Music
The Safes
There is nothing quite so cloying as the sound of a completely mediocre album. The Safes unleash Well, Well, Well on the world with nary a regard for hooks or cohesion.
You Tube of the Week
It's a bold new age of information. YouTube represents an archive of millions of hidden or long-forgotten documentations of some of the greatest performers in music, free and at the tips of our fingers.
writer's bloc?
A successful debut LP can be a blessing or a curse. It can be the precursor of legitimate greatness or it can spell doom for a band's future with the weight of unachievable expectations (think of the wasted potential of The Libertines or The Stills). The real pressure for these groups lies on their second album, where they have so much more to lose. Bloc Party fans everywhere had been crossing off days on their calendars in anticipation of February 6th, the release date of the band's second studio album, A Weekend In The City.
Ana's Mitchell
On The Brightness, Ana's Mitchell's third album, the singer/songwriter demonstrates a welcome departure from her earlier, more mainstream-sounding efforts.
Reviews
Youth Group Casino Twilight Dogs Recording an album around the success of a cover of Rod Stewart's "Forever Young" sure has a way of affecting a band's sound.
Engineering a career
The last thing you might expect to come out of the School of Engineering is an R&B album. But you probably haven't heard of Tara Betterbid, aka taragirl. Although taragirl refers to her sound as "organic R&B," someday her name could be added to the Philly soul pantheon, alongside Patti LaBelle, Jill Scott and Jaguar Wright.
Youtube clip of the week
It's a bold new age of information. YouTube represents an archive of millions of hidden or long-forgotten documentations of some of the greatest performers in music, free and at the tips of our fingers.
Music Reviews
norah jones Not Too Late If you're the type to sit on a New York City bench at sunrise, writing poetry and listening to music, then Norah Jones is the musician for you.
digital underground
There's a lot of messed up stuff in the world. But there's Big Gulps and shit, so just chill the fuck out." Thus spoke Dan Deacon last Friday night at Johnny Brenda's.
YouTube of the Week
It's a bold new age of information. YouTube represents an archive of millions of hidden or long-forgotten documentations of some of the greatest performers in music, free and at the tips of our fingers.
Sweet Emo-Shin
In contrast to the experimental proclivities of his more "freakish" Drag City labelmates (John Fahey, Six Organs of Admittance, White Magic), the more traditional folk of Scottish singer and guitarist Alasdair Roberts seems tame, and perhaps even quaint.
Music Reviews
Of Montreal is one of the only indie pop bands with enough talent to justify both their strange concert antics (lead singer Kevin Barnes came on stage last tour with a wedding dress on, wanting to marry the audience) and the fact that they sold their song and soul to the Outback Steakhouse.
YouTube Clip of the Week
We are living in a bold new age of information. YouTube represents an archive of millions of hidden or long forgotten documentaries of some of the greatest performers in music, free and at the tips of our fingers.
meryl and the streets
www.myspace.com/merylstreet About Meryl and the Streets "We were pretty much just chillin'," lead singer Jason E.
The fort knox of poon
You could be hung with an Oscar and two Golden Globes, but if you can't set the stage like a Hollywood pro, you ain't getting near that white orchid.
It's a listening party!
"Let's Make Love and Listen to Death from Above" by CSS Joe: At first I wasn't sure I liked it, but then Vince turned the bass up.
To blog or not to blog
Mp3 blogs will become your life. As you read these words, thousands of self-anointed music experts in thick plastic glasses and headphones are furiously posting, downloading, and analyzing fresh tracks from The Knife and Of Montreal, alongside deep cuts from dusty LPs of their parents' generation.
Total clipse of the heart
No, it's not We Got It 4 Cheap: Vol. 2. That mixtape was a flamethrower to the safe houses major label rappers found themselves in, circa 2005.
Trail of tears
And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead have had an extreme career arc. Their 2002 major label debut Source Tags & Codes was an era-defining work of anthemic indie rock - one of those precious high school records I could blast for weeks on end in my '89 Mazda 323, driving from one South Jersey diner to another, getting home late at night and highly caffeinated, reading LiveJournals until 4 a.m.
