I'm not yet ready to anoint the 2009-10 edition of Syracuse Orange basketball the best team since their 2003 championship; heck, it's probably a little premature to call them better than last year's Sweet 16 version, led by lottery pick Jonny Flynn. But there's no doubt in my mind that this is one of the best defensive teams I've ever seen at the Cuse. And they are off to one hell of a start. One night after dominating #12 Cal, they dismantled defending national champion UNC by an 87-71 margin, sparked by a 20-1 start of the second half that [...]
E very genre of music has an ideal listening environment. Classical is best heard at a smyphony. Arena rock should be heard at, well, at a large arena. Electronic music? Nothing beats a dance party. But whether you're a club person, a bar junkie or a house party lover, you've probably encountered a lot of obnoxious people during your nights out. Below are nine of the people we hate most in no particular order. Got any good ideas for future lists you'd like to see? Send them over . [...]
Back in 1997 Anthony Lovett and Matt Maranian wrote and published what eventually became my favorite Los Angeles guidebook. That book's name was (and is) LA Bizarro . A few years ago on this website I talked to Matt about the original book's undertaking ( fun interview with Matt here ). Since that time the two authors have now revised, updated and significantly expanded that original tome, and their collective output was published by Chronicle Books just this fall. In the 2009 updated edition of LA Bizarro (available at the time of this [...]
I wrote this post over a year ago - in August 2008, to be exact - after I got a cease and desist for posting a song by a girl named Gabriella Cilmi. For whatever reason, I didn't post this. Maybe I figured some mysterious record company man in a long black coat with scars on his face would whack me in the parking lot if I did. Not so worried about that now. And, if you don't mind me noting: as of today - November 20, 2009 - I haven't heard a lot [...]
I very briefly wrote about The XX's debut album back in September and since then I've only grown to love it more; it's going to be right up there with my favourite albums of the year. But due to a combination of having Canucks' tickets on the night of their show in Vancouver (which were eventually swapped for the Ranger game a couple weeks back) and the state of flux The XX seem to be in at the moment, I was contemplating buying tickets...but I contemplated too long: their gig with Friendly Fires at the Commodore [...]
By Carrie Brownstein And it's naptime. ( courtesy of The Patton Veterinary Hospital ) It's hard to believe that we've reached the end. For the past two weeks, all of us -- the NPR Music Team, a handful of outside contributors and myself -- have explored the last 10 years in music. Did we cover [...]
Artist: Aerosmith Album: Toys in the Attic Release Date: April 8, 1975 I've been looking for a way into the ongoing mess that has been Aerosmith these past few weeks, and everything I've read and heard about it has held this album up on a pedestal, so here we are. My generation has a bit of a tainted view of Aerosmith. The biggest things they've done in the two decades I've been alive are the commerical juggernaut of Get A Grip and [...]
Here is the final installment of our unscientific, should-not-be-used-for-news-an d-reporting-purposes survey results. As you probably know by now, the following answers were culled from a variety of people in the arts, music and entertainments communities. The last question we asked them was: How do you think we'll listen to music ten years from now? Our respondents' answers ranged from silly to philosophical to downright Sci-Fi! We hope you enjoy reading them. And thanks so much to everyone who took the time to participate. Douglas Wolk, writer: [...]
Here is the final installment of our unscientific, should-not-be-used-for-news-an d-reporting-purposes survey results. As you probably know by now, the following answers were culled from a variety of people in the arts, music and entertainments communities. The last question we asked them was: How do you think we'll listen to music ten years from now? Our respondents' answers ranged from silly to philosophical to downright Sci-Fi! We hope you enjoy reading them. And thanks so much to everyone who took the time to participate. Douglas Wolk, writer: [...]
To start, I'll note I was quickly hooked on both Atreyu and Hollywood Undead after hearing them both on the Madden soundtrack. Thus with my limited exposure to the metal genre, I arrived at the Showbox ready for Atreyu. I arrived in time to heat up with the crowd for about fifteen minutes before the group took the stage. I must mention that this was a very all-ages crowd: along with the teen+ contingent, I saw some baby booomers and a couple of children that couldn't be more than eight. The crowd [...]
In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book. Blake Butler is the rare young writer who consistently and effectively challenges his readers. Scorch Atlas is a haunting collection of interconnected stories and vignettes, a dystopian work of genius. The book itself is a work of art. The internal pages are individually distressed, and the page edges and cover appear burnt and scarred, and the design complements the book's theme perfectly. Matt [...]
By DL and Frank Phosphate FRIDAY Mary Anne Hobbs / Blixaboy / Pandai'a / Royal Highnuss /VJ S (eye) Plus Unified Minds /Gallery Cat/ MC Astro / Bodega Brothas (Outside) (Green Elephant): Pretty big catch for Dallas to have such a prominent figure of both Dubstep as well as the BBC here all the way from London. Hobbs played music by Wanz Dover's Blixaboy project on her influential show, which is what eventually led to this event, and it's good to see [...]
We made another trip down to Bloomington for yet another great show last night, this time A.A. Bondy and Elvis Perkins In Dearland at the Video Saloon . Bloomington is now 4 for 4. Good work everyone! Keep it up! Bondy was relaxed and playful, cracking wry jokes between songs and laughing at the screaming co-eds running around outside the venue (oh college). He weaved his songs into a dense atmosphere, letting each song fade in and out and hang in the air as his band made their way through the short set. [...]
In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book. Ben Shaberman's essay collection The Vegan Monologues is more than a book about not eating animals. Sherman touches on political, social, and environmental issues while recounting his own experiences, always in his humorous yet poignant voice. In his own words, here is Ben Shaberman's Book Notes music playlist for his essay collection, The Vegan Monologues : [...]
The other night me and my homies from Magic City Clothing went out to the Diesel Music show at the Paris theater out here in Miami Beach. The whole thing was beyond fresh. The tickets were free first of all, but the trade off was that you had to wear the wrist bands they give you everyday until the show. You know I wasn't with that. So my homie G who scooped tickets with me, got mcgyvor with it, and took both of ours off without [...]
Interview with Rhymesayers artist Toki Wright – recorded live at The Metro in Chicago, Illinois on November 18 th , 2009. The Fresh Air Tour featuring Brother Ali, Evidence, Toki Wright and BK-One. Being a fan of hip-hop for some time now I have seen quite a few hip-hop shows and have met quite a few artists. I can't enough how true and respectful and giving the artists on the Fresh Air Tour are. This was easily one of the best hip-hop shows I have seen in my life. A total party from start to [...]
I've probably said this here before, but no album has more excited for 2010 than Laura Gibson's collaboration with sound sculptor Ethan Rose. Though we still don't have too much concrete information on the release, we do know this: the record is called Bridge Carols , and it's out on February 9 via Holocene Music. A few months ago I spoke to Gibson about Bridge Carols (at the time she couldn't reveal the title), and she mentioned that the basis of the project was to make each other uncomfortable. Rose's music, until this point, [...]
The Gaslight Anthem | "The '59 Sound" | 2008 From its Born to Run opening riff to its down-and-out, working man lyrics (including repeated lines), the title track to The Gaslight Anthem's second outing is the best pure rock song of the Aughts. [Maybe I'm slightly biased. It is, as of the time of this writing, the second-most played song on my last.fm account.] To give you an idea of just how Springsteen-esque this song is (never mind the fact that the band's from Jersey), simply notice that singer/guitarist Brian Fallon begins [...]
Friday! Quick-hit thoughts of the week! QUICK-HIT THOUGHTS OF THE WEEK! 1. Whatever Brains - Gross Urge (mp3) ( buy ) BAM! Whatever Brains ( myspace ) is a Raleigh, North Carolina band called WHATEVER BRAINS. That automatically qualifies them to be AWESOME, but this song - along with a lot of the rest of their Trim-Jeans and/or Gross Urge Plus Ten CD-R - qualifies them to be DOUBLE AWESOME. I'm more comfortable thinking of them as traditional lo-fi punk than as [...]
Email interview conducted by Josephine Tempongko ( DJ Pandai'a ). Mary Anne Hobbs is arguably experimental music's most seminal figurehead- having hosted BBC Radio 1's Experimental Show (formerly called Breezeblock ) for over 10 years, her relentless pursuit of the electronic underground's most ground-breaking and elemental sounds continues to reward the world with an opportunity to hear something that they've never heard before. From her beginnings covering rock music for the NME and Loaded magazine, to her third [...]
WKND PLYLST!! This has nothing to do with NEW MOON!
new music from vampire weekend – cousins + music video
Vampire Weekend - Cousins
The Beach House Theory of 2k10.
HOT CHIP TAKE another crack at IT and I’m IN
