Story by Adam Daniels Photography by Dorothy Hong "Do you need a drink?"
"Yes, I need four double whiskeys and four PBRs." It was Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson's record release show at Williamsburg's Union Pool, and while he was among a roomful of friends, he was not at ease. Robinson's former fiancé obliged the request, assuming it was on behalf of the entire band. This was not the case. Robinson wasn't a household name in indie rock at the time. But he had a lot of the pieces in place [...]
This is The Kinks towards the end of their Sleepwalker Tour from 1977. The album Sleepwalker marked a return to straight-ahead, self-contained rock songs after several years of concept orientated albums. It was the first album in what critics usually call the "arena rock" phase of the group, in which more commercial and mainstream production techniques would be employed. The line up of The Kinks would be trimmed downed significantly in 1977 following the album's release, as the brass section and backup singers were removed and the band returned to a standard rock band outfit. [...]
Essa tarde dormi quando passou o vendaval e ficou sem luz. Agora tô elétrica e gastando a energia com ramones. no CBGB's .
Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig earned super respect from this writer when during a recent interview with Pitchfork, he was asked to discuss the spoiled white-kid label often given to him and his band. He answer was priceless : When people try to frame us as these spoiled rich kids, I want to say, "Well, hold up. You don't know anything about my family, you don't know where I went to high school, you don't know how I paid for college." I mean, I grew up in New Jersey listening to the Ramones, the Clash, [...]
I'm gearing up to see Devo on Friday and have been revisiting the classic era of synth-punk, a genre the band had very much to do with pioneering during their earlier years. The genre combines the intense, guitar-driven fury of punk rock with often sloppy and simplistic synth mashing. Though the instrumentation may be the same, synth-punk has little in common with new wave, the fluffier, more pop-driven counterpart. Synth-punk was often gritty, poorly recorded, nasty, and powerful as sin. With that in mind, let's touch upon a few genre classics, both new and old. [...]
In 2004, Annie—Bergen, Norway's sunniest export—scored both club hits and indie cred with her debut album Anniemal . Her sophomore LP Don't Stop was initially announced in early 2008, but got tangled up, as she explains it, in a nasty case of record label drama. "I kept on delivering things but it was never enough," says the singer. Fast forward a year-and-a-half later, and Don't Stop has finally arrived on these shores, thanks to Oslo-based label Smalltown Supersound. Idolator met up with 31-year-old Annie (real name: Anne Lilia Berge Strand) in Los Angeles [...]
Here at FS headquarters, we like some screaming guitars. The combination of roaring amplifiers and good looking women is heavenly - French rock brought us Dolly , Manu , Vive la Fete and, earlier, Les Calamités . Plastiscines is an update of the latter, featuring four gorgeous women, singing in French and making music inspired by Ramones, Strokes and Libertines. On their new (second) album About Love, Katty Besnard and her friends sing mostly in English. Shame, for now they sound like Shampoo - a novelty act. The new cd sports [...]
By Everett True I'm a tastemaker critic. I lecture in music blogging. The title of my own blog is "The Life of Everett True as a Fading Music Critic," and within it, I feature a pleasingly random array of music discovered via social networks (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace) and the odd record-company freebie. There are plenty of links and shoutouts for others operating in similar networks. We're talking Town Bike, Las Kellies, Hello Cuca! , Super Wild Horses, Monster Women, Kitchen's Floor , Blank Realm, Pens . Don't feel bad if [...]
In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book. Hos, Hookers, Call Girls & Rent Boys collects stories, poems, and essays by sex workers. Compiled by David Henry Sterry and RJ Martin, Jr., the book organizes this collection of refreshingly genuine and brutally honest writings by category (love, life, money, etc.). The New York Times wrote of the book: "From the unappealing title, you might think this is a truly trashy [...]
Radio Free Chicago is no stranger to Capgun Coup , having posted their song "Bad Bands" earlier in the fall. Now that the Omaha native's sophomore effort has finally hit the shelves, the band's wasted no time in hitting the road and getting more tracks on to the internet for mass consumption. Following the raw, fun track "Bad Bands", Capgun Coup has brought us "Sitting on the Sidewalk", which together show quite a bit of promise for their latest release, Maudlin . Vaguely reminiscent of the messy, DIY rock [...]
TEEN Amy Aubrac-Prince was born in a small town in the south of France and was introduced to house music at a young age by an older sister. After her family's move to New York City and Amy's being kicked out of the house by her father at the age of 17, she began producing electronic music. In 2006, having relocated to Toronto, Amy met Natalie (who was DJ'ing mostly House music at the time). The two started a punk band together, Sugar Kane, but within the year, were back to their roots, working [...]
In case you thought you wouldn't be satisfied with the extra hour of Tom Waits' banter from his upcoming live album, fret no more. Now Tom's Orphans, Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards is being reinvented as a limited edition seven-LP vinyl with six new tracks. The album, which classicly highlights Waits' bizarrely wonderful form of storytelling, will come out December 8, and also includes rare gems like Waits covering the likes of The Ramones and Fats Waller. Plainly stated, if you're gearing up for a long winter, this collection added on top of the Glitter and Doom [...]
The Mean Jeans - Are You Serious? The Mean Jeans are a Portland punk band. They are comprised of three semi-anonymous hard partying dudes who sound an awful lot like the Ramones. It's hard, though not unexpected, to imitate the sound of the band that birthed the genre. Where the Ramones sang about women and love sometimes, The Mean Jeans seem only to love drinking and putting drugs up their noses. Though the lyrics are spewing tales of self-destructive behavior, the songs are really... Read more at www.SFCritic.com
Budapest's THE MOOG continue to gain steam with their album Razzmatazz Orfeum and release their second single and video "When I See You." Directed by Anthony Ernest Garth - the man responsible for the dreamy clip for the White Stripes' "Hotel Yorba" - the "When I See You" video sees the Hungarian quartet take over Los [...]
In 1977, music changed and LA punk was one of the driving forces in that change. X stood out in the pack because they could actually play their instruments, write music AND still embrace the chaos and nihilism that was punk rock. Guitarist Billy Zoom infused their music with a taste of rockabilly and a sense of humor. When I watched Decline of Western Civilization in the early 80's, it was my first exposure to punk and it absolutely changed my life. It was a thrill to get an opportunity to converse with Billy about X, [...]
Green Noise was one of the first record stores I found when I moved to Portland about a year ago. Loads of garage and punk albums; not to mention owner Ken Cheppaikode is a helluva nice gent with an affinity for Reigning Sound , and an almost robotic ability for relaying the who? what? when? where? and why? of the most bizarro/obscuro bands making noise over the past four decades. The cozy, punk rawk hub on Clinton street is also home to Dirtnap Records , the label Cheppaikode started in 1999 while still [...]
Green Noise was one of the first record stores I found when I moved to Portland about a year ago. Loads of garage and punk albums; not to mention owner Ken Cheppaikode is a helluva nice gent with an affinity for Reigning Sound , and an almost robotic ability for relaying the who? what? when? where? and why? of the most bizarro/obscuro bands from the past four decades. The cozy, punk rawk hub on Clinton Street is also home to Dirtnap Records , the label Cheppaikode started in 1999 while still living in [...]
(Editor's note: today's interview comes to us with permission from Cleveland Bachelor , where the Q&A was originally posted. Yesterday was one of those work days that you dread, meeting after meeting after meeting. From the moment I got to work until nearly 4 PM, I was shuffling from one room to another, trading brain cells for increased self-loathing every additional minute. Mere seconds after finally sitting down in my chair back in my dank big boy office, the alarm on my phone went off. I looked at it, wondering what it was I was reminding myself [...]
Filed under: Concerts and Tours , News Art Brut 's lead singer, the jocular and loquacious Eddie Argos , is notorious for his cockney spoken vocals and stories during the band's live shows. Adorned in his signature trench coat, tie and corduroy pants at Tuesday night's Chicago show at Lincoln Hall, Argos and his band ended a few of their songs with lines from legendary rock tunes. During their breakthrough song and opener 'Formed a Band,' Argos injected the line, "I kissed a girl and [...]
new music from vampire weekend – cousins + music video
Friday Five: Surf Songs
Beach House: Norway
No Curve Allowed (Grading This Week's New Tracks)
