Blog: ZMEmusic

Show: Jimmy Page / The Firm Date: May 7 th , 1985 Place: Worcester, Massachusetts Venue: Worcester Centrum Jimmy Page - Born Jan 9 1944 and still rocking! 5:00 P.M – Pick up Sister and her boyfriend for the show. 5:10 – Stopped at liquor store. 5:15 – Driving down the Mass Pike [...]

The headline says it all, folks. Canadian indie/alternative twin-duo Tegan and Sara have officially come back from their year and a half off, and are expected to enter the studio in the middle of this month. Having not toured since a year before the release of their three-part short film series Get Along in November of 2011, this installation can be expected to deviate slightly from the latest Sainthood and even more (most likely) from 20072s The Con , while still retaining that ever-present [...]

A year ago today (and, believe me, this is still terribly hard to type), monumental Detroit garage rock duo the White Stripes officially decided to break apart. The raw, bluesy two piece cut the chord on February 2, 2011, ending the more than 10 years of life their only child had so voraciously acquired. In all honesty, this was to be expected; it would have been selfish to force the electric pair to continue, especially once Meg White 's increasingly acute anxiety attacks were factored into the entropic equation. It was clear that (although not mentioned [...]

Jack White, former frontman of the garage-rock duo The White Stripes and current member of The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather, has just unveiled the first single off his debut solo album Blunderbuss . The single, "Love Interruption," is currently streaming at Third Man Records' website , and will be released as a 73 single February 7th. This leading single is a bluesy acoustic track, with a soft jazz organ and clarinet playing in the background. Jack White's singing is complimented by Ruby Amanfu, a fellow [...]

It's called "We Take Care of Our Own," and you can hear it via a lyric video he uploaded to YouTube. You can stream it below. The song is the first single off of his forthcoming record Wrecking Ball , which is due out on March 6 . In typical Boss fashion, it's got not-all-hope-is-lost working-man lyrics, chiming guitars, and an anthemic chorus. So, yeah, it's a Springsteen song.

So on the heels of hearing about a reunited At The Drive-In , we hear that fellow '90s punk icons Refused are getting back together and are schedule to play at music festival giant Coachella in April. As for the explanation behind the reunion, there's a wordy explanation (just like the explanation for the break-up back in '98) on their official site . Besides personal reasons, they claim: We never did " The shape of punk to come " [sic] justice back when it came out, too tangled up in [...]

First: After two and a half years - an eternity within TMV's world - we will finally have a new record this year, their first since 20092s Octahedron . (Which I loved , by the way). They have yet to make a bad record, so this is something to get excited for. Second: Even while TMV are prepping a new album, At The Drive-In are GETTING BACK TOGETHER . The announcement came in the form of a Tweet : " AT THE DRIVE-IN will be breaking their 11 year silence THIS STATION [...]

Americans like stuff, right? They like capitalism and democracy and friends and love and fast food and coffee. Right? Polls show that Americans like stuff, so they must like stuff. It's simple logic. And it further stands to reason that because they like stuff, they know what kinds of stuff they like. So here's the thing: If Americans, as a friend put it, "want cake, give them cake," then you've effectively given Americans exactly what they asked for, right? Well, kinda. You see, the problem with Americans is that, in actuality, they don't know what they [...]

Americans like stuff, right? They like capitalism and democracy and friends and love and fast food and coffee. Right? Polls show that Americans like stuff, so they must like stuff. It's simple logic. And it further stands to reason that because they like stuff, they know what kinds of stuff they like. So here's the thing: If Americans, as a friend put it, "want cake, give them cake," then you've effectively given Americans exactly what they asked for, right? Well, kinda. You see, the problem with Americans is that, in actuality, they don't know what they [...]

Since her sudden death of July 23rd 2011, Amy Winehouse has been the focus of more tributes than can be counted. From Bruno Mars at the VMAs to Green Day at their secret show, quite a few high profile artists have thrown their musical hats into the ring of Amy tributes. Not to say all of these aren't sincere, but the truth of the matter is that most of these artists had most likely never been as affected as a true Brit. That's where Matthew Beer's Falling Asleep is different. Born in Birmingham, Matthew has been a [...]

Left to Right: Chris Hudson (drums), Wade MaVv (lead vocals/guitar), and Chuck Holiday (bass.). In the back room of the unassuming San Pedro Brewing Company , while the chilly Southern Californian day wore on, KiLR (pronounced KY-ler) was in the process of launching/promoting their first major music video and conducting a 48-hour drive for 100,000 views. For an independent pop-rock/full alternative band from the Los Angeles area, this feat may seem daunting...but their sound is solid and definitely more than able to shatter viral status in no time at all. [...]

California based four piece KilR are prepping to hit the mainstream and finally make it big, or at least that's what they're hoping for, once with the release of their first official music video for " Crazzzy ". Frankly, with their current attitude and work ethic, I don't see why they can't move in on the radio guitar rock niche in the close future as a dominant force. The video itself, works around the same radio motif - expensive cars, mansions and hot, half naked girls all over the place, but is it enough to make them stand [...]

The album probably shoulda been called "Tighten Up," considering that's what Danger Mouse helped the Keys do for the songwriting of this record. Funny thing "Tighten Up," too: If that was the band's attempt at a pop song (within a retro-soul record), El Camino , and especially lead single "Lonely Boy," is their attempt at a pop record. And, of course, since it's Danger Mouse and it's on a major label, the hooks aren't happenstance like they used to be. There are melodies - big ones - and Dan's guitar is the cleanest dirty I've heard in [...]

The Black Keys performing in an iTunes Session, mid October, 2010. Dangerously addictive and musically clever British garage rock group the Arctic Monkeys have decided to join the Black Keys (who have just dropped their seventh album, El Camino , co-produced by Danger Mouse) in some of their next string of dates, spanning from from now to the third of March next year. The Arctics will be joining the Keys for the last half of the tour, from March 2 to March 23.The two unlikely counterparts have just set the [...]

Live on From The Basement. I wish I could tell you otherwise... but sadly, oh glorious Internet patron and Sonic Youth lover, the title did not lead your eyes astray; this last October, Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon , co-creators and minds behind Sonic Youth, have filed for a divorce after 27 years of marriage, putting the future of Sonic Youth itself in an ominous fog. There is not much to report on this subject, seeing as the future is and will remain a giant speculative grey area until [...]

Everyone's favorite obnoxious punk band is back, after only 16 years! That's right, I'm talking about The Dead Milkmen, who have an all-new album recorded and ready to go. The Milkmen broke up in 1995, but got back together in 2008 after playing a few shows that went well for them. After composing new songs and touring for a few years, they began recording The King In Yellow in 2010, and released the hard copy of that album today. I've been pretty freakin' happy since I found out, and I imagine some of our readers ( and authors [...]

So after the hilarious video for "Lonely Boy" (great song, too!), the Black Keys would like you to hear more of their upcoming album, El Camino . All ya gotta do is head over to the Keys' site for the album and enter in some info - namely: email address, zip code and country. (If you detest getting pointless emails from the band or Warner Bros, you can simply unsubscribe right after.) Pretty simple, right? And for this you get to hear four (!) new cuts from the forthcoming record, plus the aforementioned [...]

Billboard announced a new rule about SoundScan counts: if your album is sold for under $3.49, it doesn't get counted toward your Billboard ranking. Everyone seems to be assuming that this has something to do with the 2-day, 99 cent sale of Lady GaGa's latest, Born This Way , which went platinum in a week . Critics argue that a large part of such chart domination was largely because it was sold as such a low price considering 440,000 of those copies were sold on Amazon's mp3 store for the bargain rate. [...]

Left to right: Kyle Wallinger (drums), Adam McDaniel (guitar), Jake Quarle (upside-down)(vocals), Alyssa Porras (bass), and Jared Charles (guitar). Just upstate from the birthing grounds of such great thrash pioneers as Slayer and Metallica comes Archea , a rather rambunctious young group with a definite and ferocious sound. Coming straight out of Pleasant Hill, California, (an otherwise quiet town dwindling in the glare of the lights of San Francisco ), Archea can only be described as a crazy delicious blend of metals that you won't want to miss, [...]

So, for all the shit that I've given Nickelback over the years, apparently it has been warranted - at least a little bit. A blog calling itself Tastebuds.fm has named the Canadian rockers the " number one musical turnoff ." Tastebuds, a similar site to Last.fm, did their research thusly: Each user was allowed to specify up to 12 acts that turned them off. Nickelback – regularly lambasted by the music press – came out on top with almost 13% of users specifying their brand of grunge rock [...]