Reviews
The world is filled with instrumental alt-rock acts, most of which fall into distinct categories. Maryland duo Matmos sounds nothing like any of them.
The first full-length from synth-pop pioneer Gary Numan plays like Nicolas Roeg’s The Man Who Fell to Earth come to life.
This collection of defining mixes--covering every base regarding audio collage that’s been touched upon since the heyday of tape-splice edits--fills a long-standing gap in the history of hip-hop.
Down in front and up on the stage, everybody was wearing party hats, because Shara Worden, aka My Brightest Diamond, was in a festive mood.
Reunion Summer rolled on unabated this weekend in New York with the first visit from ‘90s notables Polvo in just over a decade.
The longest name in indie rock releases a first album that’s already bursting with mythology.
Imagine the banjoing boy from Deliverance growing up, making nice with some other local musicians and starting a band. There you have Fleet Foxes.
This is the third volume of Soundway’s excellent overview of Nigerian music, focused on that country’s formidable output throughout the ‘70s.
On her second record, Joan Wasser combines a sleepy voice--one that sounds as if she just rolled out of bed after a long night--with surprising intensity.
My Brightest Diamond captivates with quiet control on her sophomore effort, A Thousand Shark’s Teeth.
Back from a six-year hiatus, German electronic pop outfit Notwist shows a softer side on their latest effort The Devil, You + Me.
The female heir-apparent to the Wainwright throne proves on her second album that she’s good at things besides heartbreak
I don’t know Mike Edison, but I like him. He’s part of a generation of NYC rummagers who came before me, stirring the trough when there was plenty of room at the edges to stink it up.
Pollard's first self-released solo album delivers the goods fans have come to expect, except this time, the songs last longer.
On the follow-up to Gone Ain't Gone, Tim Fite splices samples and front porch staples, like banjo and pedal steel, into his own proprietary formula.
With Swimming, The French Kicks rise above their role as minor players in the early Oughts NY/DC dance-punk craze and tap into a sound a bit more enduring
Death Cab for Cutie dances with the dark side on seventh album Narrow Stairs.
SCAC explores a murky psychological terrain between belief and skepticism, playing to a queasiness toward lampooning Southern American religious fervor and deep-down wishing you could be swept up in a rush of old-timey salvation.
English electrophiles Ladytron fourth album is sure to keep their listeners at a distance. And that’s a good thing.
There’s always something that keeps me telling those around me about Clockcleaner, and now it’s pretty much all about saying goodbye to John Sharkey III for a while.
Kurt Vile plays with a serious classic rock fixation in one hand and an accomplished hometaper vibe in the other--think Springsteen at his loosest, mitigated with the sort of songcraft you’d expect to hear out of Anton Newcombe or Robert Pollard.
After four years, Los Angeles space rockers finally release a tasteful sampling from their forthcoming second album.
Breathlessly banging on drums, violently humping their guitars from behind, and randomly hurling their skinny bodies around, Foals don't just play live, they manage to pack an entire cardiovascular workout into their hour onstage.
My Bloody Underground has proven to be a polarizing bastard. You loathe it or love it. Or, if you’re like me, initial hate gives way to deep affection.
Midnight Juggernauts’ debut effort Dystopia is musically out of this world.
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Columns
Enriching your musical life is an important pursuit, but you also have to practice your band material. Record your practices and listen to how you really sound--don’t hide in Fantasyland, face the truth. More »
God forbid a doctor ever tell me “you’ll never walk again” because I’d immediately believe them. Even if I was walking at the exact moment that they told me--I’d suddenly collapse at their suggestion. More »
I Totally Cleaned the Fuck Out of My Bathroom Last Night More »
I recently had an illuminating conversation with my father. He had just returned from a Canadian fishing trip with five “Blue Collar American” types in their seventies. He's worried about Barack Obama’s chances. "Some people are pretty racist,” he said. More »
Picking a qualified and electable running mate will be a snap for John McCain after the woes he has encountered trying to find a suitable campaign theme song. More »
You know how a storm can roll in and choke out the sun, and you can’t help but stare, knowing all hell could break loose? Well, on a balmy night in 1995, at a Pittsburgh VFW hall, it did. More »
Alas--Bo Diddley is no more. The guitar phenomenon without whom there would have been no "rock 'n' roll" as we know it today has just left the building. More »
Today we take a quick linguistic and historical detour to learn a bit more about how to make a small pile of money into a bigger pile of money by using the “Rule of Three By Three”--a rule that has been employed by multiple generations of Chinese in search of opportunity. More »
I can still remember the day a few years ago when I was running along the Embarcadero in San Francisco, thinking about the state of the music industry and, well, how drastically fucked up it was… More »
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Interviews
CocoRosie: “We pulled a Winona”
Tina Dico: “People Think I’m a Sad Person”
Reviews
The world is filled with instrumental alt-rock acts, most of which fall into distinct categories. Maryland duo Matmos sounds nothing like any of them.
The first full-length from synth-pop pioneer Gary Numan plays like Nicolas Roeg’s The Man Who Fell to Earth come to life.