In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book. Lydia Millet is one of my favorite writers, and her first collection of short fiction, Love in Infant Monkeys marries celebrities with animals to great effect. These keenly written interactions of human and animal move these tales forward and offer rare insights into the human psyche as well as our celebrity-obsessed culture. The Los Angeles Times wrote of the book: "Lydia Millet's first [...]
I love Steve Earle and Allison Moorer. I think Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis are great. Karin Bergquist and Linford Detweiler of Over the Rhine make me giddy. You know how I feel about Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson. For my money, though, Buddy & Julie Miller are the first couple of Americana music. Buddy is the multi-instrumentalist/producer /singer/songwriter [...]
Many of Alexa Woodward's banjo-driven folk songs slowly slink like fog down from the Appalachian mountains and hills of Virgina and wrap your soul in melancholy. Woodward's 2009 release, Speck , is full of subtle textures and well-matched harmonies that support interesting and well-written narratives. Eleanor , a new track not included on Speck , is just a wee-bit more pop-friendly than what we've heard previously from Woodward. Alexa will perform at [...]
Dave Rawlings Machine: A Friend of a Friend is the solo debut of longtime Gillian Welch sideman Dave Rawlings , and may be the finest folk album I have heard all year. Author Rick Moody's band, the Wingdale Community Singers releases Spirit Duplicator tomorrow. Reissues of note include David Bowie's Space Oddity (with bonus CD) and The Fall's Hex Enduction Hour (with bonus CD). Four Blood Brothers [...]
Dave Rawlings Machine: A Friend of a Friend is the solo debut of longtime Gillian Welch sideman Dave Rawlings , and may be the finest folk album I have heard all year. Author Rick Moody's band, the Wingdale Community Singers releases Spirit Duplicator tomorrow. Reissues of note include David Bowie's Space Oddity (with bonus CD) and The Fall's Hex Enduction Hour (with bonus CD). Four Blood Brothers [...]
LA-based drummer Jason Boesel has spent a good fifteen years playing drums for everyone from Rilo Kiley, Bright Eyes, The Elected, and more recently, Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band. Boesel headed into the studio in March of 2009 with Mystic Valley Band member Nik Freitas, Blake Mills (Band of Horses, Julian Casablancas), and producer Jonathan Wilson (Elvis Costello 'Momofuku' and Jenny Lewis 'Acid Tongue'). He also was assisted by Benmont Tench (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), Orenda Fink (O + S, Azure Ray), David Rawlings (Gillian Welch, Old Crow Medicine Show), Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes), and fellow [...]
PICK OF THE WEEK Band of Horses w/ Warpaint Club Nokia 1st Anniversary Show Mon 11/9 Info [ ENTER TO WIN ] THIS WEEK'S TICKET GIVEAWAYS Bishop Allen & Throw Me The Statue Tues 11/10 Echoplex | Info [ ENTER TO WIN ] [...]
Traveling on the information superhighway, you are often forced to move at an autobahn worthy pace; hands gripping the wheel tight with eyes focused forward looking for potential pitfalls instead of enjoying the view. No matter how much you love a record, you need to find a new one for the next day or you have nothing to write about. Unfortunately, that means you almost never have the chance to reflect on what you see in the rear view or make a return trip to a town you wished you could have stayed in for a few extra days. [...]
Here we are, bestowed with another "Best of.." list. This time Paste takes on the duty of compiling the "50 Best Albums of the Decade (2000-2009)". If you head over to their site , you can sample each of the albums listed. I always enjoy reading these lists even though I often disagree with them. You'd think by now I should know what I'm getting myself into when I read a "Best of.." list on an indie music site. But hey, kudos to them. I couldn't even compile a list of [...]
Here we are, bestowed with another "Best of.." list. This time Paste takes on the duty of compiling the "50 Best Albums of the Decade (2000-2009)". If you head over to their site , you can sample each of the albums listed. I always enjoy reading these lists even though I often disagree with them. You'd think by now I should know what I'm getting myself into when I read a "Best of.." list on an indie music site. But hey, kudos to them. I couldn't even compile a list of [...]
Here we are, bestowed with another "Best of.." list. This time Paste takes on the duty of compiling the fifty best albums of the decade. If you head over to their site , you can sample each of the albums listed. I always enjoy reading these lists even though I often disagree with them. You'd think by now I should know what I'm getting myself into when I read a best of list on an indie music site. But hey, kudos to them. I couldn't even compile a list of my [...]
Madison Violet's new album No Fool For Trying was just released by True North Records. The Canadian duo has toured with Indigo Girls and Ron Sexsmith among others. Their music blends the soft harmonies of traditional and Appalachian folk with modern Americana instrumentation. The opener "The Ransom" has the sweet, high lonesome croon of Emmylou Harris or Gillian Welch. "The Small of My Heart" seemed repetitive at first, but it's a grower and is now my favorite track on the album. It's [...]
There list is very, very, lilly white, and hence easily debatable. But it's a much more interesting list of records than say, Pitchfork's or Uncut's lists for the best albums of the decade. I'm glad I can count on Paste Magazine to thow in some underrated favorites from The Jayhawk's, Loretta Lynn, Gentleman Jesse, Drive By Truckers, Over the Rhine, The Avett Brothers, and Gillian Welch. Also: Paste's Top 50 Movies of the Decade is worth a gander just so you can argue with yourself over the [...]
Altro giro, altra classifica. Naturalmente non si può che parlare dei dischi più belli della decade che sta per finire. Stavolta sono 50 e sono stilati da Paste Magazine , mensile americano dedicato a musica e cinema. A dire la verità ci sono alcune significative differenze rispetto alla classifica di Pitchfork che premiava "Kid A" dei Radiohead e quella di Uncut che invece eleggeva "White Blood Cells" degli White Stripes , per Paste Magazine il disco più bello degli anni 2000 è un altro. Curiosi? Io sono più o meno concorde con [...]
From TripleJ Radio in Australia (Whitley is featured this week) with his new album, Go Forth, Find Mammoth, out today. "I started playing music in hardcore bands, screaming and so on. But then I started falling in love with the music of Gillian Welch and Nick Drake as I was playing these mental gigs where I had band members punching each other in the head. So I got a bit fed up with that and my friend Jake convinced me to leave and start writing songs for myself. One thing led to another, and I ended [...]
Yesterday, Paste released its list of the 50 Best Albums Of The 2000s, and the list was topped by none other than Sufjan Stevens' Illinoise , which honestly seems like it was released way longer ago, so established has he become in the indie-rock firmament. Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot , the Arcade Fire's Funeral , Radiohead's Kid A , and Bright Eyes' I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning rounded out the top five. Full rundown after the jump, but first, a few reactions. THE GOOD: Hey, [...]
HANK ALTOGETHER: So this whole decade list thing is getting pretty outrageous. But Paste's list is pretty remarkable if for nothing else than the (deservedly) high ranking of O Brother Where Art Thou? (which might be the last cd your parents bought). But it's Paste's adulation of The Avett Brothers' latest I and Love and You that makes even the most die hard Avett Bros fan (ie me) blush. They rank the album at #9. Sayeth Paste Magazine: For their artistic breakthrough, [...]
Paste's 50 Best Albums of the Decade list, out today, is a mixture of A-list indie rock standards and token hip hop and mainstream picks. These selections are mostly successful releases that cater to a white audience of semi-alternative persuasion. Even if this roster is more a reflection of who's reading than the music itself, though, at least they climbed the mountain -- and hey, the album streams are cool. Here is the list. 50 Björk - Vespertine (Elektra, 2001) 49 [...]
We are giving away 5 PAIRS OF TICKETS to see Jonathan Tyler and The Northern Lights w/ Screen Porch Door at Buster's this Wednesday, 11/4. Comment below with the best (or worst) Halloween costume you saw on Saturday. I'll announce the winners Tuesday night. Here are the details for the show... Billiards open at 7pm Doors open at 7pm, Show at 8pm Show is 18+ Tickets $10 Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights [...]
1. Sufjan Stevens: Illinois 2. Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot 3. Arcade Fire: Funeral 4. Radiohead: Kid A 5. Bright Eyes: I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning 6. The White Stripes: Elephant 7. Gillian Welch: Time (the Revelator) 8. OutKast: Stankonia 9. The Avett Brothers: I and Love and You 10. M.I.A.: Arular 11. The Hold Steady: Boys and Girls in America 12. Spoon: Kill the Moonlight 13. Josh Ritter: The Animal Years 14. The Strokes: Is This It 15. Patty Griffin: 1000 Kisses 16. Rufus Wainwright: [...]
new music from vampire weekend – cousins + music video
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HOT CHIP TAKE another crack at IT and I’m IN
