For the first time in some while, I am actually reading a book. It's Rolling Stone mainstay Will Hermes' tome entitled Love Goes to Buildings on Fire: Five Years in New York City That Changed Music Forever . Essentially, Hermes looks at music in New York's five boroughs from New Year's Eve 1973 to New Year's 1977 and how the musical offerings of everything from salsa and disco to the rise of Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith forever changed the world. Pick it up as soon as you're done re-reading The Girl Who Played with Fire . [...]
There are many ways to describe UK musical polymath Beth Jeans Houghton : - Rising anti-folk star (her debut LP, Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose , is in stores this week via Mute.) - Leader of the eclectic backing band The Hooves of Destiny (not to mention sole female influence in a musical group comprised primarily of three dudes). - A person with synesthesia (she claims in her bio that "there's a bridge near my house which, if I look at the red tar on a hot Saturday, I can taste Safeway's own brand [...]
I can't tell you how many articles I've already read in the first few weeks of 2012 promoting this year's most anticipated tours. And truth be told, they've all pretty much been the same: lists of 10-12 big-name acts with lengthy legacies who are looking to pad their retirement funds through sickeningly high ticket prices (think Madonna and The Rolling Stones). Van Halen is on a great many of these lists. The band fits the above criteria to a T, but the potential for a train wreck at any point in time may be worth the price of [...]
I am young. I am confused. Those are hard words to say, and even harder to embrace, especially for a writer and doubly so for one who writes about music. It's the music that is supposed to be about the young and confused, like "Baba O'Riley" and "Young Americans" and "Drunk Girls". And it's the writing that's supposed to be several stations above the puerile audience, right? Prose is meant to come over the top to slam dunk something with meaning and purpose that lives above the music, to offer kôans and quips and pirouettes of phrases. [...]
"You moved in slow degrees/A sudden memory/You're a Leonard Cohen song" - Better Than Ezra, "Under You" "But I was caught, like a fleeting thought / Stuck inside Leonard Cohen's mind" - Mercury Rev, "A Drop In Time" "Give me a Leonard Cohen afterworld / So I can sigh eternally" - Nirvana, "Pennyroyal Tea" It's almost unbelievable now to think that we almost never heard Leonard Cohen , the singer. A well-regarded poet from the late [...]
On this edition of Audiography, Len Comaratta spoke with Mike Mills , bassist for recently disbanded R.E.M. , as he promoted the band's final release, greatest hits compilation Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982–2011 . For the first time in the band's history, they've put together a collection with music from both their I.R.S. catalog and Warner Brothers catalog. Mining over 30 years of material, the band also included three new songs stemming from their Accelerate and Collapse Into Now sessions, and completed just prior to [...]
Stuck between simmering down about Coachella and Tim Tebow's dishonorable discharge from the NFL playoffs and heating up over SOPA and another weekend of playoff madness? We've got just the thing for that: 10 things, in fact. We feel these 10 tracks will serve as a perfect soundtrack to your weekend, whether as glorious victory music or a comforting hand on your shoulder till next season. Best of luck! -Möhammad Choudhery Daniel Rossen - "Saint Nothing" Doesn't it just feel like a Grizzly Bear month? Even though grizzly bears [...]
The Reissue is a brand new feature, taking a monthly look at four albums from 10, 20, 30, and 40 years ago, all of a certain ilk, aesthetic, genre, or style. Some of these albums are not widely available for purchase on vinyl, and some have been reissued at some point. More importantly, these are the albums that we should be talking about in 2012 - again. The first installment is all about the Drone. "Which is more musical: a truck passing by a factory or a truck passing by a music school?" -John [...]
"The Mississippi River and Missouri River are big parts of St. Louis commerce. There's casinos on them, and you can get drunk by them. Back when I lived in Missouri, I used to go to hang out at the riverfront. There was just a small town outside, and going there was a fun thing." This is what Cameron Matthews channels every time he writes a song. At one point, this "delta influence" was inspiring Matthews to play solo country songs, but now he's taking a new route. Upon moving to New York City, that concrete jungle where dreams [...]
In this edition of Audiography, CoS Senior Staff Writer Caitlin Meyer and I wrangled a little time from the hectic schedule of Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino , as he prepared for his 2011 Moogfest appearance. Seen weekly playing the character Troy Barnes on NBC's Community , Glover may be more recognized for his comedic television role and internet comedy troupe Derrick Comedy than his rapping, but long before he was funny for a living he was writing music. As Childish Gambino, his hip-hop persona, he's released three full-lengths and numerous mixtapes and remixes online. Recorded [...]
A whirlwind week such as this could only end with a bang. Suffice to say, that's exactly what we have here. Jay-Z ( and his child)? Leonard Cohen? The Shins? Three juggernaut names that could easily headline any number of top lists. But, alas, there's more - plenty more. On a side note, Jeremy Larson will no longer be spearheading this feature. Now that he's become more involved with other CoS -related activities, he's decided to pass on the reins to Möhammad Choudhery. Good things lie ahead. -Winston Robbins Senior Staff [...]
When you compile a list like this, you start to tremble at how much you're really going to absorb in the ensuing months. This doesn't even cover the misses and surprises. If you're a casual listener, you might get through an album a day. Okay, maybe two. If you're a fanatic, you're spinning discographies left and right. Still, after 365 days, either person is buzzing. One's just a little louder with the phonetics. As I wrote back in December, in a year, you'll have your next roundup of favorite albums. You'll have a new favorite song. You might [...]
I'd like to think that I was among the company of many who were only vaguely familiar with CES. I now realize that I was in the sincere minority of folks who are only vaguely familiar with CES and that's totally my bad. The International Consumer Electronics Show , for those also in the minority, is an annual convention showcasing the electronic inventions and innovations that will shape the year to come. From Tetris, to the DVD, to the Blu-Ray, tons of game-changing products were first showcased at CES. Consequence of Sound , in partnership [...]
She's not really rapping on any of these songs, but she still has this sort of "hood rich" attitude about her vocals. She's definitely singing aplenty, but not in that cutesy, teen pop way (like Britney) or in that grungy, indie way (like Bethany). In fact, it's safe to say it's somewhere right in between. Whatever it is she's doing, she's having a good time doing it. She is Samantha Urbani, the singer-songwriter who "moves around and touches people," of the Brooklyn group Friends . For the front woman of a band, Urbani is somewhat vague and mysterious when [...]
For this edition of Audiography, we sat down with St. Vincent 's Annie Clark on the morning of her performance at last year's Moogfest Music Festival . While hashing out last minute details regarding her forthcoming European tour, Clark took some time out to talk about her latest album, last year's CoS Album of the Year Strange Mercy , and her self-imposed exile to Seattle to write it. We also spoke about her approach to songwriting, both in and out of the studio, crediting her mother, and working with [...]
On this edition of Audiography, Consequence of Sound Research Editor Len Comaratta talks with Auroboros , a new DC metal band that is already burning up the internet with buzz over their soon to be released debut EP. Comprised of Brian Blickle, formerly of Baroness and Accursed Dawn, Jake Smith of Gnarlwolf, Salome's Rob Moore, and Tommy Parry on drums, it's easy to see why there is so much anticipation for their recording. The band took Comaratta into Cue Studios in Falls Church, VA, as guitarist Smith improvised on his guitar to create an additional [...]
Nashville-based Daniel Pujol, the man behind his eponymous band, PUJOL , makes and records his "Southern fried country punk" at an average of five albums a year. His bristly songs and scruffy work ethic earned him attention from JEFF the Brotherhood, Jack White, and Conor Oberst's Saddle Creek Records. Despite his hardcore sound and perpetually sunglasses-clad appearance, Daniel Pujol is a Southern gentleman who says "ma'am," works at the Nashville YMCA, and studies global affairs in graduate school. Recently, Consequence of Sound chatted with Pujol, who is currently at work in the studio recording his full-length debut. The [...]
It's been a long year. Scratch that, it's been a veeerrrry long year. From social revolutions to the end of our occupation of Iraq, from the death of celebrities and dictators to a man who sneezes bullets and the mystery of planking, the world experienced a slew of emotions and all sorts of cultural and political upheaval in 2011. And that's not even counting the plethora of music news that had the blogosphere abuzz this year . So, as the question begs, what comes next? Well, 2012. If you were to believe certain [...]
Christmas being Christmas, you can be forgiven for making the odd list (and perhaps even checking it twice). Cards, presents, food, drink, films on TV, memorable events to include in that annual Christmas letter you are so proud of, relatives to avoid – you name it. So, if you have a list to compile this year, why not turn on the radio for some quality seasonal sounds? You may wind up quickly switching stations because you really don't want to hear "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" for the third time today, even if he is dressed like The Boss. [...]
Other Voices is more than a television series; in a way, it is a project that was born out of a need to showcase the diversity present within modern music, within Ireland, and ultimately, within the world. What makes it particularly special is that it has taken place every December since 2003, in the small church of St. James' to an audience of 80 people, in the only village on the Dingle Peninsula, Co. Kerry, and is then broadcast earlier the following year on Ireland's national broadcaster RTE (this year presented by actor Aidan Gillen of [...]
Consequence Of Sound
Music Alliance Pact. MAP. February 2012.
Skrillex Uses Satanic and Homosexual Influence to Win Grammys
A-Trak - "Round of Applause" / "Where My Money At" (MP3 Download)
Diplo & Usher “Climax”
