Arresting, intense folk-rock Americana Lissie Maurus is a folk-rock singer from the southwest Illinois border town of Rock Island. Although there's a rustic Midwestern edge to her Americana, her transplantation to Los Angeles, and national and international gigs have elevated her music beyond coffee-house strumming. Her voice pulls you in close with confessional introductions and then attacks with arresting outbursts of emotion. The exclamation of "danger will follow me now everywhere I go, angels will fall on me and take me to my home" finds her bending back from the microphone to make room [...]
RED HOT TOUR 2 Acts You Should Know When Grace Potter and Brett Dennen reach Boston to play the House of Blues Boston tonight they will likely find a throng of eager new fans. Both acts have made huge inroads with new audiences with their self-effacing, embracing live shows and solid material. [...]
Filed under: Concerts and Tours , News In support of his new record, 'What Will We Be,' idiosyncratic singer-songwriter Devendra Banhart deployed his backing band, the Grogs, at Chicago's Vic Theatre on Monday night. Comprised of Little Joy 's Rodrigo Amarante (who contributed to Banhart's last record, 'Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon'), the band resurrected Banhart's diverse discography of freak-folk and classic rock. "Here's one from my favorite band, Little Joy," Banhart exclaimed as he slipped away from the spotlight and allowed Aramante to take over [...]
i grew so tired of movement so one day i stopped. how it happened; picture me as occam's razor. with tits. picture me as emmeline pankhurst. with catheter. how it happened; the opposite of awakening. the sun rises one morning and you don't. there are no more choices only slogans. you lay comfortable with the realisation that there is no freedom only consumption. medicine is an illusion. love is panic. it all fades. clouds lift. doors forced open in [...]
Math rock pioneer Tim Kinsella and his longstanding outfit, Joan of Arc, have just announced a new album, but it's not what you think. Don't Mind Control isn't a proper Joan of Arc record; it's a compilation of 18 brand new songs from 18 bands and musicians the monstrously prolific Kinsella has worked with throughout his career. Don't Mind Control expands on the premise of 2005's Association of Utopian Hologram Swallowers , a five-band split EP featuring Kinsella affiliates. Noticeably absent from Control is the band that started it all, scrappy emo godfathers, [...]
The ranks of the members of Chicago indie rockers Joan of Arc have changed over the years with Tim Kinsella being one of the few (even perhaps only) constants. Kinsella admits that the band is really more than just him, but with over 40 members contributing over time, how does one even capture the diversity of all those people? Well, a new release from Polyvinyl hopes to help. Joan of Arc Presents: Don't Mind Control will feature eighteen tracks from various contributors to the band. It should be an interesting listen, and it will be released on January [...]
The second installment of A Retrospective, in which I recap my favorite albums released from 2000 to 2008, this time: 2001. Wrought with turmoil and watching a life fall apart as so many others were having similar experiences but in a different manner; that was 2001 for you. The year I turned 21 (hence the wine bottle photo above). A year that lives in infamy. Young or old, we all seemed to grow up that year. Music, too seemed to progress in ways unthought, even before that fateful day. [...]
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars I must preface this review by stating that I have never been a fan of the work of Bradford Cox . I realize that this is heresy in today's indie scene, but I really just have a difficult time giving a shit when there is so much more quality music to which to listen. Now I'm not saying the man isn't talented, he is. His work with Deerhunter is listenable, but I feel like I have heard it all before, and better. I have listened to [...]
Sometime in 2005, not long before Hurricane Katrina came along and backhand-slapped our city to near-oblivion, my sister Asante asked me to make a mix CD for her. She wanted something inspirational without being pretentious; something optimistic, minus the naiveté. I put a mix together, called it Asante's Mix, gave it to her and forgot about it. A few months later, I was at her house and heard the CD playing. Ironically, it happened to be a time when I was in need of a little inspiration and optimism of my own. Surprised that I liked the tunes [...]
The day is overcast but still warm. I expect it will be even warmer when the sun decides to stay around a bit. Gracie and I were outside for a while, Gracie running in the yard and me watching from the deck, but we're both back inside: she's napping and I'm composing. Lately I have had something to do every day, and I'm not liking it much. I figure I'm due for a bit of indolence but, alas, not today. I'm busy again with errands and appointments so I've blocked off the whole day tomorrow. The most strenuous [...]
He probably lies to his dog as well. For the love of all that is holy, the new Owen record is cripplingly sad. Granted, all recordings from Mike Kinsella (his brother Tim is the frontman of Joan of Arc and the "Hey coffee eyes. You got me coughing up my cookie heart" guy) have been sorrowful and intimate, but the recently-released New Leaves just feels sadder than all the rest. Hide all the sharp objects around you... "If I lie still long enough for my heart [...]
Joan of Arc's 12th odd album may be a little on the hit-&-miss side, as Joe Tacopino's PopMatters review attests, but this track is definitely a hit. That said, I'm not exactly sure what this video is trying to get at.
On this day - October 13th, skilled troubadour Harper Simon, who adeptly utilizes the fabled vocal gift inherited from his father Paul Simon, releases his debut album to the world – 10 tracks paying tribute to the hallowed long play format and the seamless arc and structure that it traditionally has brought us when executed correctly. Harper recorded his new album in Nashville, New York and Los Angeles with a storied cast of collaborators including multi-generational legends that you'll hear numerous audio fingerprints of throughout the record. Notable names include legendary producer Bob Johnston (Dylan, Cash, [...]
Enjoy 'Flowers' below. Be sure to visit JOA at their official MySpace page. MP3: Joan Of Arc - A Tell Tale Penis
folk squat http://www.myspace.com/folksqu at folk squat is a home-recording unit formed by 2 Japanese, Katsuyuki Tahara and Taiji Hiramatsu in 2002. Started by using Hard Disk Recorder "KORG D1200" to record, mix all tracks & released 1st Album "missing weather" in 2003 and also 2nd album "I KNOW YOU KNOW" in 2004. Since D1200 passd away in 2005, changed recording equipment to Mac & Logic and released 3rd album "one plus everything" which was supported by special guests, Marc Bianchi (Her Space Holiday) and Mike Kinsella (OWEN, Joan of Arc) in 2006. And 4th [...]
It's somewhat amusing to read the various writeups on Harper Simon . Just how long do you have to go before you get to the proverbial kicker -- "hey, this is Paul Simon's kid." Finally delivering his superlative self-titled debut solo album on October 13 after working on some band projects (and one with "step-mom" Edie Brickell, the fine Heavy Circles), it's obvious early on that the 36-year-old Simon clearly has inherited a substantial quantity of knockout songwriter genes from his iconic tunesmith dad. Also at work: a special affinity for the art form known fondly as THE ALBUM, [...]
If you know me well enough you know my true passion in music is the build up and climax of an amazing song. Bands like Godspeed you Black Emperor! and Broken Social Scene have a direct link to my ears needs. Volcano Choir's debut album Unmap is on that wave length right now. The slow crashing build up of "Seeplymouth" with layers of that beautiful high pitched voice of Justin Vernons and the splash of cymbals just beating out a wave of fuzz until it stops and your hand [...]
If you know me well enough you know my true passion in music is the build up and climax of an amazing song. Bands like Godspeed you Black Emperor! and Broken Social Scene have a direct link to my ears needs. Volcano Choir's debut album Unmap is on that wave length right now. The slow crashing build up of "Sleeplymouth" with layers of that beautiful high pitched voice of Justin Vernons and the splash of cymbals just beating out a wave of fuzz until it stops and your hand [...]
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars Owen 's sole member, Mike Kinsella , has been tooling around the scene since before we even knew what a 'scene'. With his brother, Tim , Mike helped start the groundbreaking band Cap n' Jazz in 1989 which, with a solitary LP and a handful of singles and compilation tracks, changed the way we saw indie rock. Since the bands split in 1995, Kinsella has put in time with such indie luminaries as Joan of Arc , American Football , [...]
Vampire Weekend - Cousins
Bobby B's Top 50 Albums Of The Decade (#25-21)
HOT CHIP TAKE another crack at IT and I’m IN
