Deastro , a.k.a., Randy Chabot, released Moondagger in June and it has been haunting my car stereo for months now. It's 14 tracks are still mesmerizing me, along with the various remixes and releases I've collected since then by this prolific artist. I've said it before and I'll continue to say it, the single most intriguing element of Deastro's music is the variety of sounds that he incorporates into a unified whole of incredible fantasy. As one London review noted, he has the "epic swagger of U2, the intimacy of Badly Drawn Boy, the bleepedy bleepness of Aphex Twin." [...]

In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published books. Liz Funk's Supergirls Speak Out: Inside the Secret Crisis of Overachieving Girls examines the stresses facing high achieving young women in today's society, and why they feel the need to overachieve. A "supergirl" herself (Funk is 21). she brings a fresh and often personal approach to the topic in a book every parent, teacher, and uncle (like me) should read. Janice Erlbaum wrote of the [...]

Find everything that went up in February below. Download individual songs or listen to the whole batch in one playlist. month in mp3s [ play ] | [ download mp3 ] Animal Collective - My Girls [ play ] | [ download mp3 ] Telepathe - Lights Go Down [ play ] | [ download mp3 ] Faunts - It Hurts Me all the Time [ [...]
Hey Gavin, Gray here with Indie Circuit. You're obviously an extremely busy guy and I really appreciate you taking the time out to do this. Congratulations on the release of Home. You should be very proud of your work. IC: How is life in Portland treating you? Do you think it will have any impact on your music? GC: Portland has been really wonderful and welcoming. From my very first show I noticed a difference in how my music was embraced and received, and it has done nothing but flourish since that show. I notice [...]
Since 1999, Take Action has been pairing charity and music. As the 2009 Take Action Tour takes off, guitarist Dave Melillo of headliner Cute Is What We Aim For gave Bethany a call to talk about the tour and the band. Bethany, PopWreckoning: So you guys are getting ready to go out on the Take Action Tour. I noticed on your website you guys also list out favorite charities. Why is this tour important to you and why is it important to encourage your fans to [...]

Just kidding , but one week into the new Age of Nothing's Wrong (I say in fun, though Obama's al-Arabia interview yesterday almost had me believing it!), I happened today to read Carrie Brownstein's transition-day, beating-around-the-Bush-era post on the former Sleater-Kinney guitarist's NPR blog, Monitor Mix. She makes a fine list of songs of anger/angst/protest from the period. But then comes this summary, which hit home on first reading because Brownstein's such a convincing and clear writer: "In the last few years, the songs and struggles have [...]

Axl Rose recently broke silence and talked to fans on the mygnr forum. While he answered some questions and seemed to be in a good mood, there was an early heated exchange between Axl and some fans. Today Axl has showed up again, this time on the chinesedemocracy.com forum - and actually made the thread asking fans for questions. He posts under the name ???Dexter??? (he is a big fan of the tv show). Here is the recap of all the questions asked, and of course, his answers: Who wants to chat [...]

SomaCow Media, Inc . is proud to present SomaCow , brought to you in this hour by PlentyofFish.com - When s*&% goes south, they're there to help you find Mr. or Ms. Right for Right Now with a quickness! So, I was rebuffed in my efforts to welcome a new show here to the network, as it seems the cohosts slotted to fill that bill are no longer... "into" it. Shame, but that is the way of love. I am just hoping that Mickey and The Chick That He Is No Longer Dating, But Remains [...]

I haven't wrapped my head around all this yet, but there's something compelling about cabaret-anarcho-punk. I mean, if or when The World Inferno Friendship Society (a.k.a. The World, The Inferno, or World Inferno) ever comes to Chicago, I'm there! How could you NOT want to see a band whose style merges punk , klezmer , and gospel , while its collective membership features horns , piano , guitar, a [...]

It's that time of year again, when bands both big and small converge upon New York City for a debaucherous , music-filled five days...that's right we're talking about the 2008 CMJ Music Marathon. Spanning Oct. 21 to Oct. 25, there's just too much to see. We'll do our best...this isn't our full time job. Come on! (in Gob voice.) Stark has enjoyed watching certain acts from all over the nation strive for immediate, Black Kids-like fame. Alas, they're not all that lucky. From Nashville to Chicago to NYC, Stark has highlighted [...]
I decided to post about this song today considering the current economic state of most countries in the Western World today due to the problems facing banks, stock markets etc - just turn on the tv and you'll hear all about it. What turned me onto this song while hearing about all this was the continued arguments for and against the bailouts that a lot of the governments are planning and have already done to prevent the complete collapse of financial markets and banks. The song is taken from his first album after the breakup of The [...]
I'll dream about you... I will not doubt you... It's possible you've heard of the band Say Anything by now. Their release "Alive With the Glory of Love" enjoyed some decent circulation on TV Shows and throughout video channels, such as FuseTV. "Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too" was an instant teenage sensation since it repeated the thrillingly provocative "called her on the phone and she touched herself" line, not to mention an appearance by Henry Winkler in the video. If you missed these, maybe you heard "Baby Girl, I'm A [...]
This is a best of. Not the usual "I'm playing a good episode over again" but I just picked my favorites from the last 12 or so episodes. I hope you enjoy them as well! It was a hard choice but if you missed your favorite well go grab that episode again Dirt Poor Robins - Eleanor Rigby Assemblage 23 - Binary The Milwaukees - Breakup Song The Pietasters - Triflin' [...]

Continuing the series of John Peel Sessions covering the first 54 12" Vinyl releases on Strange Fruit Records. (SFPS001 - SFPS-54). SFPS013 - Joy Division Heres a bit about the early years of the band, courtesy of myspace.com/joydivision 1976 Inspired by a Sex Pistols gig at the Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall on July 20, 1976, Bernard Sumner (also credited as "Bernard Dicken", "Bernard Albrecht" and "Bernard Albrecht-Dicken") and Peter Hook formed a band with friend Terry Mason. Sumner bought a guitar, Hook [...]