MP3: Nachtmystium - Cold Tormentor (I've Become) from Nachtmystium (2003) To me, "black metal" means a style of music pioneered by Norwegian bands like Darkthrone and Mayhem in the early 1990s. The (again, for me) defining elements of the genre are densely layered trebly guitars, often low-fidelity production, high screechy vocals, lyrics about darkness, despair, and evil (as opposed to dismemberment, gore and violence), and riffs that are more melodic than one finds in other extreme forms of metal like death metal. In recent years, American bands have produced some of the best music [...]
If you like punk, and you live in L.A., Headline Records is the place to go to. When I have friends from out of town, I make a point to drive down to Melrose. Jean-Luc has seen the scene grow from an international standpoint. And if you have a chance, listen to him talk. Like with Curtis from TAANG, when I'm in Headline, I'm just a student in this punk game. 1. When did you start Headline Records, and what gave you the idea [...]
by Bill Pearis DOWNLOAD : Red Mass - Saturn (MP3) Red Mass @ La Sala Rossa - Nov 18, 2009 I'm currently up here in Montreal getting ready for the fourth annual M for Montreal , a music festival/industry event mashup that showcases nearly 30 of the city's bands/artists who are ready, in the eyes and ears of festival organizers, to make the leap from a local [...]
I'm gearing up to see Devo on Friday and have been revisiting the classic era of synth-punk, a genre the band had very much to do with pioneering during their earlier years. The genre combines the intense, guitar-driven fury of punk rock with often sloppy and simplistic synth mashing. Though the instrumentation may be the same, synth-punk has little in common with new wave, the fluffier, more pop-driven counterpart. Synth-punk was often gritty, poorly recorded, nasty, and powerful as sin. With that in mind, let's touch upon a few genre classics, both new and old. [...]
Girls , Christopher Owens and Chet White, are currently touring the states in support of their recently released album, 'Album'. Tour Dates 11-18 Portland, OR @ Jackpot Records 11-18 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge 11-20 San Francisco, CA @ Swedish American Hall 11-21 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom Of The Hill 12-04 San Diego, CA @ The Loft 12-05 Los Angeles, CA @ The Troubadour [...]
by Martin Longley Since the early 1980s, self-styled Texas Jewboy Kinky Friedman has drawn the most attention as a crime fiction scribe, smearing the division between reality and fantasy, laughs and tension. In the last four years, he's also been raising his political profile to the point where The Kinkster just might be a realistic contender (so says a recent, and apparently 'serious' poll), with his Texans For Kinky campaign surging towards 2010 in the battle against current [...]
In 2004, Annie—Bergen, Norway's sunniest export—scored both club hits and indie cred with her debut album Anniemal . Her sophomore LP Don't Stop was initially announced in early 2008, but got tangled up, as she explains it, in a nasty case of record label drama. "I kept on delivering things but it was never enough," says the singer. Fast forward a year-and-a-half later, and Don't Stop has finally arrived on these shores, thanks to Oslo-based label Smalltown Supersound. Idolator met up with 31-year-old Annie (real name: Anne Lilia Berge Strand) in Los Angeles [...]
[image via myspace ] Scottish DJ/Producer Burns , whose career has skyrocketed in the past year due to a steady stream of top-notch remixes and originals as well as a notorious reputation for wild nights out, will be making an appearance at Chicago's Congress Theater this Friday, November 20, alongside house music magnate Deadmau5 [ tickets ]. The show will mark the final leg of Burns' first full North American tour, which saw him performing in 25 cities in just 28 days. [...]
The Golden Filter [ MySpace ] are an electronic duo (Penelope and Stephen) based here in New York whose latest video, "Thunderbird", just dropped onto the scene and we're fans. "We're" means "just me" as of late, but there's nothing wrong with that. The 123 is out now via Dummy and you can own it. Owning things is pretty neat. Oh, just so you know: "The Thunderbird of the title refers to a bird of Native American mythology when used in chant ceremonies symbolises purification and healing. There [...]
2010 is shaping up to be a lot like 2009 for San Francisco's Girls . Well, maybe not quite the same, unless they announce a surprise sophomore record (wishful thinking, I know, but is that really a bad thing?). Anyway, with the release of its lush debut Album , the band settled in and played a slew of dates across the nation. In case you missed one of their shows, which is kind of likely as many were sold out, 2010 will be your chance to see some, well, live Girls performing. [...]
2010 is shaping up to be a lot like 2009 for San Francisco's Girls . Well, maybe not quite the same, unless they announce a surprise sophomore record (wishful thinking, I know, but is that really a bad thing?). Anyway, with the release of its lush debut Album , the band settled in and played a slew of dates across the nation. In case you missed one of their shows, which is kind of likely as many were sold out, 2010 will be your chance to see some, well, live Girls performing. [...]
Fall Out Boy Peak: 2005 Era: From Under The Cork Tree What Have Fall Out Boy done in the 2000s? After a couple of independent releases in 2003, Fall Out Boy signed to Island, or one of its subsidiaries, in 2005 and decided to go supernova. When From Under The Cork Tree went double platinum, it was clear that they had put pop punk back in the mainstream. Not only [...]
Bowerbirds play a tiny desk concert at NPR Music . The Guardian profiles comics legend Osamu Tezuka and his creation, Astro Boy. Tezuka's comics look outward to the world, too: his influences are decisively international. Individual frames, as McCarthy points out, reference Captain Nemo, Frankenstein – and isn't that Mickey Mouse's hat from Fantasia? The backgrounds are pure Fritz Lang, full of hovercars reminiscent of chrome-crusted American cars from the 1950s. Astro Boy himself is a reimagining of Pinocchio (who is, [...]
La scorsa settimana abbiamo terminato il nostro viaggio attraverso gli album più importanti del decennio che si sta concludendo. Abbiamo quindi pensato di riassumere il tutto in questo post che non è altro che la lista completa, tappa per tappa, degli album che di volta in volta abbiamo approfondito, in modo tale da avere una sorta di indice delle varie puntate. Dopo il salto trovate anche la listona di tutti gli album che di anno in anno sono stati inseriti fra "gli album da salvare". [...]
Drums Play Spaceland Monday Night (and It's Free) Ray Davies put on a fantastic show on Saturday night at the Orpheum. If you get a chance to see him on this tour do not hesitate. More on that later. Another great week this week. If you're into buzz bands you might want to check out Drums tonight, The Big Pink on Wednesday, Tape Deck Mountain on Thursday, Neon Indian on Friday and The XX on Saturday. Some of those will be good, but I'm recommending a variety of [...]
Photo by Vince Kmeron New tour dates have been announced for Phoenix, Vampire Weekend, The Big Pink, Hot Chip, The xx, Passion Pit, Japandroids, St. Vincent, Jay-Z, Neon Indian, and Fiery Furnaces. Full dates after the jump: Phoenix 11-17 Stuttgart, Germany - Zapata 11-18 Frankfurt, Germany - Cocoon Club 11-19 Dortmund, Germany - FZW Eldoradio 11-20 Mannheim, Germany - Alte Feuerwache 11-21 Berlin, Germany - Huxleys 12-02 New York, NY - Hammerstein Ballroom 12-04 Boston, MA [...]
Last week, I had the opportunity to chat -- and, by chat, I mean "chat via the Internet" -- with a handful of independent record labels' owners and managers. I wanted to discuss the role of the label in a time when fewer people seem to know or care what labels their favorite musicians or bands are on. Furthermore, and perhaps this has always been true, we may not even know what exactly a label does . At the beginning of this decade, record labels were still a way of indexing artists; of positioning them [...]
Looking to give North American a more extensive amount of love, The Cribs (now w/ Johnny Marr) have unveiled a three-week endeavor for January. In support of last week's release of their fourth LP, Ignore the Ignorant , the English rockers will hit the road beginning January 13th in Chicago (as part of the Tomorrow Never Knows ) and play all the usual stops before wrapping things up in January 31st in Vancouver. Tickets for the newly announced dates go on sale beginning Wednesday, November 18th via Ticketmaster.com . [...]
Star Trek fans should be happy tomorrow with the 2009 feature film on store shelves in a variety of formats, along with The Best of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Vol. 2 and The Best of Star Trek: The Original Series, Vol. 2 . Other feature films of note out tomorrow include Jim Jarmusch's The Limits of Control and the Criterion Collection release of Downhill Racer . [...]
Star Trek fans should be happy tomorrow with the 2009 feature film on store shelves in a variety of formats, along with The Best of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Vol. 2 and The Best of Star Trek: The Original Series, Vol. 2 . Other feature films of note out tomorrow include Jim Jarmusch's The Limits of Control and the Criterion Collection release of Downhill Racer . [...]
new music from vampire weekend – cousins + music video
Friday Five: Surf Songs
HOT CHIP TAKE another crack at IT and I’m IN
No Curve Allowed (Grading This Week's New Tracks)
