about leisure time on Tuesday just to piss you off. I also ask because here is this amazing song, and perhaps you were looking for a soundtrack to your off-duty activities. Anybody planning a [Read Full Post...]
My periodic, probably-stress-related insomnia would like to make sure you are aware of the following: Aaron featured Kissed Her Little Sister in his new music bulletin the other day and I have to say, having been playing this heavily for about a month now, I completely agree with his assessment of the sound: you would never [Read Full Post...]
Bands, especially good ones, have this tendency to release new music. Fans of these bands then go crazy about it, and everyone talks about this great new music for awhile. You know what gets a bad rap in all this? Old music. Old music can be awesome. Sometimes, buzz or no buzz, a band made better [Read Full Post...]
Let's just jump right in, shall we? HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT I AM JUST NOW FINDING OUT ABOUT THIS?! Danish producer Anders Trentemøller did this unofficial remix of Bruce Springsteen's "State Trooper" sometime in late 2009 and by some inexcusable cosmic accident, I only just heard it last week - and then only because I [Read Full Post...]
To the uneducated eye, it may appear that New Music Monday is a day late this week. Rather than a traditional excuse, I will offer you a hilarious comic strip that hints at a possible explanation that you definitely can't disprove. READ HERE, subscribe to/bookmark the excellent comic, and then come back and listen to some [Read Full Post...]