DOWNLOAD: Califone - Funeral Singers (MP3) Califone are currently on tour with Wilco . On Wednesday, March 17th, you can catch them at SXSW where they'll be playing the official BrooklynVegan showcase at Club DeVille along with Serena Maneesh and four more artists TBA. After SXSW, Califone will head to NYC for a Tuesday, March 30th show at the Bell House [...]
Well, we don't usually do this, but seeing as how Van Dyke Parks is a living legend and his Portland show is at Mississippi Studios on Wednesday (inconveniently, the same day WW comes out), we decided to run an extended Q&A with him a couple days before the article hit the racks. Enjoy! -Ed. Van Dyke Parks plays Portland Wednesday. Immediately tweet the following peeps: 1) Beach Boys/Brian Wilson obsessives, 2) students of rock history and 3) anyone interested in the intersection of popular and classical music. Talk about a rare opportunity: Though Parks [...]
It's February and that means it's time for another by:Larm festival in cold but beautiful Oslo, Norway. Wait, you have never heard of the by:Larm fest? And yes, I said Norway, as in Scandinavia. Well, we here at the Future Of Rock N' Roll are always trying to bring you the best of whats next, and sometimes, we travel far and wide to bring it to you. That's why next week, Joe will be traveling all the way to Oslo, Norway, along with Larry from Future Sounds [...]
Since leaving the Drive-By Truckers to pursue a solo career, Alabaman Jason Isbell has gone from strength to strength. His debut album, Sirens of the Ditch is a fantastic alt.country record, and one of the best albums of the 00s. Follow-up Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit is just as good, and 2010 should see the release of his third album (his second with the 400 Unit). He took the time out of his heavy touring schedule to answer a few questions for yours truly. Here's what he had to say... Your [...]
We here at The 405 love our art. So much so that we decided to continue on with our Guide To series by providing all you budding gallery-goers and art enthusiasts with this pocked sized guide to Galleries and Museums from around the world. If you do so happen to check out any of these awesome places listed, please let us know about your adventures! Lazarides Gallery, London Lazarides Gallery continues to defy the categorization as "graffiti" and [...]
Back in the 1960's and 70's, girl groups rocked the landscape of popular music by combining their musical chops, their harmonies, and their feminist lyrics to create just the right kind of sexual revolution for the times. These girls weren't about to stand in the background and act as their mothers had, they wanted to be seen and heard and listened to for once. They made a statement for themselves and helped push forth reform and improved rights for women all over the place. Now that the sound of those rocking pioneers is back in style it's hard [...]
Joseph Smith was either a prophet of God or a charlatan. He was considered both a man chosen by Jehovah as a modern-day oracle who would lead humanity back to the One True Church and bring about Gods Kingdom on earth, and a philandering con man who abused the trust of his gullible followers by taking a second-rate novel and using it as the basis for his cult of personality. He was a charismatic leader who upon receiving his first Revelation in 1832, managed to spread a new brand of Christianity around the world in just a few short years. [...]
My week in Portland began with a visit to a friend's practice space. That's not entirely true, it actually started with an Americano at the Stumptown on Belmont. But then we were off to the building -- a converted storage place of sorts, gritty white and industrial -- wherein a variety of Portland musicians and bands (some well known, some never-to-be known) convene, shred, tinker and bash. Most of the rooms are no bigger than a west coast walk-in closet, or a New York City apartment. The amps and drum kits, PAs and instrument cases make the rooms [...]
This list could go hundreds, thousands deep and it would still only touch the surface, so you know how much a struggle it was for me to cut it down to just 50. Ranking art is always a bit of a silly process, and it's even more here, when every single song is brilliant. So don't take the order too seriously. The real point of this is to give people a chance to hear the things that I simply couldn't live without, the songs that make my whole world go around – and to hopefully [...]
Almost forgot that this show was around the corner. As in, tonight around the corner. Joel' s got another good one tonight, and it turns out that he has the mighty Josephine Foster making her way around these parts too, which should be relatively epic. Here's the scoop: Shedding has been a solo project for Connor Bell since 2001, though in 2009 Tim Furnish (Parlour, Crain, Papa M, The For Carnation) and Joey Yates (The Loved, Parlour, Sapat) joined as the rhythm section in Shedding's new lineup. Solo, SHEDDING has already released a few [...]
The El Corazon 5th anniversary series of concerts started January 29, 2010 with an indie-gothic's dream: Adrian H and The Wounds starting the evening, followed by the sinfully good Legion Within , and winding up with that love child of Shel Silverstein and Marilyn Manson, Voltaire . The Portland group Adrian H and the Wounds swaggered through swirling stage fog and low green can lights to take the stage. Wrapped in black leather and steel studding from head to toe, Adrian growled through a hypnotizing set of songs from their [...]
First things first, feel free to figure out if you think the Justice track I've included in this post is real or fake. After that listen to the other two songs by label mates DSL and Krazy Baldhead. Krazy Baldhead opened for Rusko at Sound Academy this past Saturday. He was the reason why I went to the show. Having see Rusko perform twice in Toronto this past year, Krazy's glitchy instrumental style is what drew me out to 11 Polson Peer. The crossover potential of his sound for a more mainstream audience seems more plausible over [...]
The Most Powerful Telescope in the Universe - The Moonlight's Fair Tonight In the simplest terms, it's rare to find an album this gorgeous. And even rarer to find one so warm, so positively glowing in the moment. A group of friends, as much as a band, The Most Powerful Telescope In The Universe recorded their full length album The Moonlight's Fair Tonight by assembling a group of musicians and shuttling them off for two weekend-long stints, secluded woodland cabin somewhere in the woods of the Pacific Northwest. Nothing [...]
Christopher Bell had a great idea: he'd cover song written by his friends, so this EP is a collection of songs that you probably won't be familiar with but should be. This is a fine group of five folk tunes that bring to mind the Cold Mountain or Oh, Brother Where Art Thou? soundtracks. In fact, these songs have a lot in common with the duo of Robert Plant and Alison Krauss with their beautiful harmonies and old-fashioned folk sensibilities. They are bare-boned, simple arrangements that take advantage of Bell's talent as a multi-instrumentalist. [...]
For many jazzophiles, The Allen Room in Lincoln Center is Mecca. The space is intimate, the acoustics are phenomenal, and the dramatic wall of glass offers one of New York City's greatest backdrops, with picturesque views of Central Park, Columbus Circle, and the Manhattan skyline. It feels like sacred ground. Recent highlights from The Allen Room include saxophone master Maceo Parker—perhaps best known as the second-in-command to James "The Godfather of Soul" Brown—as well as Manhattan Transfer, the most enduring vocal group in jazz history. Friday evening, indie chanteuse [...]
I'm not so smug as to think that I can pin-point the albums that will, in retrospect, stand out the most from the 2000s. Nor would it be accurate to argue that the albums that affected me the most on a personal level were "the best." But if I were to completely take the personal part out of my own list, you might as well just read anyone's list. There has to be an aspect of me in my list. So, these are neither the most personal albums nor the albums that I [...]
This is blog entry number 1968. The same year James "Sawyer" Ford was born. Coincidence? TRICK QUESTION! In LOST there are no coincidences! Oh my God, you guys - LOST premieres tonight. For the last time. I don't know whether to geek out and get all giddy, or shy away and try to hide my watery eyes. It's a lot like fathering a child, or finding the absolute best hamburger in the world. LOST is one of those things in life that can toy with your emotions on a whim, and it [...]
VAMPIRE WEEKEND (FFO paul simon, passion pit, the very best, girls) following up from their hugely successful eponymous debut, 'contra' was released mid-january to similarly high-praise. vampire weekend's multi-cultural, genre-spanning style remains but 'contra' is broader and more polished. producer and band-member rostam batmanglij again excels with his subtle orchestral arragements while koeing's songwriting has sharpened, the result is another warm, clever and peppy pop-record. i think ur a contra [...]
It's not uncommon for an artist to not find commercial success with their first record deal, only to grab the spotlight down the road with another label. That happens more often than you might think. Take Kenny Chesney, for instance. He recorded for southern rock label Capricorn back in the early '90s, but it was his signing with BNA in 1995 that led to him become the superstar that he is today. While that scenario happens sometimes in the music business, it's rare that you find an artist be signed to a label, fail to catch on with radio, and [...]
It's not uncommon for an artist to not find commercial success with their first record deal, only to grab the spotlight down the road with another label. That happens more often than you might think. Take Kenny Chesney, for instance. He recorded for southern rock label Capricorn back in the early '90s, but it was his signing with BNA in 1995 that led to him become the superstar that he is today. While that scenario happens sometimes in the music business, it's rare that you find an artist be signed to a label, fail to catch on with radio, and [...]
Wolfmother – White Feather (Acid Washed remix)
NEW MAJOR LAZER
Hot Chip: One Life Stand
New Releases V2.9
