Blog: sonic slang

Kanye West, who's already been busy running marathons, pissing off bloggers and Jockin' Jay-Z, is apparently workin' OT on his 4th LP, with a possible release date for late this year. West has recently bee performing "Love Lockdown," purported to...

Whether you love, hate or generally overlook her new stuff, you kinda have to respect Liz Phair. No matter how much crap this gal takes for "selling out," she's thus far resisted aping her past glories with a calculated "return...

Ben Folds, who will release his latest solo album Way to Normal on 9.30, is reuniting with his former band mates as Ben Folds Five for the first time in nearly a decade for a 9.18 gig. The concert, set...

Bruce Springsteen has penned the title-track for Darren Aronofsky's (Requiem for a Dream) upcoming film, The Wrestler. The movie stars Mickey Rourke as Randy 'The Ram' Robinson, a veteran wrestler struggling to make a living in the ring. It might...

Normally this isn't a forum for partisan politics, but after last night's shockingly smug speech by former "Mayor of America" Rudy Giuliani, I figured what the hell. (And it just happens to be backed by an instrumental version of The...

Sonic Slang is taking a semi-siesta for the holiday weekend, but don't panic, we've got a parting gift filled with more than enough killer tunes and pelvic thrusts to get you through 'Til Tuesday. Now follow this dude's lead, and...

AC/DC's new single, "Rock 'N Roll Train," is streaming on the band's official site. Thankfully, they didn't throw us any curveballs after eight years on ice. Those well-worn riffs might not pack the same punch they did in the Back...

While "The Day That Never Comes," Metallica's first leaked track off Death Magnetic, sounded like a re-heated (but actually pretty bad ass) page from the band's late-80s/early 90s heyday, latest leak "My Apocalypse" sounds like a late 80's/early 90's metal...

Just went we started to forget all about that whole Led Zeppelin reunion thing, Jason Bonham starts spouting off about jam sessions (Sans Robert Plant, so far) and a new album being "on the cards." While I am not familiar...

2008, Arts and Crafts Verdict: B After two huge steps back on Without Feathers, The Stills' Oceans Will Rise makes admirable progress towards recapturing the band's early promise. Though not quite worthy of the "return to form" tag (Logic Will...

Spinner's got a nice batch of album streams up this week, led by The Verve's comeback disc, Forth (left), as well as Matthew Sweet's Sunshine Lies, a return to the guitar-driven pop-rock sound that made him a 90's cult favorite....

Taking it slow on a Monday morning... Mapping the songs of Springsteen The Hold Steady's Craig Finn to talk baseball with ESPN Coldplay: A Band that sews together... Fall releases to heat up sales? The Cure to call new LP...

Summer may be on its last legs, but USA Today is streaming a preview of Brian Wilson's new LP, The Lucky Old Sun (due 9.02), so at least we have a good soundtrack to go out on. Predictably, it's a...

Rumor has it the Steinbrenners are mulling plans for a going-out-of-business blowout at Yankee Stadium, featuring a performance by either Bruce Springsteen or Paul McCartney. Since it seems unlikely we'd say goodbye to an American landmark with a performance by...

Foggy (now in all new orange and black flavor) has offered up some tips for enjoying a Cardinals/Oasis gig. Most importantly, Ryan, sounding totally cool with stroking the Gallagher's egos ("It's their game, and we're their too...they got mad hits."),...

Nikka Costa is back on 10.14 with Pebble To A Pearl, her first disc since 2005's Can'tneverdidnothin'. First single "Stuck to You" is more of Costa's funk/soul/pop hybrid that has long drawn comparisons to Lenny Kravitz or even Prince. I...

The title track from The Streets forthcoming Everything is Borrowed LP (due 9.15 in the UK) is streaming at MySpace today. My recent warming up to Mike Skinner not withstanding, the smooth gospel-leaning feel isn't really doing it for me....

Matt Wertz has been bouncing around the independent scene for eight years, churning out catchy acoustic pop and blue-eyed soul. His well-earned major label debut, Under the Summer Sun, is set for a 9.16 release, but its too bad they...

• Matt Wertz - 5:19

Metallica has posted four 10-second snippets from the upcoming Death Magnetic LP to its official site. No vocals can be heard, but judging by the riffs on display it sounds like we're looking at a blend of ...And Justice for...

Based on comments to Billboard.com, it looks like The Verve's reunion effort, Forth, will not be a one-off affair: "This definitely is an ongoing concern; it's not something that we're all just gonna chuck away again," bassist Simon Jones tells...