My niece's reaction to David Bowie got me thinking about musical variety. Kids haven't been programmed to think that weird music is weird yet. In the hopes of coaxing her away from the insipid oldies music that my mom makes her listen to, I wanted to craft a mixtape that would introduce my niece to stuff that I liked when I was younger.
We'd all like to be the John, Paul, or George of our place of employment, circle of friends, or council of supervillains working to blow up the sun. Sadly, most of us are not that essential. We are Ringos, like Ringo himself.
OK, folks, we've got the leader in the clubhouse for Album of the Year for 2010. I know it's only January, but I have a feeling someone is really going to have to step up their game to knock Vampire Weekend's Contra off its perch.
"Spinal Tap drummer" is an archetype, like the trickster/coyote or the mailman who kills everybody. As you probably know, the Tap had strong continuity in all positions but drummer; the wielders of those unlucky sticks fell victim to catastrophes such as gardening accidents and spontaneous combustion, plus choking on someone else's vomit.
The night before the results were due to be published, I couldn't sleep a wink. Panicked with anxiety, I knew that the expected failure would not only dismiss any chances of going to uni, but would devastate my parents – who had always laboured under an illusion of my academic brilliance.
Join us as we tinker with some of the key moments in the history of indie rock and detail what could have been had what actually happened never happened at all.
Certain songs rise to the occasion with unsparing honesty and melodies so bittersweet you can taste the anguish. But, alas, the majority comes off as the whining of a guy who thinks he's the only person to ever shed a tear.
As we begin this list of the songs of Radiohead, we immediately run into the folly of such a project. After all, this is a band that pays strict attention to the thematic flow of their albums, which means a song like the ethereal instrumental "Treefingers" is stripped of much of its meaning when evaluated all by its lonesome.
Most uses of "the Bono of X" have nothing to do with this unbelievable record of musical accomplishment and awesomeness. Instead, Bono is a reference point for noisy spokesmanship—sometimes as praise, often not.
Want a nice little hint for knowing an album's gonna sound a bit rough when you pop it in for a listen? It resides in a genre of music called "Shitgaze." Shitgaze isn't anything new, though. It is just lo-fi in the digital age.
A great strength of Elvis 75 is its chronological arrangement. Listen to the set in order, and you can hear Elvis evolve across the decades. And the tracks don't bog down; the song selection was made judiciously but with enough room for nonessential surprises.
In the world of rock and roll it takes mas cajones to attempt to remake an album with as much stature as Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon . You are without a doubt going to piss off a legion of purists, a collection of individuals who treat the songs as if they are the audio equivalent of the sacred slabs of stone emblazoned with the ten commandments.
Anyone who has HBO has been subjected to the replay of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert ever since it originally aired on November 29th. I have tried to sit through this four hour monstrosity a couple of times now, and trust me, that ain't no easy task!
I've always loved Nina Simone, she has a voice that physically moves me, she carries a quality that no other female singer before or after has possessed. On March 9, 1999 at the Royal Philharmonic in Liverpool, I was lucky enough to see her live.
In record time, Lady Gaga has become a reference point as commonly cited as the North Star or The Simpsons. Besides her talents—which I am unqualified to judge, and even less interested in thinking about—I think there's another reason for her success: gaga is just a damn fun word to say. Gaga! Gaga! It's addictive.
I cringed when I was asked to put together a list of my 10 favorite albums from the past decade. My shortlist had nearly four times that many. How could I possibly narrow it down? So instead of going through that torturous weeding out process, I decided to compile a list of ten records that I feel didn't get the attention they deserved.
Some of you who have read my work on this site may know that I have a predilection for ranking things. But, in the spirit of the season, let's put aside all competition and just hand out plaudits to a few of my favorite things that music had to offer in 2009.
"One Night In Bangkok," a #3 Billboard hit back in 1984, still casts a bizarre spell, and there is no denying that it's got a great deal to do with Head's unforgettable vocal performance, which can best be described as the most world-weary, fey rap you'll ever come across.
The output of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers has been so consistently brilliant over the years that sometimes the individual albums get a bit lost in the shuffle. 1981's Hard Promises , the band's fourth album, might be best remembered as the one where Petty fought his label to keep the list price of the record down.
Miles in a reggae way? This year, the 50th anniversary of Miles Davis's landmark Kind of Blue , the world finally has the answer.
JamsBio Magazine
The Rains of Castamere by The National
Nas - Daughters
DIIV "How Long Have You Known?" (OFFICIAL VIDEO)
CHROMATICS "THESE STREETS WILL NEVER LOOK THE SAME"
A Place To Bury Strangers - "You Are The One" (Official Video)
Azealia Banks - '1991' [Listen]
Has Ween Broken Up? Aaron Freeman Retires Gene Ween
Metric Debuts Album via Synthetica Hide+Seek, Tickets On Sale Now For Fall Tour
