Music
Surf 'n' Turf
Tight Knit has more in common with grass, Vetiver’s namesake, than front-man Andy Cabic could have ever hoped.
Guilty Pleasures: Taylor Swift, "Love Story" (2008)
If you think you’ve never heard Taylor Swift’s “Love Story,” or the album Fearless, you’re wrong.
Campus Cred: DJ Newby
Street: What’s so new about DJ Newby? Matt Newberg: Everything is new about DJ Newby because I am hip-hop.
Defibrillator: TLC, "Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip" (1992)
Six years our senior and fresh off the middle school bus, my best friend’s sister Ali was the unquestioned arbiter of cool.
Bad Seed
Despite wandering into Explosions in the Sky’s territory, the epic (post-rock) fail that is Sagarmatha won’t land the A-Cast a spot on the Friday Night Lights soundtrack anytime soon.
Pop Punk Pity Party
Three years after the critically acclaimed The Ringleaders of the Tormenters, Morrissey returns with more wrist-cuttingly good times.
Guilty Pleasures: Saves the Day, "Through Being Cool" (1999)
Maybe big boys don’t cry, but this week has left me dwelling on the long-gone days of puppy love and unanswered Disney Valentines.
This is What It Sounds Like When Gods Cry
Four years after “Catch My Disease” ran rampant through hospital dramas everywhere, Ben Lee is back with The Rebirth of Venus. “I’m a woman too,” Lee claims on track 11, as though anything could validate this failed attempt at a girl power concept album.
Monkeys & Maraschino Cherries
Street: You guys are often compared to artists of the ‘70s, Neil Young and Bob Dylan. Were these the bands you grew up with? Eric Earley: Those are the bands we grew up on and our parents listened to.
This Week in Music History: February 5-12
1957: Bill Haley, a star among Comets, arrives in Southampton on the Queen Elizabeth II, becoming the first American rock star to tour the UK.
Defibrillator: The Beach Boys, "Pet Sounds" (1966)
My parents are, in the simplest of terms, ex-hippies. There are more pictures of my father wearing bandanas than there are of us together and my mother still dances like a girl on Haight Street.
Tongue Thrashing
Two Tongues starts off somber, with a quiet, almost innocent, guitar solo. Then there’s a lurching stop, a screaming “Wait!” and a massive power chord followed by the crash of cymbals.
Ol' (Sounding) Dirty Bastards
If Judy Garland had landed in Oz in 1960 instead of 1939, followed the yellow brick road straight to the local karaoke bar and requested something bluesy to ease her not-in-Kansas-anymore induced homesickness, the resulting sound would be that of Heartless Bastards’ The Mountain. Owing to a distinct, mature vocal tone (think Melissa Ethridge comes to Zooey Deschanel’s window) and a constantly changing line-up, Erika Wennerstrom truly is Heartless Bastards.
Blood, Fret and Tears
Using a rusty guitar, a falsetto yowl and as much heartbreak as he could shove into 37 minutes, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon created For Emma, Forever Ago, one of 2008’s most critically acclaimed records.
Defibrillator: Belle & Sebastian, "If You're Feeling Sinister" (1996)
At the beginning of high school, I was hopelessly uncool. I was socially awkward, and my mother was still buying my clothes.
Shows of the Week: January 29-February 4
Lykke Li The First Unitarian Church 1/30 8:30 p.m., $17.50 People were remixing Swedish internet darling Lykke Li long before she ever stepped foot inside a US venue.
2009: The Year That Will Rock You
After a month of car radio top 40, when you thought you’d die if you ever had to listen to Hoobastank again, our favorite bands are back with new releases for ’09. NASA’s The Spirit of Apollo is overflowing with guest appearances.
You down with MPP?
Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion (MPP), which dropped so early in 2009 that we still had unbroken resolutions, has already been called the year’s best album.
Defibrillator: The Band, "Jericho" (1993)
Listening to Jericho while driving with my dad through Ohio tobacco country, the dash of country girl in me comes alive.
