It's almost cliché, but after college I drove cross country with a few friends and, literally, filled out a Relix internship application in the parking lot before a Deer Creek Phish show. I sent it off at a local Kinkos and after some persistent nudging scored an interview that fall. I interned for Aeve Baldwin, who was the editor at that time, and after a few months that turned into a part time job at the magazine. I did pretty much every job under the editorial sun except—luckily for Relix—copy editing, including project coordinator, staff writer, Jambands.com contributing editor, staff [...]
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 [...]
Hat tip to Michael Marotta of the Boston Herald for this. Here's his full post . And the nominees are! Album of the Year Manners - Passion Pit The Everyday Visuals - The Everyday Visuals Saving Seamus Ryan - Esoteric Diving for Gold - Session Americana Axe to Fall - Converge Torrent - Will Dailey Oh My God, Charlie Darwin - The Low Anthem Act of the Year Will Dailey Doomriders [...]
I feel good now, on my first night in the cabin. I had a sickly sad feeling of uncertainty wash over me on the long drive down the rocky dirt road tonight, but now, here I feel alright. There was the idea of putting all this off, of working here during the day, of whipping this old cabin into living shape, slaving in the sun, cleaning, bleaching, killing mice, and then shutting it up and driving the long way back into Monterrey to wash my clothes, take a hot shower and sleep in a soft bed. Now, it seems, I've [...]
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We do quite like Mr. Kevin Hoskins, national booking agent over at the Middle East (which we also quite like). Tomorrow is Kevin's birthday, and to celebrate he has put together a solid lineup of local and traveling acts: Viva Viva Mean Creek Cropduster Wild Yaks (fr. NYC) 18+ $8adv/$10dos Maker's Mark must also quite like Kevin because they're sponsoring the event. Drink up kids, and don't forget your party hats.
Yesterday, Paste released its list of the 50 Best Albums Of The 2000s, and the list was topped by none other than Sufjan Stevens' Illinoise , which honestly seems like it was released way longer ago, so established has he become in the indie-rock firmament. Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot , the Arcade Fire's Funeral , Radiohead's Kid A , and Bright Eyes' I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning rounded out the top five. Full rundown after the jump, but first, a few reactions. THE GOOD: Hey, [...]
Mean Creek rocks the harmonies and the driving guitar sound to their full advantage.
Got a watermarked listening copy of IRM, Charlotte Gainsbourg's (and Beck's, for mr Hansen produced) new album. It's out in December. Here are my first impressions. Master's Hand Starts off a little oriental, then changes into a Tom Waits-ish (steel percussion, repetitive acoustic guitar, distorted bassdrum) song. Charlotte's voice is barely more than a whisper, melody is like a nursery rhyme. Lyric: 'Breathe out, come to life, give me a reason to feel.' Strings come in, Charlotte wails. Promising intro. IRM You know this, you can download it [...]
Apparently Halloween Weekend means every band in the area is appearing as another band, could be entertaining or just confusing I guess we'll have to check them out to find the answer. On Thursday you can go to TTs and see the Talking Heads, Robert Palmer x 2, The Replacements and The Who. Or you could go to the Plough for the surf band The Trabants and the Middle East has King Khan & the BBQ Show and Downbeat 5. On Friday the Armory in Somerville has a spooky event with the screening of Phantom of the Opera and music [...]
Maybe you haven't noticed, but it's the golden age of music video all over again. Once left to the likes of big budgets, Top 40 and MTV, indie musicians are teaming with burgeoning auteurs to create a new wave of DIY audio/visual splendor. The gentlemen of Weinland recently embarked on a tour of western and southwestern states (which is where we find them now), but first unveiled the video for "I'm Sure It Helps" last month at the Doug Fir. The video, directed by Daniel Fickle, was shot in part at the Crystal Ballroom (what do [...]
There is another excellent concert coming up here in the Cincinnati area next week. On Monday, November 2nd across the river in Covington The Whigs and The Features, who ENS favorites, will be taking the stage at the Mad Hatter. The Features released an excellent record earlier this year titled Some Kind Of Salvation , which was the first release on the new label imprint from Kings Of Leon. The Whigs are getting ready to release a brand new album of their own in 2010 after the success of their first two records [...]
Many many many rocking choices this year for Halloween. Here's a round-up for you. THURSDAY 10/29 Arts At the Armory Dr. Gasp's 7th Annual Halloween Special - Dan Blakeslee's (aka Dr. Gasp) touring Halloween show features folk renditions of songs creepy and bizarre. The musical equivalent of Hitchcock, Lorre, and Price, Blakeslee brings along special guests Ambitious Tugboat and lots of spooky surprises. Doors: 6:30pm, Show: 7pm. $8 adult, $3 kids (12 and under) [Includes $1 facility fee.] O'Brien's [...]
A little birdie just told us via Twitter that Drug Rug (aka Tommy and Sarah) will be playing at ZuZu tomorrow night, fresh off their tour with Portugal. The Man. The same birdie said that Dead Trees , ex-Bostonians formerly known as Furvis who have a few days between their recent CMJ show and their upcoming Middle East downstairs gig (this Thursday night with The Whigs, Mean Creek & The Features), will be playing as well. The listing on ZuZu's site doesn't confirm the latter but does indeed list Tommy & Sarah (who are collectively our little [...]
This is the fourth stop (out of ten) on the Albums Of The Decade Blog Tour that features a ton of great music bloggers listing their favorites from the years 2000-2009. Yesterday's list featured ten albums from Built On A Weak Spot and tomorrow's will be provided by Clicky Clicky Music . For the complete schedule or any of the other lists, go check out Albums Of The Decade Blog Tour . I'm not sure how anyone is realistically supposed to accurately and/or adequately represent their favorite albums of a [...]
![The Whigs announce new album, release new song [new mp3]](http://cache.elbo.ws/posts/2069833_lg.jpg)
Athens, GA rockers The Whigs are headlining a tour, releasing a new album via ATO Records and giving fans a taste by giving away the title track. No word on a release date for In The Dark , but we'll keep you posted. The Whigs - In The Dark Tour dates: October 28 - Middle East (Downstairs) - Boston, Massachusetts October 29 - Funk & Waffles - Syracuse, New York October 30 - Mohawk - Buffalo, New York October 31 - Musica - Akron, Ohio [...]
Been a little under the weather lately but hopefully on the mend now...and back to posting. We're really excited for the new release from the Athens, GA band The Whigs , set for release in early 2010. We had a chance to catch the band down in Madison, WI last year and they absolutely rocked. The Whigs in Madison To tempt us over until the release, the band is releasing the [...]
That's right, we've got MORE tickets for you! This time, we've got a pair of tickets for local heroes Mean Creek , ex-locals The Dead Trees (some of us remember them as Furvis), Athens, GA's The Whigs and Tennesee's The Features at the Middle East downstairs on Wednesday, October 28. It's presented by MassConcerts and is an 18+ show. So you want 'em? All you gotta do to enter is send us an email with the subject line MEAN CREEK TICKETS. One lucky random winner will be alerted [...]
Athens, GA garage rockers The Whigs are very excited to hit the road this month and premiere songs from their upcoming album, In The Dark (ATO Records). The headlining tour covers 29 cities in seven weeks and The Features, The Dead Trees and Mean Creek will support the run at ...
Sweetest Day didn't go well for me. On one hand, I woke up entirely hung over from Friday's Dr. Dog show at Beachland. We had a little Citizen Dick reunion of sorts, with Rob, Brian, and Justin all converging at my place after the amazing set the medicinally astute canine put on for us. Plenty of brews were enjoyed, and after a slew of heated musical and professional debates, I went to bed knowing the morning wouldn't be too sweet. This was correct because my liver was smoking a cigarette next to me when I rolled out of bed. Lesson [...]
WKND PLYLST!! This has nothing to do with NEW MOON!
‘09 Been Kind
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
