Blog: Between Love & Like

To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as life-long friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band. We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished. To any who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest thanks for listening. R.E.M. ( Source ) It's the end of an era, and for some, the end of the world as we know it... R.E.M. called it quits today after 31 years together as a band. The reason was not any dramatic, just, as [...]

When Fishbone first emerged from California, no other band sounded or looked like them, and the weight of their innovative and iconic presence is still being felt decades later. Coinciding with the group’s 25th anniversary, filmmakers Lev Anderson & Chris Metzler have directed a compelling new documentary, narrated by Laurence Fishburne. "Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone" is both a fascinating and brutally honest look at the band’s history for longtime fans, as well as a perfect entry point for newcomers. Everyday Sunshine will open on October 7th at the ReRun [...]

The Winston-Salem Journal reported today that thieves broke into Fidelitorium Recordings (long known as the Drive-In Studio), the great NC-recording studio of producer Mitch Easter last week. Eight mostly-vintage guitars were taken...and some beer. "For what, an after-crime party?" quipped Easter, "It was all kind of mysterious." The article reported the guitars were worth $13,500. Easter said the guitars are insured but that their value goes beyond their monetary worth. One of the guitars, a 12-string Fender that Easter has had since age 12, was used by R.E.M. guitarist Peter [...]

Nicole Atkins was in DC over the weekend to play The Birchmere but she came by Som Records for an in-store (or on-sidewalk as it was). Atkins was supposed to be plugged in, but no proper cable could be found, so what we got instead was her lovely voice and an acoustic guitar-I think we made out better in the end. If you don't know her, she's well worth investigating: her songs are observant and witty, with a voice like the blues covered in honey. I shot Atkins' set for [...]

Peter Wolf Crier is a Minneapolis, MN-based duo that makes incredibly lush music using just a drum and a guitar. I've long thought their music sounds like that feeling of sitting before a fire during a snowstorm: quiet, warm, and full, with just a hint of danger running underneath (what if we're snowed in forever gaaaah). Their 2010 debut, Inter-Be , includes "Untitled 101" which is quite the stunning pining-for-love-prayer. PWC will release its follow-up to Inter-Be with the full-length Garden of Arms on 9/6. [...]

The big rock sound of Surfer Blood is returning in October (25th to be exact) in the form of a four-track EP titled The Tarot Classics . The record is being released on vinyl, digital, and CD, and each format will include bonus remixes by Totally Sincere (Connor Hanwick of The Drums and Peggy Wang of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart ), San Francisco-based Speculator , School of Seven Bells and Allen Blickle . Tarot is the follow up to 2010's Astro Coast [...]

The late 90s were quite a time to be in the North Carolina Triangle if you were a music nerd. One of the Triangle's bigger-name bands, Archers of Loaf ,went on its hiatus around the time of my arrival for graduate school in '98, so they were one I never got to see live. Which I think is why I wasn't so much into them then. On record, I didn't catch the melody and the hooks enough to dig further than Icky Mettle, and on that, I definitely preferred the more accessible tracks like "Web in Front" [...]

The Avett Brothers used their gorgeous tones to perform quite a few tracks from their most recent release, the lovely I and Love and You , for an upcoming CMT Unplugged episode. They also debuted a new track, "The Once and Future Carpenter," during the show, for which we have the video! These boys really take beauty and harmony to a whole other level. The Once and Future Carpenter (CMT Unplugged) - The Avett Brothers - The Avett Brothers Videos [...]

Virgin Fest Lineup: Black Keys, Cee Lo, TV on the Radio, Patti Smith, and More Subscribe in a reader

The NJ Star-Ledger reported earlier that Bruce Springsteen "s "Big Man," saxophonist Clarence Clemons suffered a stroke tonight at his home in Florida. Hang in there Big Man, our thoughts are with you... Subscribe in a reader

LA Times reported today that a Buddy Holly tribute with, well, everyone in music today is coming out in June. Rave On Buddy Holly , out 6/28, will include 19-tracks from folks like Modest Mouse, Cee Lo Green , and The Black Keys . “As the tracks from various contributors were gathered for the album, we seemed to be gathering pieces of a complex and original puzzle … that traces back to the roots of rock and roll and shapes so much of the music that followed," says the [...]

Cancer took another musician this week... Poly Styrene , who fronted the pioneering punk band, X-Ray Spex passed away today from spinal and breast cancer today at age 53. Many of today's indie babes, such as Karen O and Beth Ditto cited Styrene's persona as their big inspiration. All of 19 when X-Ray Spex started, Styrene and her braces were game-changing in terms of how a front woman needed to look and act. Awhile back, one of her nurses said, "Get back out there! Don't let Kylie Minogue take over!". So she put out [...]

• X-Ray Spex - Germfree Adolescents

Another year, another SXSW Music survived. It's crazy, it's five days of no sleep and eating on the run. But then you see that new band that knocks your socks off, or start chatting with that established musician whose music you've always loved on the street as you race from one venue to another, and no matter how tired you are, you know you're coming back next year. Carrie Brownstein of Wild Flag @ NPR ' Day Party @ The Parish [...]

Finally... Paste reported today that Color Me Obsessed , a fan-based documentary of The Replacements is finally coming out. Of the movie, director Gorman Bechard said, "I decided to present the band in a more iconic way. I thought, people believe in God without seeing or hearing him but rather through the passion, faith, and stories of others. After watching Color Me Obsessed, I’m pretty sure music fans will believe in The Replacements in much the same way.” I'm a huge Mats fan and even that's a little strong for me. But [...]

John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats is angry about the situation in Wisconsin and the whole union-busting situation. So he did what every good indie guitar player should do when something political gets his, uh, goat (hehe). He broke out his guitar, channeled that bit of Billy Bragg that lives inside all of us, and covered one of the best political songs ever, "There is Power in a Union." Says Darnielle Everybody knows I don't generally do the acoustic guitar guy rocking political jams deal but as a former member of SEIU 660 & the [...]

Superchunk singer Mac McCaughan will be on the WNYC show "SuperFans" today. It's an ongoing series that talks to, and about, ultra-loyal fan communities of all things. Today, they'll be covering Bruce Springsteen , which is cool in itself. But what will be even cooler is that McCaughan will be covering a Bruce song live on the air (doh!) Our series on ultra-loyal fan communities returns with a look at the cult of The Boss. We talk with Daniel Cavicchi, author of Tramps Like Us: Music and Meaning Among Springsteen Fans, about the factions and rituals [...]

It's Fat Tuesday in Nawlins right now, the last bit of tearing things up before Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent comes around. Professor Longhair was my introduction to Cajun stomp and New Orleans in general, so if you can't be there in person, at least your ears can. Subscribe in a reader

The Strokes hit Saturday Night Live this weekend with two new tracks from their forthcoming record, Angles , due out 3/22 . There are strains of Is This It? but it's...more evolved somehow. Nikolai Fraiture'a strong bass lines and Fabrizio Moretti's drums still drive the sound, but there's more of a change-up now in song structures and whatnot (great example, "Life is Simple in the Moonlight"). I'm praying they don't travel all the way to SXSW just for the single Auditorium Shores show, my Nikon is looking to love [...]

Sondre Lerche has one of those other-worldly voices of beauty that can bring light to the deep and dark places. (Check out this video for a perfect example, long one of my favorites.) Lerche is releasing a self-titled record, his sixth, on 6/7 this year. What will be interesting to hear is that many of the tracks are one-takes. "We recorded a lot of it to tape, forcing ourselves to either commit or burn bridges and move on," said Lerche. "We were killing darlings left and right. It was truly liberating." [...]

I photographed the Jonathan Richman show on Saturday at the 930 Club (read all about it here) for the paper. Shortly after their uploading, I got an email from New York Magazine asking about their using one of the photos for their concert roundup segment on their Vulture section. A girl can't say no to that...So we didn't. Check out the photo they used here . Subscribe in a reader