It’s a fact that many indie rock shows are boring. The songs are overly scripted with little room for improvisation, the bands often lack energy after driving themselves through the night in a cramped van, and they aspire to recreate the sonic details of their recordings. Fair enough. So it’s always a […]
Oh boy, here we go again. Now that most of the world has looked beyond the controversy of DJ Danger Mouse’s Grey Album, another group of likeminded experimentalists have gone and stirred up the copyright pool (and coffers) of 60’s pop. The group: artists on Manchester-based internet label Hippocamp. Their target: the […]
It’s difficult to discuss And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead without discussing the centerpiece of their live shows: the destruction. They play harder, tighter, and louder than nearly any major-label band. The enormous 6-piece live band effortlessly shifts time signatures and tempos. Their twin-drummer assault is frequently breathtaking, […]
I always wonder how the occasional bluegrass band gets the attention of the indie press when there are about a hundred other comparable bands vying for the spot. It would be nice to think the band is just plain awesome. But it’s more likely a matter of label connections, personal connections, and, well, […]
For a band usually described with the usual set of lazy pop adjectives (”60’s”, “dreamy”, “California”, “sunny”) The Shins inhabit their own world. When the band is on - which the remarkably consistent quartet almost always is - they take the standard indie pop formula of guitar/bass/drums and solo lead vocals and turn them […]
Gang of Four are back. Rhino’s expanded edition of Entertainment! comes out on Tuesday, their current reunion tour is garnering nothing but love, and the current crop of disciples have re-inspired some great rock language.
In a description of their upcoming stand at the Irving Plaza, The New Yorker writes “The Gang’s danceable […]
Way to go Matador Records for making the best song from Spoon’s latest available as a free download. The track, “I Turn My Camera On,” is a pre-punk disco-falsetto funk, unlike anything else in Spoon’s fine catalog. It reminds me of You’ve Got to Hear the Music, the excellent CD from New Zealand’s […]
It’s surprising how little music has been made in the crossing of acoustic Americana and modern electronics - what some have dubbed folktronica. Given the rising acceptance of the laptop as a bonafide musical instrument, few laptoppers have creatively ventured into the acoustic Americana scene.
What recordings we do have generally fall into the ambient […]
The debut CD. It’s both a debut - intended to represent a young band to the world - and a CD - a timeless musical document. At some point during the recording of Bloc Party’s debut CD Silent Alarm the band and producer Paul Epworth had to make a choice: create a tight […]
Everyone’s favorite Duluth, slow-core, Mormon, husband-and-wife duo Low were interviewed last week on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross. Alan and Mimi thoughtfully talk about the intellectual origins of the band’s sound, Alan’s recent emotional instabilities, and their family relationship. It’s an interesting interview, but Terry (arguably radio’s greatest interviewer) lacks her typically […]