The other night, Chelsea Handler joked to Justin Bieber that she would help him knock John Mayer out of the way in this week's album sales race. However, judging by Billboard 's early estimates, it'll take a lot more than the E! host's quips to slay Mayer's Battle Studies . Here's how industry mag Billboard sees things panning out, sales-wise, by the time final numbers start rolling in for this week's top releases: * John Mayer, Battle Studies (275,000 to 300,000 copies) * Casting Crowns, [...]
We've been on hiatus this week test driving cars and listening to snarky salesmen pitches. What I wanted was a sports car so rad it would magically melt the clothes off any hottie on the street. Alas, what I got was a whole lot different. W e ended up with an affordable and easy on the gas Kia Sportage. I will say for a factory job, the audio system is banging, equipped with Sirius sat radio, a USB connection, iPod/mp3 player jacks. It also comes with all [...]
You don't even have to be an online music nerd like me (and maybe you), to realise that the music industry is in a state of flux. Whatever your position on the digital democracy that music sharing online has fostered, whether you stand arm and arm with Reverend John Mclure who thinks the digital revolution has opened up the doors to a world of music you might never have heard, or you stand behind Lilly Allen who rather hypocritically thinks it's an evil theft of an artists work whilst sitting pretty on a major label and making her own mixes [...]
025. En Ventura. "Avant" Los Gandharvas It's the start of an amazing band and I'm not sure they even know it. Well, they probably did when they recorded this, 'cause it's about as thrilling and self-conscious as it can get. Listening to "Avant" just makes one angry they're playing around with other projects instead of focusing on the truly outstanding stuff. Note the vocals; they drive this piece with razing heights, brimming only as it is necessary, rock advancement. JSB [...]
WFMU prides itself on holding only one on-air fundraiser per year: our annual Marathon, which is a 2-week-long frenzy of great prize giveaways, hilarious co-host banter, surprise guests, and more caffeine than a case of Sparks (RIP). The listener support we bring in during the Marathon is normally enough to fuel our fire for a full year. While WFMU came very close to making our goal during the Marathon this March, we still fell short (I smell recession). Because it's tough to operate with an empty bank account and there's an entire winter to get through [...]
By Linda Holmes & Stephen Thompson The signs of Idolatry. (Getty/Scott Gries) All week, and all next week, NPR Music is opening a fire hydrant of trenchant analysis covering the last decade in music. So here are NPR's two most devoted viewers of American Idol -- [...]
In the first part of our Black Body Politic series, we briefly discussed the history of black models and fashion. This installment finds us chatting with up and coming model Khayattollah. Khayattollah has been a model and muse for the Boxing Kitten brand, an amazing company whose designs are based on the tradition of women with "ethnic rockability." You may have also caught her in the campaign for fashion brand A Peace Treaty (which made it's way to the e-pages of FADER ), as well as being featured by TRACE and more. [...]
We need to talk about Fanfarlo . Seriously . Despite listening to this album almost nonstop for the last few months, you and I haven't yet delved into the full-scale conversation that their debut album Reservoir so clearly deserves. One of my favorite releases of 2009, this British/Swedish 6-piece has crafted a joyously shimmering album that arches and soars, and thumps compellingly through the speakers. Reservoir was recorded late last year at Peter Katis' Tarquin Studios (whose producer's hand [...]
[ Vizual Records ] ( buy mp3s ) There is a long tradition in aesthetics presupposing that art should aspire to resemble nature. Art's artifice, all the craft and design, should disappear from view, leaving behind only a surface on which elements seem to move with natural necessity. The enjoyment of art stems in part from experiencing something that seems almost like nature, while all along still knowing somehow that it's artificial, shaped by the hands of man. The chance of enjoying the four tracks offered up by Joshua Iz for his [...]
Dig released one of my favorite CDs of the '90s, a self-titled 12-track disc packed with alternative rock hooks and a mild shoegazer guitar influence. Two more full lengths and an EP or two followed before Dig did what a lot of other bands of that era did and disappeared into oblivion. Singer Scott Hackwith has been busy as a producer and scoring motion pictures since Dig's breakup and is currently working with an amazing, instrumental band called For a Minor Reflection (he gets [...]
This year's obligatory Hallowe'en post comes from Storkboy, my identical twin. I robbed it from an abortive blog he kept years ago that crafts something mystic out of 'we-wuz-in-an-estate-but-wuz-a ware-of-the-country' in a way which I try, but never can. He is a brilliant writer. He is also identifiable as the twin on the right in the photo below. I ate more carrots to make me handsome. Happy Hallowe'en (Or Oíche Samhna as us non-Americans six miles from the place where it was invented sometimes call it)!. [...]
This year's obligatory Hallowe'en post comes from Storkboy, my identical twin. I robbed it from an abortive blog he kept years ago. He is a brilliant writer. He is also identifiable as the twin on the right in the photo below. Happy Hallowe'en! (Or Oiche Samhain as us non-Americans six miles from the place where it was invented sometimes call it). they were dotes growing up It happens every year, and it [...]
There is new and exciting music coming out into the world every day; too much to keep up with, honestly. And because of that fact, many great artists tend to get overlooked and forgotten very easily. Anyone remember a little group from southern California called Beachwood Sparks? I first heard of the greatness that is Beachwood Sparks from my guitar player, Andy Cox, about a year and a half ago when I was looking for new music to put on my iPod. It was crammed in the middle of a huge stack of cd's [...]
Photography by Herky It's Friday but it's a gloomy, cloudy, and busy one, meaning the sooner we get this day done and start our weekend, the better! Personally, I can't think of a better way to finish off this week than with the shot of throat burnin' bourbon in an old motel that is Whodat Peckerhead's, from our Facebook community , new mixtape ! YAY! It's a wonderful [...]
Another one of my favorites from Years of Future Passed is Graham Parker. He had a couple of different backing bands over the years, but there is no mistaking his voice. I have remarked in the past about my college years basically transforming what I thought were my musical tastes. Graham Parker & The Rumour were a British "New Wave" (I get so tired of adhering to the labeling of bands, but if nothing else it gives it a bit of a time stamp I suppose) act that three relatively well known records by 1979's Squeezing Out Sparks. All I [...]
E very decade has its idols, the '00s was definitely the age of the American idol -- as in the winners and sometimes runners up of the popular TV star search. Occasionally, several of them have gone on to produce excellent-if-not-exactly-earth -shattering post- American Idol singles (Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway," Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats," Jordin Sparks's "No Air"), but for the most part, they've peaked on the show. Here are my nine favorite Idol performances from 2002 to 2009. Note that two of them (Tamyra's and Jennifer's) resulted in the contestants getting the boot the following night. [...]
You know both Sean and myself bang on about this great band over here in the UK. The Joy Formidable are without doubt my favourite live act right now, the energy and chemistry they exude on stage is second to none. Even opening the bill for Editors at a sold out UEA in Norwich did not dampen the sheer power of them as a unit live. As good as Justin was on the drums, Matt seems to drive the whole thing along at a breakneck pace. [...]
Sunday evening at the Bowery Ballroom started with a fine set of gentle, straightforward folk rock by the talented Dave Godowsky . Godowsky has a relaxed stage manner and a soothing voice, with intelligent lyrics and an ability to engage the audience with charming stories. He'll even let you download his music for free if you ask him nicely (or actually, if you just go to his website ). "So Long, Theresa" and "Kingdom Come" were standout tracks at the show. He will be playing the Mercury on the 22nd for CMJ, and I look [...]
If it's mid-October in New York City, then it's CMJ Music Marathon time... five days and nights of music, film, informative panels, and parties that guarantee a good time, if your idea of a good time involves nonstop live shows from up-and-coming musicians from a variety of genres. Thing is, since you're reading EAR FARM, we're going to go ahead and assume that CMJ 2009 is your idea of a good time. Ours too. And it just so turns out that fourteen of our previously featured Bands of the Week are playing the festival [...]
I've been meaning to do this review for 4 days now and have finally found time to do it (reading week). To begin, Power sure sounds like Boys Noize ...to an extent. Boys Noize does not stray away from the style that has popularized him in the electro discourse in some respects and in other respects raises questions. Power is not a well-rounded album. I could go into detail describing each track, but I've chosen the alternative path of speaking slightly on certain tracks and leaving [...]
WKND PLYLST!! This has nothing to do with NEW MOON!
Vampire Weekend - Cousins
HOT CHIP TAKE another crack at IT and I’m IN
The Beach House Theory of 2k10.
Megan Fox New York Times Magazine Outtake Photos
