this kindof says it all... i walked on the banks of the tincan banana dock and sat down under the huge shade of a southern pacific locomotive to look at the sunset over the box house hills and cry. jack kerouac sat beside me on a busted rusty iron pole, companion, we thought the same thoughts of the soul, bleak and blue and sad-eyed, surrounded by the gnarled steel roots of trees of machinery. the oily water on the river mirrored the red sky, sun sank on top [...]

Vulture Whale, if you don't know, are an incredible grungy Americana group. They're dirty, obnoxious, loud, and amazingly talented. Their self-titled debut is one of the best albums of the year. And their new EP, Bambou You, is free! That's right, free! Go here to get it. You won't regret it! Plam! I Love You ( alt link) BONUS AMERICANISH COVERS! Hey Hey What Can I Do? (Led Zep cover)-Hold Steady ( alt link ) [...]

Back in my late teens and early twenties I had a particular fondness for White Crosses, the little bronchodilater pills that one could by legally at gas stations all over the country. They were ephedrine tablets, designed for folks with asthma but used with great gusto by dieters and for recreational purposed. And also by long haul drivers nationwide, which is how they got their other common nickname - trucker speed. I used to indulge on long road trips. They were great for driving, kept you alert and entertained while undertaking the innately dull task of racing down the [...]

Big Star was in born Memphis, Tennessee, in 1971 to Alex Chilton, Chris Bell, Jody Stephens and Andy Hummel. This month, Rhino released Keep an Eye on the Sky , a collection that spans 1968 to 1975 and shows the progression of Big Star through selections from such studio precursors as Rock City and Icewater; music from Big Star's acclaimed recordings ( #1 Record, Radio City , and Third/Sister Lovers ); and relevant solo work by group principals Alex Chilton and Chris Bell, who formed Big Star in 1971 with bassist Andy Hummel and drummer Jody Stephens. The [...]
I've been spending a lot of time recently combing through Pitchfork's list of the top 500 songs of the decade, but one thing that has annoyed me is that I can't find a site that actually lists all 500 songs on one page. I'm tired of having to scroll through page after page. So, I'm doing it myself. Here's the complete list, republished merely as a reference. Go to www.pitchfork.com to see the full presentation with song reviews, artwork, and audio clips. 500. The Big Pink - "Velvet" 499. N.E.R.D. - "Run to the [...]
Tickets for this year's Austin City Limits Festival sold out weeks ago, but those willing to work can exchange three five-hour shifts & a $15 application fee for a weekend pass to the event. Visit workexchangeteam.com for more details and to apply for the ACL and/or Festival 8 teams. In other ACL news, the schedule for the festival - which takes place in Austin's Zilker Park on October 2 - 4 - has just been released . Let's take a look at some other stories [...]

Filed under: News , New Music , Exclusive Rosanne Cash may have inherited a thing or two from her father, Johnny Cash , but her love and understanding of country music wasn't a given until 1973, when he gave her a list of 100 essential country songs. Cash recently recorded a dozen of those songs for an album entitled -- for obvious reasons -- 'The List,' which will be released Oct. 6. Rather than keep the vibe too traditional, Cash incorporated her own taste for [...]

Janelle Monae at Bumbershoot (09/07/09) Words and Photos : Drake LeLane Please enjoy Drake 's recap from the final day of Bumbershoot 2009 below : After mostly holding back during Bumbershoot, the rain pretty much ruled the final day of the music and arts festival. With the ground already saturated from the late night-to-early-morning buckets from the prior two days, the last day was pretty dreary. There were still plenty of acts to be excited about, but my expectations were once [...]

Here we are, back at 1994 when the punk was punk and the grunge was grungy. The mid '90s was a hell of a time for film soundtracks to be perfectly honest. Every musical genre was retrofitted to movies, seamlessly holding them together, sometimes by a thin stream of consciousness ( Lost Highway ), or other times when the film enhanced the sounds of a depicted era ( Singles , The Crow ). Somewhere in the shuffle of this decade between hair bands and nu-metal, a movie came around that not so much defined a generation but instead became [...]

What's a musician to do when he or she feels artistically tied? Take the often ill-fated solo path or hop out and jam with some friends, and perhaps record a record or two? Sometimes it works, most often it doesn't, but here are ten great offshoots and one-off groups that were worth "breaking up" or out for. 1. Derek & The Dominos Who knew that Eric Clapton's best work would come outside Cream and his own solo career? Oh yeah, that was Duane [...]
olmadı pitchfork, olmadı 500. The Big Pink - Velvet 499. N.E.R.D. - Run to the Sun [Electronic version] 498. Unwound - Scarlette 497. Woods - Rain On 496. Akufen - Deck the House (Herbert's Stop Like This Mix) 495. Weezer - Island in the Sun 494. Blonde Redhead - Equus 493. Goldfrapp - Lovely Head 492. St. Vincent - The Strangers [...]

The inevitable but ostensibly overreaching contrast between The Smell and the Low End Theory comes into clearer focus when you hear the new Flying Lotus and No Age EP's side by side. While earlier recordings displayed a heavy emphasis on their hip-hop and punk roots, their latest offerings drift towards more ambient soundscapes, as though Steven Ellison, Dean Spunt and Randy Randall spent the last three months smoking Golden Kush and listening to Discreet Music . While neither offering is going to make you put down your copy of Nouns or Los Angeles [...]
Today is June 7, 2009, and I just discovered a fascinating little program called DosBox. If you're an old PC game fan, check it out. On days when I'm particularly uninspired by the day's findings, I just go and grab something nostalgic. So here it is, good ole' Golden Smog when I was 16. Dirt: Magic Johnson: 'Michael [...]
A Non Animal Collective. The softest part of my musical heart has always been reserved for the big, harmony laden, melody rich, slightly alt country songs. The kind that bands like The Jayhawks, Golden Smog, Whiskeytown, Wilco and Old 97 s made careers o ...

Well, we are nearing the end of our time in Puglia. We're spending a couple of days in or near Napoli before we fly back on Sunday, presumably troughing like total pigs, rather than paying all that much attention to culture and all that bobbins. Mrs. Toad is doing Sudoku and complaining about the 'wrong sort of paper'. I kid you not, it's just like British fucking Rail and their 'wrong type of snow', but she insists it's just for that reason that she can't solve them, not because they're too hard. Personally I find myself wondering if [...]

On Thursday I'm planning on being at TTs for the Detroit Cobras and Dexter Romweber Duo show. This looks like a great show so I really hope that there are tickets available at the door. If it's soldout, maybe I'll end up at the Plough for the Andrea Gillis Variety Show(could be cool). Friday has a couple of shows that look good. Fiery Furnaces with Hallelujah the Hills and the Bodega Girls at the Middle East are definitely worth a look if you've never seen them before. And if you like Queen, the Lizard is where you want to be, [...]
Jay Bennett: 1963-2009We can not begin to tell you how bummed we are since we heard the news that former Wilco band member Jay Bennett passed away this past weekend. Just truly sad. Only 45 years old and so much more.We saw Jay play with Wilco and Golden Smog several times at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC during the late '90's/early '00's and can safely say that Jay and Jeff Tweedy made a
PICK OF THE WEEK Meat Puppets Sewn Together record release show w/ Retribution Gospel Choir Tues, May 12 The Mint Info THIS WEEK'S TICKET GIVEAWAYS Mogwai w/ Dead Meadow Sat, May 16th Orpheum Theater Info [ ENTER TO WIN ] Doves [...]

Wilco O Wilco . How we adore you here. There is a sea of Wilco and Jeff Tweedy stuff out there. From live bootlegs,Golden Smog,Down With Wilco,Loose Fur,Uncle Tupelo ,Alternate versions of Albums,Solo Stuff. The list goes on and on. Mp3s and rarities after the jump.... Wilco Is nearly stamped into my DNA. Being There,Summerteeth,Yankee Hotel Foxtrot,A Ghost is Born are all at my cellular core. These guys are makin incredible music today that we will still be talkin about twenty,thirty years from now. Here are a bunch of my favorite B-sides , [...]
PopMatters interviews New York Doll David Johansen. Are hipsters stealing gay style? Decider Los Angeles interviews singer-songwriter Mike Doughty . D: You've been blogging since before there was even a word for it. Is writing on your blog part of your creative process? MD: I started writing long posts [...]