Wholly crip, I'm a crapple. While leaving my house this afternoon to make my way over to the Swell Season show in Mesa, I missed the last step on my porch and twisted my knee something awful. Naturally, that wasn't enough to keep me from the show, though I did arrive with a pronounced limp. I'm mighty glad that I did decide to go (I'm a bit of a recluse, and rarely do the social thing these days), because it now ranks among the best live shows [...]

Paper Tongues plays for the people. Fusing massive rock n' roll melodies with fiery hip hop beats, the Charlotte band conjures an infectious, incendiary sound on their A&M/Octone debut, due out summer 2010. Embracing elements of rock, funk, rap and soul, these seven individuals have created something you haven't heard before. Paper Tongues was officially born in 2007 on the streets of Charlotte, North Carolina. And the music is described as a soundtrack for dancing, crying, loving and living. Paper Tongues - Aswan North, Devin Forbes, [...]

Well. That sucked. Yesterday went about as I feared / expected and our beloved wilderness explorer, urban trail guide and pack leader Shenoa lost her battle with Time, just a few months removed from her 13th birthday. Of course, as her guardians it fell to us to give time itself a nudge, to head to the vet's and make that most incomprehensible request of asking someone to end a dear friend's life. And of course, it's not like that, not really. This most difficult of decisions is The Right Thing. This is What's Done. This is [...]

In the next few weeks there will be some ridiculous Greatest Hits collections going on sale. I have no problem with the Foo Fighters getting one, they've been doing their thing for a while now and have had some very solid singles over the year, and their collection of hits could easily replace their records on my shelves. But a band like Fall Out Boy??? Give me a break and get serious for a minute here. Over the years countless artists have put out scores of Greatest Hits collections to keep the money flowing in, or to give fans one [...]

I'm currently living in Sheffield, UK, home to a disproportionate number of massive musical successes for a city of about 500,000 people. Joe Cocker, Def Leppard, the Human League, Tony (I don't care about the route to Amarillo) Christie, Pulp, Richard Hawley and the Arctic Monkeys have all come from this part of South Yorkshire (Christie is actually from Conisbrough, but close enough). In addition to these big icons, the city is home to a thriving local music scene, with talented bands who haven't got the recognition they deserve, and excellent music venues to hear live music. The success of [...]
I went to a funeral last week. I haven't been to many funerals, and only one of them has been for a person I was close to. Most of them have been for people who were older and had enjoyed a long and happy life. Two, however, have been for people close to my own age. One of them was for a boy who committed suicide when we were in Year 11. The other was for the brother of an old friend, a man only two years older than myself. This was the funeral I attended last week. [...]
Port O'Brien have just released their new album Threadbare. The indie-folk band started modestly as the bedroom project of Canadian fisherman Van Pierszalowski and his girlfriend Cambria Goodwin. Swelling organically, Port O'Brien netted a rhythm section, before crashing to shore with the acclaimed debut album All We Could Do Was Sing. If you're not familiar with Port O'Brien the band, you'll know their music. Their infectious feel good hit I Woke Up Today has received high rotation in Australia, even being featured [...]

You probably know Ok Go for the remarkable coordination they displayed in their viral video for "Here It Goes Again"--yes, they're the treadmill dancing band. It's high time you paid a little more attention to this Chicago quartet, however--you'll be hearing "Shooting The Moon" on the Twilight Saga: New Moon soundtrack and come January 12th, 2010, they're gifting the world with "Of the Blue Colour of the Sky." Eloquent frontman Damian Kulash was kind enough to answer our questions about the new album, the song, and setting the mood for Twilight's tortured couple. [...]

I got hooked up with U2 tix for Giants Stadium and it even includes an open bar. Not quite an acolyte of the band, but they're certainly a guaranteed good time in concert. Could even venture that they are a transcedent experience. It's quite a treat to be able to lose yourself in a shared feeling. . First saw em in the early 80's before Bono turned into Jesus junior. In fact, a long time ago, in a hairstyle far far away, I sported the same mullet as Bono and even drew quite a few comparisons. It never got me [...]
Aural States sat down with Medeski Martin & Wood while they were in town for the 2009 Traffic Jam Festival to discuss their new three-record series, Radiolarians . AS: I'm curious about the new approach to writing and recording music that you used for Radiolarians . This year, rather than recording a studio album and then touring in support of the album, you wrote the tunes on the road the previous year and then recorded and released a new live album every 4 months. [...]

The Luyas - Spherical Mattress If you've had one of those dreams, you'll know the feeling. A night when unexpected emotional intensity gets into your head, from God Knows Where. Walking around, with everything tinted and changed, same skin but a different life, holding hands, or carrying the weight. It could be some new love or just the memory of it, but it's enough to leave you disjointed and half-grieving when you awake. You walk around trying to figure out how something you didn't even mean to imagine could have left this gaping hole in [...]
So it's been about 2 1/2 weeks since my initial sugary, and I had a follow-up surgery today. The good news is that everything seems to be healing nicely and my doctor's couldn't be nicer or more caring. There's no bad news, sweet. Now, make sure that you put the following date in your books, September 26th at the Roxy in Los Angeles . That's the date of the benefit [...]
In a bid to try and make "Michael Jackson fan" look perpetually like a euphemism for needing a bit of extra help to do everyday things, some of them are pushing for Michael Jackson to appear on the shortlist for this year's Nobel prizes . Now, you could perhaps see a case being essayed for a physics prize - moonwalking defies all the laws of the physical world; or at least sort-of looks like it might until you slow down the video. Physiology? He certainly broke new ground there. Even literature would have [...]
TIFF. has announced the Midnight Madness and Documentary films that will be screening this year ( Press Release ) X-Men Origins: Wolverine Here is the thing I do no understand about studios in relation to comic book movies. The studio sees that there is a huge cross section of people who either read comics regularly or grew up reading comics. The studio decides to adapt the comic book to the big screen and then proceed to eliminate everything that made the [...]
In England, when one is presented with gorgeous weather, one capitalizes on it. So during our weeks of heatwave, domestic life stopped, and I lived outdoors from BBQ to pub to restaurant. And thus we store a bit of summer in our body fat, for the winter. But now that the summer has lapsed again into typical pattern (tempestuous thunderstorms) I've gone inward this weekend, to attempt lots of those domestic projects that I had abandoned. And over the past few weeks, I have been throwing things away. Selling things, hauling them down to the charity shop. Nearly [...]
Thank you, thank you dear friends, from the bottom of my heart, for such a loving and spirited welcome, and thank you, Mr President, for your kind invitation to me which I am so honoured to accept. I also want to express a special thanks to you Shmuley, who for 11 years served as Rabbi here at Oxford. You and I have been working so hard to form Heal the Kids, as well as writing our book about childlike qualities, and in all of our efforts you have been such a supportive and loving friend. And I would also like [...]
Copyright The Guardian 2009. Their excellent coverage here . Tues 11.00 Get on megabus at Victoria. Meet 'Nutzo' who is also sharing a lift with friend-of-friend Yasir from Reading. He's lovely, of course. 12.30. Wow. Reading Sainsburys is massive. No inflatible pillows though. Port or Rum? Both. Oh and a token bottle of Old Perculiar. Food bill (Apples, Cereal Bars, Shortbread): £6. Booze bill: £39. 14.00 On the road. Stop for punnet of Strawberries. First swig of pear cider for the weekend (yes it's Tuesday I know) 15.30 Arrive at Glasto. Sun's out. Hooray! 15.34 Carrying stuff [...]

"Holy shit! It's day time!?" The old man passed out next to me jolted up during Andrew Bird. "You okay, man?" "Fuck, yeah!" So, Bonnaroo is like being time warped back to the 1960's – dirty hippies with dreads and tie-dyed outfits (or flowers painted over boobs and nuts for those who frolic the land naked) trippin' on acid left and right. You know, the usual... The guy next to me, a father of two, was convinced that I was his saint, sent to help him escape his "dark, but not scary [...]
I once watch an episode of a TV drama in which the characters were participating in a "pill party"—there were various kinds of prescription drugs in a martini glass and the party-goers were just mixing to see how the felt and basically, to have an experience. I, personally, see this as an easy way to die. But, I understand the premise—new bodily and emotional experiences. I just prefer to do it with music. I know I've gushed at length about Regina Spektor—I feel like she's a modern day storyteller with a strong sense of the [...]

Doves Varsity Theater, Minneapolis May 28th "Hey, George, where are you? You should be here man." I didn't think it was possible after seeing Friendly Fires, White Lies, Travis, Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party, and Keane (my Brit Rock Love tour) for my musical taint to be more stimulated. I should've known better....it was Doves . Four years ago, almost to the day, I went to the Vic Theater in Chicago with my friends George and Annette. George I had known for 26 years and Annette for just [...]