A basement with no windows saw the birth of songwriting that came from the overactive pelvis, and a love of the ugly and loud. Out of that Brooklyn dungeon arose The Art Of Shooting and their debut full-length Traveling Show , out April 27, 2010. "The Art Of Shooting juxtaposes dreamy shoegaze with crunchy, epic rock," declares Time Out New York . The Brooklyn dream-punks forge an auditory surge that is artful, melodic and full of vocal harmonies. Aggressive, dissonant lullabies are mixed with hints of [...]
Two people have been in touch over the past week or so and asked if I'd re-post some mp3's. I don't usually respond to requests like this because a) I cannae usually find the mp3s in question and b) if I can find them, I usually cannae be arsed with all the bother of uploading them again. Often the reason mp3s disappear suddenly from Plain Or Pan (or indeed any blog you visit) is because a particular record company has spotted something they own and believe that the blogger making it available for free will stop you from buying it. I tend [...]
Nashville trio, Nite Nite , give us something a little different from the rest. They are a new wave goth group who have an itch for bringing a pop sensibility to the dark side of pop. Headed by the classically-trained Sarah-Brooks Levine and songwriting maestro Davis Chatfield, their love for The Cure and Siouxsie Sioux along with inspiration from Warhol's Factory sound, helped shape their sound. You'll hear complex pop melodies, synth-driven hooks and powerful ethereal vocals for a sound that meanders off the Goth course. Think Blondie meets Joy Division. Check out [...]
I thought I'd mix things up and get my best albums of the year 2009 out first then work backwards through what I listened to (According to Last.fm). I must say this was an amazing year for music and I plead with my friends who "cannot find anything new to listen to" that they just need to listen around, become an ear slut, do what you have to do to get into all this great music. Partly, this year for me has been a good one in music because I've been sitting at the computer so much after work [...]
Wait, did I just hear The Cardigans? Or is it The Cranberries? Oh wait, it's The Gathering, a band with a lead vocalist that ties together those two styles with a little bit of Siouxsie Sioux to make something that is bizarre enough to be famous. The fact that nothing more than vocal warbling can [...]
Na segunda parte do nosso especial sobre novos artistas, damos uma geral no que tem rolado de bom fora do Brasil. Class Actress NY, EUA Myspace Lembra: New Order, Postal Service, Neon Indian, Ouça: "Adolescent Heart" e "Careful What You Say" A atriz de classe que era Elizabeth Harper no início de sua carreira se atinha ao estereótipo de "cantora & compositora" , fazendo o tipo de música que [...]
As we close out the decade, I've been reading more and more top 10 lists, so I thought I would give you my top 10 punk movies/DVD's of the decade. So, for the whiners, I know, I know you're going to say "Dude, I can't believe you left off KTEL Presnts Bob's Bung-Hole's Video Classics, their video Parking In The Gimp Spot was a frickin' classic!" Guess what? My list, my picks! 10. Mayor of the Sunset Strip (2003) Now, I'm aware of [...]
Whether you prefer to escape January's chill by tending to the mind or the body, there is something for everybody this week in Denver. Those searching for a cerebral release can catch Jay Farrar and Benjamin Gibbard resurrecting Jack Kerouac, while those with more visceral urges can take in Snake Rattle Rattle Snake and White Denim. Jan 22: Snake Rattle Rattle Snake This is very simple: Do not miss Snake Rattle Rattle Snake's EP release this Friday. Why? Because this band is going to start something [...]
Tonight @ Southpaw, Future Sounds, The Musebox, Sound Fix Records and DeFalco Presents bring you THE RUMBLE: BROOKLYN . The line-up is stellar..... Sounding like a Tarantino film in stereo, BLACK TAXI seduces with the seediness of a pulp fiction novel; a decaying sideshow that's as sexy as it is punk rock. Lyrics paint woozy pictures of Kerouac-ian misadventures, featuring a rotating cast of transvestites, bible-thumpers and corrupt cops. A cavalier concoction of carnival trumpets, swaggering bass lines and smoldering guitar, BLACK TAXI [...]
For all his international acclaim and house-tinged pop smashes, Basement Jaxx's Simon Ratcliffe still comes across as extremely down to earth. Defying the fame-related party clichés tracks like the notoriously raucous 'Where's Your Head At' lead you to expect, Ratcliffe still lives in the same corner of Brixton in which he once - together with partner in crime Felix – launched the 'Rooty' club night that set Basement Jaxx on the long road to international notoriety. Ratcliffe summarizes the area he lives in as "far from glamorous", and his studio apartment as "probably not big enough" now that he's bringing [...]
by tim howard This is an open letter to anybody who has ever claimed they're 'too old for this'. Once upon a time, youth was seen as the basic tenet for rock & roll. Its listeners were young rebels, gleeful in the freedoms unfurled by the 50s and expanded on in the 60s. The performers, too, were young and, so we were told, carefree; remember that when the breakup of his band was announced in 1970, George Harrison had only [...]
E very decade has its idols, the '00s was definitely the age of the American idol -- as in the winners and sometimes runners up of the popular TV star search. Occasionally, several of them have gone on to produce excellent-if-not-exactly-earth -shattering post- American Idol singles (Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway," Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats," Jordin Sparks's "No Air"), but for the most part, they've peaked on the show. Here are my nine favorite Idol performances from 2002 to 2009. Note that two of them (Tamyra's and Jennifer's) resulted in the contestants getting the boot the following night. [...]
By the time Jeff Buckley performed on WFMU's The Music Faucet in October 1992 some of the songs that would appear on his debut album Grace less than two years later were already well developed albeit with a few notable differences to what would become the final studio versions. His love for performing covers from an incredibly diverse range of artists and styles has been well documented and throughout 1992 those fortunate enough to catch him at cafe's and clubs in Lower Manhattan may have heard him perform an eclectic selection of covers from a range [...]
S ince this swinging singles countdown is all about, well, singles, it omits some very important songs that have been crucial to my post-millennium listening pleasure. For example, U2's "When I Look At The World," from the band's 2000 album, All That You Can't Leave Behind . I was introduced to Bono in the lobby of the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles around the time of the album's release, and when I told him that this was my favorite song on the CD, he was shocked. "The unsung hero!" he said, shaking my hand as if he [...]
Drummer Feel Good Together Audio Eagle Members of the Akron, Ohio supergroup Drummer have played in such local favorites as Beaten Awake, Houseguest, Party of Helicopters, and The Black Keys. Those outside of NEO may not be familiar with the first three groups mentioned, but the Black Keys are the face of the Akron/Cleveland rock scene and the Keys' drummer, Pat Carney, plays bass on their debut Audio Eagle release, Feel Good Together. That being said...this isn't a Pat Carney vanity project, vocals are handled by Beaten Awake's Jon Finley, [...]
S ince this list is all about the best singles of the past decade, it doesn't recognize some of my favorite albums of the '00s from which either no singles were released or from which the wrong ones were released. Or in the case of Robyn and Keane, the albums soar more as complete works than on the strength of individual songs. Let us take a moment to give props where they are due. A few honorable mentions: Shelby Lynne I Am Shelby Lynne (2000) Sade [...]
I have been thinking about blogging about L7 for months now. Today is the day. I don't claim to be an expert on all female rock bands, but I have always liked L7. I think my first exposure to an all female band was The Runaways back in the early 70's. I remember hearing my friend Jeff play "Cherry Bomb" and thinking that it was kind of interesting. The most successful all girl band would have to be The Go-Go's I suppose, but if I was posting about The Go-Go's I would have listed this post under Guilty Pleasures. It's [...]
p I first covered The Goodnatured when I stumbled over " Warrior " last year and was enthralled by Sarah MacIntosh's heart-on-her-sleeve songwriting. The 18 year-old songstress returns in November with a brand-new EP, titled "Your Body Is A Machine." Listen to "Human Eyes Cry Godly Tears" from that EP, which was produced by Sean McGhee who is mostly known for his work with Imogen Heap, Bjork and Temposhark. Through the help of MySpace, "Warrior" created more hype than MacIntosh could ever have expected. Picked up by the likes of Steve Lamacq, Huw Stephens and Tom [...]
Good quality live recordings of Siouxsie and The Banshees appear to be a bit thin on the ground, which is surprising considering they have toured regularly down the years and the whole punk & new wave scene in the early days was hardly water tight against bootlegging. So for one of my favorite bands that came out of the original punk music scene, on this occasion I will have to settle for a pretty good audience recording of a very good live show. This is the band live at Markthalle, Hamburg, Germany way back [...]
TOUR: The Tallest Man On Earth Announces U.S. Dates
Yeasayer – Odd Blood (Review)
New Releases V2.9
[mp3] Joanna Newsom - "Kingfisher"
