Tagged: hot

This week belongs to  The National . By now, you've read our  Top Star review  of their new album, Trouble Will Find Me , and spent time with the Brooklyn outfit in our latest Cover Story . The celebration continues, however, with our list of their top 20 songs. Although it was a blast to assemble, we did get pretty emotional during the process, as one tends to do when writing about all-things National. Yet sometimes words aren't enough, which is why the Internet blessed us with GIFS - right? Read, stir your [...]

Fix My Life by Melt Yourself Down Streaming above is a cut from the forthcoming, self-titled Melt Yourself Down record, which is gonna be released in June. As of right now, the UK band is streaming a few songs from it, and "Fix My Life" is one of 'em. The combo of sounds on this track is a hot and overwhelming blend of afrobeat, electronic dance music, psychedelic rock, and various shades of Middle Eastern music as well. It might seem like a far-fetched idea in concept, but Melt Yourself Down brings the sounds, grooves, and [...]

This past weekend at KROQ's Weenie Roast , Linkin Park's Chester Bennington stepped into Scott Weiland's shoes as the new singer for Stone Temple Pilots. Judging from the lukewarm chaos that ensued online, it's not a decision that's been accepted with "Open Arms" . That inspired us to list our top five best and worst replacement singers in music history. Now, mind you, we wanted to keep each choice to one name - otherwise we would have just listed every Dead Kennedys frontman that didn't go by Jello Biafra - so hopefully that clears up some confusion. [...]

As I tucked a second swimming suit into my bag that was probably too large for the three days I’d be away, I actually said aloud to myself, and I suppose perhaps my cat, “I’m going to a music festival. On the beach. As a VIP. With a press pass.” A little yelp came next, accompanied by an involuntary jig I can only assume looked like a combination of the Bluths doing their respective chicken dances. Such behavior showed up in spurts since [CoS photographer] Josh [Mellin] texted me on a cold March morning and said, “Um, guess what I [...]

Random Access Memories has been echoing in the metallic domes of Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo since their work on 20082s  Tron: Legacy soundtrack. The sheer number of collaborations on RAM , including noted movie composers Paul Williams and Giorgio Moroder, finds Daft Punk  building upon their new-flesh narrative, adding to their storied, cinematic mythos of the diminishing boundary between computers and people. What sort of film is this? Bangalter has shared that the band is “[D]rawing a parallel between the brain and the hard drive – the random way that memories are stored.” This tale of robots [...]

Yeezy Season is in full bloom: What began with a surprise performance in New York City on Wednesday night continued Friday night with the worldwide premiere of "New Slaves" has now culminated into a trip to 30 Rockefeller Center for his fifth appearance on Saturday Night Live , and first public performance behind his sixth solo album, Yeezus . The first performance was of a new song titled "Black Skinhead", featuring a sample of Marilyn Manson's Beautiful People". He was accompanied by an impressive barrage of found imagery [...]

Ian Gilliam of Deep Purple once wrote a little note that explains why Y.N.RichKids are so remarkable right now. The note is printed on the back cover of an album by an obscure '70s Brit-metal band called Jerusalem, a record produced by Gilliam. It reads:  ...I believe that, whenever possible, the work of writers and players in their formative stages should be recorded; before inhibition and self-consciousness set in, before fire and aggression die down, and while they are still absorbing influences and doing things which others might consider 'uncool'. Most important though, before they might [...]

Confidence. Comfort in one's own skin. It's the difference between trying too hard and coming off as a fraud or following your own heart and rising to the top. Many a band waffles after success, making, instead, what they think the audience wants to hear. But with Trouble Will Find Me , The National' s sixth full-length studio album outlines the confidence to expand and experiment with the formula, paired with the skills to do it justice.  That confidence is present from the opening salvo, where The  National sets the tone and pace [...]

This is usually the part where we'd say, "Welcome to Dissected , where we disassemble a band’s catalogue in the abstract. It’s exact science by way of a few beers." But here's a curveball for everyone: we're gonna flip the script and let an actual band do all the heavy lifting. And perhaps there's no other outfit better suited for this little experiment than California's own Camper Van Beethoven . Formed in 1983 in Redlands, CA, Camper came of age in a time when every young male musician took their unkempt angst and joined [...]

It happens every summer: Lineup after lineup entices you to join their party, visit some distant city or town, and brave the heat and crowds in the name of music. Whether it's trekking outside of Seattle, navigating traffic in Tennessee, squeezing onto the BART in San Francisco, or copping rides in Los Angeles - you'll do whatever's necessary to make that experience a reality. Don't you want to make it count, though? Sometimes a festival isn't for everyone. Maybe you're not into mud. There's a chance that agoraphobia of yours might act up at The Gorge. Who [...]

You've been waiting eight years to read this sentence: Daft Punk' s new album, Random Access Memories , can now be heard in full. Ahead of its May 21st release via Columbia, the 13-track effort is streaming on iTunes . Take a listen here . In the works since 2008, Daft Punk recorded the album in Paris, Los Angeles, and New York alongside a cavalcade of guest contributors, including Pharrell Williams , The Strokes’ Julian Casablancas, Giorgio Moroder , and Animal Collective’s Panda Bear [...]

Who gives a fuck about a Vampire Weekend privilege narrative? It's been argued about every which way since early 2008 when Nitsuh Abebe first wrote the words "Afro/preppy/new-wave combination," and this concept somehow upset a lot of Anglican Anglophobes, who banded together to write an astonishing number of think pieces that would make Odd Future jealous. Not to say those essays weren't worthwhile, but let's not retrace those steps. We've done it for two album cycles now, and neither the defenders, the detractors, nor Vampire Weekend themselves are going to change the conversation. They've been accurately [...]

Feelers by Sleepies (recorded December 2010 by Mr. Dream’s Nick Sylvester)

• Sleepies - Feelers

If you’re out to solicit a cheeky grin from The Black Keys’ singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach, Bieber-bashing percussionist Patrick Carney, or just about anyone with a music pulse from Akron, OH, try mentioning the 55 th Grammy Awards. Though the 2013 Grammys coincided precisely with the first day of the Chinese Zodiac year of the Black Snake, we may as well dub it the year of The Black Keys after the whipping those Akron boys gave fellow nominees Bruce Springsteen, Jack White, and the rest of the field. Matching her jet-black bangs with a sequined black [...]

“Our first show in Chicago was at the Beat Kitchen when we were playing with the punks.” Of course by punks, Hayley Williams meant former Fueled by Ramen  labelmates Cute is What We Aim For, who opened for Paramore in 2006 at the small venue in Roscoe Village. Seven years later in front of a sold-out crowd at the historic Chicago Theatre, Williams stands on a small, steel-cornered road case front and center flanked by her two new bandmates and three touring musicians behind them, the backstage scrim lit up with Paramore’s tri-lined glyph [...]

Photo by Mike Benigno There are some musicians that deserve to get Dissected because the inner workings of their catalog are mysterious, aspects and functions of their musical organs shrouded in mystery. And then there are musicians like Bradford Cox , people who have already so expertly vivisected themselves that you’d be foolish to not take the opportunity for a detailed examination. That’s not to say that Cox’s work could be considered entirely straightforward and tangible; whether recording with Deerhunter or as Atlas Sound , his music ripples with abstracting psychedelia, [...]

Her 2009 debut, Hands , might have launched Victoria Hesketh to global acclaim, but she's been hard at work building the Little Boots sound ever since. Darker, deeper, and more polished, the follow-up, Nocturnes , carves bold synth-pop from a unique palette of sound. The album stomps through '70s disco, '90s house, and everything in between, but it's never disorienting. Instead, Little Boots meticulously threads together each of her influences. Nocturnes might be steeped in electronics, but Little Boots makes sure to keep one [...]

Fans of vinyl waste no time in extolling the virtues of the medium, from the warmth of the sound to the satisfaction of carefully slicing through the plastic wrap after purchase. Vinyl sounds good. Vinyl looks good. Vinyl feels good. But beyond g on to what some still see as a fad, there are be deeper reasons why we love vinyl. David C. Giles is a reader of media psychology at the University of Winchester in the U.K. He co-authored a paper called “The psychological meaning of personal record collections and the impact of changing technological forms.” We spoke to [...]

Austin City Limits has always been the odd festival out of the Big Four. Although one of North America's biggest and best music festivals, its presence within the Music Capitol of the World has led to instant sell outs long before it was cool to instantly sell out. Festival organizers have consistently catered their lineups more to the Austin demographics, putting less emphasis on big name reunions or unique gets. Alt-rock, folk, and twang frequently top the bill, and this year is no exception with the presence of Wilco, The National, Kings of Leon, and Vampire Weekend. [...]

Note: For weekend one's coverage, which included write ups for Billy Joel, Dr. John, Dave Matthews Band, et al., click  here . With all the great music during  New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival , it’s good to be reminded that before the Internet, personal computer, television, radio, or even telecommunications as a whole, the city was America’s 19th- and early 20th-century capital for culture. Blues from the rural South funneled into the bustling port city. Improvisation combined with African rhythms and blue notes would turn that blues into jazz. The zeitgeist would flee to [...]