One of my favorite bands has long been The Talking Heads, the great late 70's/early 80's punk-new wave group fronted by the ever erudite David Byrne. I never tire of them, not after all these years of semi-constant rotation. I could blither on about the musical reasons that this is so, and then engage in arguments over "who is better? The Talking Heads, The Clash, The Ramones, or Blondie"? But I never have much steam for these debates. I still obsess over the Talking Heads because of the odd abstractions of the lyrics, the driving [...]
2009 the Year in Music Welcome! You have just found one of the most exhaustive and well-considered lists of quality, new music available in 2009. We don't promise to have everything that's out there but what is comes in one easy-to-digest package ! Read on below: Ultimately, we consider this to be an A-Z shopping list (we have great confidence that any and all of these belong in your permanent collection) is a reflection of [...]
Because there's just too much out there demanding your attention and social calendars, we're determined to do our part in helping you sift through the clutter. Which is why we present you with Your Weekend Plans…. , a new feature here on EF in which we put advance focus on an upcoming show by chatting it up with one of the bands involved. For our debut installment, we've corralled Brooklyn (now) septet Ava Luna , whose blend of girl-group doo wop, thick soul and frizzled electro-punk has everyone scratching their heads in puzzlement as they [...]
Ritzy from the Joy Formidable kindly agreed to give us an insight to life on the road. The band spent last week in NYC playing two dates with Passion Pit before headlining two further sold out shows. Over the last two years my respect and admiration for the band both as artists and people has grown. In 2010 I am sure The Joy Formidable will hit even higher heights and continue to blow crowds away through Europe with the Temper Trap next month. If you don't have tickets yet for the March UK headlining tour get some! They are without doubt [...]
I was driving to work on Saturday, yes, Saturday (I'll get to that) when I passed the Novo Nordisk corporate complex on Route 1 at around 7 am. There were cars in the parking lot. Not a lot, and maybe some of them were the cleaning staff and that was their regular hours, but there were definitely a bunch of cars there owned by people who were working, on a Saturday morning, outside of their regular work hours. And it got me angry. The client I was traveling to on Saturday is a major American corporation (or at least a [...]
I was driving to work on Saturday, yes, Saturday (I'll get to that) when I passed the Novo Nordisk corporate complex on Route 1 at around 7 am. There were cars in the parking lot. Not a lot, and maybe some of them were the cleaning staff and that was their regular hours, but there were definitely a bunch of cars there owned by people who were working, on a Saturday morning, outside of their regular work hours. And it got me angry. The client I was traveling to on Saturday is a major American corporation (or at least a [...]
MP3: Imperial China - All That Is Solid ( limited time exclusive download ) Sockets is having a label showcase at the Black Cat Mainstage on Fri Jan 22nd including Imperial China, Hume, Buildings, The Cornel West Theory and Big Gold Belt. First, let's address the unavoidable: few can discuss any independent music act coming out of DC without mentioning Dischord Records. This is not without good reason: Dischord casts a long shadow, more a movement and culture than anything so narrowly scoped as a record label. Since its output, [...]
So here we are, my favourite songs of the year. What be they? How sound them? All is revealed. I think what strikes me about the music of the last twelve months is the blizzard of originality. An awful lot of new sounds were made. It's a little like the melting-pot at the centre of western music worked very well this year, because a lot of these songs have influences that are wide and disparate. Is this list, taken as a whole, better than that of 2008? I think it just might be. But only just. The artwork is what [...]
Indie-electro trio Union of Knives this week revealed that they had split up, and with the announcement came the now obligatory goodbye statement. Sometimes a band's last words are witty, more often they're as bitter as a lemon marinated in vinegar. We've compiled a dozen of the best break-up speeches by Scottish groups, starting with the most recent. Will the last to leave please switch off the lights? UNION OF KNIVES (January 2010) Craig Grant (singer): [...]
For the 12th year Brainwashed Readers have voiced their opinion on the best and worst music of the year. While some of the results shouldn't come as a surprise, there are, as always, plenty of anomalies. Brainwashed Readers have once again, and probably moreso than any other previous year, distanced themselves from the mainstream. Thanks to all who took part. As always, the Brainwashed Staff have added their comments. Album of the Year:Sunn O))), Monoliths Dimensions Their best album by a country mile. I get the feeling their collaborators have a lot to do with [...]
Like most people, I didn't exactly have the best taste of music right away. In fact it took a better part of this decade to figure out I needed to re-evaluate my tastes. I had to let go of my safety harnesses and start listening to music that wasn't in my comfort zone. A decade ago I was 16 yrs old...so back then I was listening to angry rock music and angry techno music. Basically I was listening to nothing but Deftones and Aphex Twin. While both amazing, no one can live solely on cheeseburgers and fries (as much as [...]
Hardly Art put up a little stand underneath the tent at The Pitchfork Festival this summer, and while there's not a lot of time to scurry back and forth between acts on each of the three stages, we were able to stop and talk to Sarah who was peddling all sorts of merchandise and promoting her bands. On her request, we headed over to the side stage to catch The Dutchess & The Duke. It was midway through the afternoon, our vodka was nearly gone, and we were pretty tired, to be frank. When the band of [...]
Here's the thing about being a white MC: Everything you ever do will already be working in the confines of a pre-established system, a set of rules always working against you and toward a moment where you're standing in your underwear hawking high end fashion, or you've grown dreads and gone metal. But Brooklyn's Metermaids , MCs Swell and Sentence, have done something about that. Their latest EP, Smash Smash Bang , best represents who they are and the aim of their sound. At the same time that they've bucked all notions and stereotypes, [...]
The most memorable event of the past decade is the day the Donnybrook Writing Academy opened its doors and began providing taste, culture and direction to a world wallowing in mediocrity. As the decade comes to an end, we feel obligated to enlighten the masses once again. We at the manor have put together the definitive best of the decade film list. Through science, trigonometry, and a little black magic, we have calculated the ten best films of the decade and have employed the brightest minds on the planet to share our findings. Enjoy the enlightenment. Honourable Mentions [...]
So here are the blogger choices for the British Albums Of The Decade list I published the other day, along with some blurbs which I judiciously edited to ensure this wouldn't be the longest post ever. Thanks again to everyone who took part and keep a look out for the wider poll results that I've conducted. Tim, funfunfun 1) Bullet Union – Ruin's Domino (Essential listening: 'Three Cherries Straight', 'Yak Yak Yak You're Fired!') I love the sound of this record. The satisfying thud of [...]
Twenty or so British bloggers contributed to this list of their favourite British albums of the decade. I asked them to rank their top three albums and have listed the Top 10 (unfortuntely, the MySpace throwback of a Top 8 was scuppered). I attributed ten points to their #1 choices, seven points to their #2 choices and four points to their #3 choices. This slightly bizarre scoring system was conconcted to emphasise albums which may have received multiple votes, considering the small sample size. Massive thanks to everyone who took part - Tim at The Daily [...]
And now, the Top Ten. A few of these were probably pretty obvious to anyone that reads herohill or likes Canadian music, but hopefully some of the lesser known acts (The Wheat Pool or Julie Fader for example) are new treats for you to digest with your cranberry sauce and dindon. Posting might be a bit sporadic over the next few days, but after some of these gems we gave you, hopefully you'll remember your pals at herohill in the new year. 10 [...]
Here are some of my favourite EPs, 7"s and songs released this year! EPs + 7"s : Atlas Sound: Rough Trade EP This EP was free with the purchase of Logos , but only through the Rough Trade store ... which is a shame because it is just wonderful; in fact, I prefer the Rough Trade EP over Logos ! Pulled Apart By Horses: Tour Traxx EP Aggressive vocals, [...]
Sometimes things are better left unsaid Con una band come gli Stricken City va così: è quasi più divertente e funziona meglio mettere delle immagini che scriverne. Hanno quella grafica un po' naif un po' scuola di moda, piena di fenicotteri e pappagalli. Hanno quelle facce giuste da magazine giusto . Hanno quella cantante bella non solo in foto con una voce adatta allo scopo. Hanno pubblicato [...]
We open our scene in a field filled with lush and verdant grass. It's still relatively dark outside, but a sliver of the sun has started to peek over the horizon. The world is calm and seemingly at peace. The teenage farmhand, woken up mere minutes earlier, has thrown on some clothes in haste and made his way out to the barn. He opens those big red wooden doors, and out march the cows. "Let me begin," the farmer says as he walks back into the house to start making breakfast. Meanwhile, as the sun sheds even more light on [...]
New Releases V2.9
2010 Bonnaroo Artists Unveiled
Remix Review
