Posted on 22 February 2010
With Teen Dream Beach House have vaulted themselves onto the upper rung of 2010 LP chatter, so it’s rather fitting to see them throw some fresh wares into the mix of Record Store Day’s annual indie-store-exclusives. Their four-track Zebra EP promises alternate versions of two Dreams (both “Zebra” and the Cough Syrup Remix of “10 Mile Stereo”) and two unreleased tracks. Front and center is “The Arrangement,” which Beach House performed for an upcoming Sirius Radio session, part of the pair’s Sirius XMU takeover next week. Hear the live take here:
Continue reading Beach House - “The Arrangement” (Live On Sirius)…
Posted on 16 February 2010
They got together briefly for a set at a Joan of Arc variety show last month, but they now have a firm concert date of their own in July, with more shows planned. Jade Tree will re-release their 1998 anthology Analphabetapolothology in June. More info here.
Posted on 16 February 2010
NYC’s a snow globe at the moment, so this list of every official evening showcase over SXSW’s five day run this March couldn’t come at a better time. Grab a pen, think taco, and get started.
Posted on 16 February 2010
Less than a month away from Ted Leo’s The Brutalist Bricks, the ’80s-hardcore influenced 13-track jammer that constitutes Ted and Rx’s Matador debut. “The Mighty Sparrow” is a bright and mighty opener, setting the pace for the LP’s spitfire hooks with Leo in your ear immediately, talking about exploding cafe doors within three seconds. Efficient. Download this. It’s a brasher step than “Even Heroes Have To Die,” but you’ll have to wait ’til you get into “Mourning In America” for the best dose of that pre-billed hardcore cap-tip. The track comes from Matador with a note that Ted’s signed on to do Fallon the day before the record’s out (Monday, March 8th) which makes sense because he takes his late night seriously. Plus a bunch of tour dates are scheduled. All of it is here:
Continue reading Ted Leo - “The Mighty Sparrow”…
Posted on 16 February 2010
As mentioned at the start of the year, Robert Smith has turned his attention away from 4:13 Dream to Almost Alice, a collection of songs inspired by Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland. He’s joined by the likes of Owl City, Avril Lavigne, the All-American Rejects, and many other of your favorite artists. (The movie’s actual score was done by Danny Elfman, though Avril’s track will show up during the credits.) Take a listen to Smith’s “Very Good Advice.” It includes less tears than the original.
Continue reading Robert Smith - “Very Good Advice”…
Posted on 13 January 2010
“Jail La La” isn’t a new Dum Dum Girls song, but it has been re-recorded and given the Richard Gottehrer treatment for Dee Dee & Co’s excellent forthcoming Sub Pop debut I Will Be. (It’s also available on a single backed by “Over The Phone.”) The new collection’s sound is dusky and the group (Dee Dee + Frankie Rose, Jules, and Bambi) still nods equally to noise poppers and girl groups, but things shine a bit brighter across its 11 tracks. The polish makes sense considering the band’s increasingly tight live shows. Take a listen.
Continue reading New Dum Dum Girls - “Jail La La”…
Posted on 13 January 2010
Questlove compared the cast of NBC’s most-improved sitcom to the Wu-Tang clan on Twitter, then went into detail, then the internet magically made this happen. Good job, internet!
Posted on 13 January 2010
A couple years ago when reviewing High On Fire’s fourth full-length Death is This Communion, an album that landed at no. 7 on my 2007 year end list, I said something about how Matt Pike, Des Kensel and then new bassist Jeff Matz had managed to top 2002’s Surrounded By Thieves and all that came after it via huge Jack Endino production and all sorts of new details (Eastern tinges, pastoral acoustics, an extended and accumulating drum solo, etc.), but for all these leaps and adds, it was the raw moments that felt best. Hello Snakes For The Divine. The Oakland trio’s taut, muscular fifth album is unrelenting. They don’t bother with interludes. Maybe think of it as Blessed Black Wings with five years experience and stadium-sized production. Pike’s guitar playing is at its speediest and most complex without losing any forward momentum. His cracked-tooth vocals continue to age and deepen like the whiskey he drinks. Kensel and Matz click like guys who’ve recorded a classic album together and hit the road hard. It’s early too early in 2010 to talk lists, but it’s not often something rocks this hard.
Continue reading New High On Fire - “Frost Hammer” (Stereogum Premiere)…
Posted on 20 November 2009
From hardcore to heavy metal to gangsta rap, local TV news teams have long warned parents about the terrifying new sounds rotting teenage brains. This week it’s San Fran’s KPIX on the horrorcore scene. Not all juggalos are murderers, dad! Probably.
Posted on 20 November 2009
Watch well-recorded videos of NMH doing “Two-Headed Boy” and “April 8th” at the old Knitting Factory on March 7, 1998 via Merge, the label that just released On Avery Island and In the Aeroplane Over The Sea on 180 gram vinyl.
