The summer of 2003 was a hot one in eastern Washington, and my concrete bunker of an apartment contained the heat like no other. Granted, the above image wasn't shot by yours truly until 2004, but it sure seemed hot enough to ignite even the least combustible of items. I wrapped up my undergraduate that December, which was cold as Antarctica, and upon that milestone I moved to Seattle. It was a good year for the Northwest; many of my favorite albums came from Seattle labels like Sub Pop and Barsuk. As for the list, I've [...]
On their debut album, Ghost , San Diego's Tape Deck Mountain (the trio originally released everything on cassette tapes) sound like they're striving for sonic immortality. Many of the seven proper songs (not counting two interludes) sound like tributes to heaven: soaring music that could be the background for a ritual sacrifice. "Ghost Colony" mixes the sludge rock of Kyuss with the bombastic guitar solos of Explosions in the Sky (though not the latter's song length), while "80/203 is all glorious creepiness, hearkening back to Ziggy Stardust-era Bowie, albeit with hollower vocals. Guitarist/vocalist Travis Trevisan has the [...]
See the Austin-based band that The Onion calls "this year's hottest ticket" at Fun Fun Fun Fest next month. Listen & Re-Post! [MP3] The Laughing - "Runner": http://tinyurl.com/thelaughing -runner Recorded over the course of a near year, FEVER is the debut album by Austin band, The Laughing . With an aural aesthetic pulling from somewhere between early Roxy Music and the stretches of contemporaries such as Animal Collective , The Laughing [...]
Paul Banks and Co bring Seattle something special Last night at Chop Suey, Interpol's frontman Paul Banks debuted his alter ego Julian Plenti to a crowd of energetic and enthusiastic fans, eager to be only the second audience to ever witness this band perform live. The entire album was conceived and recorded by Banks himself, but to help bring this music to the stage, he was accompanied by The Giraffes ' guitarist Damien Paris, as well as a bassist, drummer, and an amazing cellist. Plenti of songs were performed [...]
La scorsa settimana abbiamo terminato il nostro viaggio attraverso gli album più importanti del decennio che si sta concludendo. Abbiamo quindi pensato di riassumere il tutto in questo post che non è altro che la lista completa, tappa per tappa, degli album che di volta in volta abbiamo approfondito, in modo tale da avere una sorta di indice delle varie puntate. Dopo il salto trovate anche la listona di tutti gli album che di anno in anno sono stati inseriti fra "gli album da salvare". [...]
Honestly, it's a little too easy to slam the band Real Estate and their self-titled debut album that's out this week. They've got a large target on their backs, and anybody with a proper weapon can take their shot. Calling their music "uninspired" or "taking advantage of what's hot right now" is easy enough, and I'm sure some reviewers will take that stance. I mean, Real Estate are signed to Woodsist Records, known for earlier this year providing us with great records from bands like Woods and Wavves. I should note that those two albums were lo-fi, or as some [...]
Who : Blakroc Title : Blakroc Release Date : November 27th Label : Blakroc Thoughts : With their bluesy version of rock music you wouldn't necessarily take The Black Keys as fans of hip hop, but based on their new project Blakroc (both the name of their hip hop group and new record label) the band show that they aren't just fans of the genre they have great taste in the [...]
Billy Mahonie, Mo-ho-bish-o-pi & Silverback, Bullingdon Arms, 8 June 2000 At the time, GMS and a couple of friends were writing the music section for a now defunct "internet magazine". We got sent a lot of records to review, some of which were worth keeping, some of which were worth selling, some of which were by Lolly . We booked this gig as a launch party--someone must have said "why not?" at some stage. The magazine never took off, [...]
Today's free and legal mp3 downloads: Alejandro Escovedo : 2009-07-12, Santa Monica [mp3,ogg,flac] "Dear Head on the Wall" [mp3] other Alejandro Escovedo posts at Largehearted Boy Billy Corgan : 2009-11-08, Los Angeles [mp3,ogg,flac] "Plastic Fantastic Lover (Jefferson Airplane cover)" [mp3] other Billy Corgan posts at Largehearted Boy Blitzen Trapper : [...]
Jadiid is an interesting band. If you asked me to give you their overall "sound," I suppose I'd say something about acoustic guitars, folk, soul, and the like, but it wouldn't be a fair description. The band's full-length, It's OK, Be Anxious , definitely has an acoustic bend to it, but it also features electric guitars, drums, bass, trumpets, strings, piano, and one of those world-weary vocal tones that commands your attention. With all these instruments comes the tendency for the songs to meander - none of the 11 songs on the album are shorter than [...]
Photo by Bill Shouldis Contrary to the stereotype of metallers as slackers, Baroness is a band of over-achievers. Vocalist/guitarist/resident artwork designer John Baizley typifies this with his music, graphic design work, and art exhibitions. (His work is currently on display at the Metropolis Gallery in Lancaster, PA). As if the release of a new album, Blue Record ( Relapse , 2009), weren't enough, Baizely increased his workload by recently becoming a parent. He took time out of his busy [...]
B-Sides November 9 2009 on Proton Radio http://b-sidesradio.blogspot.c om/2009/11/scd-beautiful-sea-o f-two.html 1. Chubby Wolf - Annell This Chord of Bliss 2. Loscil - Zephyr (live) 3. Loscil - Umbra (live) 4. PhantomChannel - Bleeding Riverbed 5. moskitoo - terrier 6. We all inherit the moon - We all inherit the moon Part IV 7. the tumbled sea - may 8. explosions in the sky - unknown (live) 9. kite - we don't sell this dress 10. kite - perfect world [...]
It's hard to find time to discover new music at Fun Fun Fun Fest because so many bands I already like play (and many of them at the same time), but exploring can still be done, sometimes accidentally and especially in the early hours. That's when I came across Austin's The Black and White Years (who I have since found out were just in NYC for CMJ) (they played Bowery Ballroom on 10/20). The impressive voice of their mustached frontman Scott Butler channels David Byrne and other greats. [...]
MP3 : The Thermals - Now We Can See (live on Laundromatinee.com ) Hutch Harris and Kathy Foster, the two core members of The Thermals , have been through a lot together. Four albums, a few different studio and touring line-ups, a failed relationship, and two high-profile indie labels - just to name a few of the challenges. As the saying goes, what hasn't killed them, has only made them stronger. Their third album, [...]
This was the greatest decade of music for me as a fan. There were so many incredible albums, almost all by bands I'd never even heard of in 2000, discovered almost entirely through the same musical venue that you are reading write now -- the Internet. At the dawn of the decade, I was approaching a rock fan milestone that presumably signaled the end of my interest in cool new music (I turned 30 in 2001), while at the same time, the rock music industry (ie. whatever they played on the radio) had devolved into a hybrid of cheap rap-rock [...]
After leaving Sub Pop Records, The Thermals' most recent album, "Now We Can See," was released this past April through new label, Kill Rock Stars. This fourth album is being billed as a re-introduction or re-birth for the band, but behind all the sweet melodies, catchy hooks and sing-a-long choruses, it carries many of the same explorations of life, death, religion and politics. "Now We Can See" was produced by John Congleton (Explosions In The Sky, Polyphonic Spree). Laundromatinee.com presents two acoustic versions of songs from that most recent album.
Frustrated as I often am with the insubstantial trends of modern-era indie rock, for those interested in tapping into actual underground music, it's a bit of a golden age. Take Clean Equations' self-titled debut, an indie-pop EP that draws equally on the sophisticated nerd-outs of Built to Spill and Grandaddy and the more majestic aspirations of bands like Explosions in the Sky. It's hard to imagine this release being made before 2009; it's also hard to imagine it soundtracking a $250,000 Vice party. Good thing music speaks for itself. Clean Equations - "Alison": [...]
Filed under: News , Exclusive , Canada Matthew Good is adding his name to a growing list of Vancouver musicians fed up with the stringent liquor laws preventing venues from keeping their doors open to new, independent musical talent. In recent years, the west coast city's move to shut down smaller bars and clubs has choked Vancouver's punk and indie scene, with strict requirements relating to security and hours of operation making it increasingly hard for venues that don't cater to mainstream [...]
The second installment of A Retrospective, in which I recap my favorite albums released from 2000 to 2008, this time: 2001. Wrought with turmoil and watching a life fall apart as so many others were having similar experiences but in a different manner; that was 2001 for you. The year I turned 21 (hence the wine bottle photo above). A year that lives in infamy. Young or old, we all seemed to grow up that year. Music, too seemed to progress in ways unthought, even before that fateful day. [...]
WKND PLYLST!! This has nothing to do with NEW MOON!
Vampire Weekend - Cousins
‘09 Been Kind
