Music
YouTube clip of the week
When asked to write about an up-and-coming or a classic jazz performance for this week's column I attempted to find something niche, but when it comes to jazz on YouTube, nothing beats the 1959 CBS performance by the Miles Davis Quintet of "So What." So what?
Neil Young
Neil Young follows up last year's release of Live at the Fillmore East with Live at Massey Hall 1971, and the two records could not be any less alike.
Klaxons
Myths of the Near Future is Klaxons' American debut album, lauded as the defining act of the New Rave movement - a term the band describes as "an in-joke that caught on." Hailing from London, where they have a large underground following, the Klaxons' debut starts off slow with the mild "Two Receivers" before picking up speed that doesn't relinquish for the remainder of the album. The band likes to characterize their music as "psychedelic/progressive/pop," with long keyboard solos and subtle use of vocal harmony, which sounds surprisingly versatile.
Modest Mouse
Three years after their last studio release, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank continues Modest Mouse's musical odyssey from where it left off.
Crime Mob
Crunk ain't dead. At least that's what Atlanta's Crime Mob would have you believe on their latest record, Hated on Mostly.
!!!
!!! (pronounced "chk-chk-chk") hits its three-year release schedule like clockwork with its third dance-punk album Myth Takes.
Macy Gray
Perhaps trying too hard to "Finally [Make You] Happy," Macy Gray's most recent album, Big, moves away from Gray's identifiably scratchy brand of R&B/soul towards a more sell-out sound of popular funk.
Stevie nicks
Before Britney shaved her head and Madonna abused wigs, there was Stevie Nicks and her static sorceress hairstyles.
Panda bear
Animal Collective band member Noah Lennox's (aka Panda Bear) cheery third solo album, Person Pitch, is a far cry from his previous album, Young Prayer.
Rock Academy
A raucous sound will fill the air at the corner of 22nd and Chestnut St. tonight as scores of people line up to see Tokyo Police Club open a sold out show for the Cold War Kids.
YouTube Clip of the week
Any conversation about the changing nature of music in the face of Myspace, YouTube et al.
Jonny Lives!
Jonny Lives! sounds so much like Weezer, a friend passing by who heard this record playing stopped and asked where this new Weezer single could be found.
Youtube Clip of the week
Yoshimi and crew throw away the childish eager-to-please vibe of lead single "UMA," from their latest album, Taiga, with this track, the second single off the album.
Short Music Reviews
rich boy Rich Boy On his new album, Maurice Richards (under the moniker Rich Boy) attempts to establish his hometown of Mobile, Alabama as the new epicenter of Southern Rap hotness.
Podcasts killed the radio star
In the beginning there was Napster. And it was good. But one day the Recording Industry Association of America decided it didn't really appreciate people getting their product for, you know, free.
broken vista social subscene
In Apostle Of Hustle, Broken Social Scene's lead guitarist, Andrew Whiteman, has finally found the perfect outlet to sport his breathy vocals.
Classic case
Somewhere between dark and optimistic, Classic Case's latest album Losing at Life is a moody experiment, exploring the gray area between hard rock/grunge and alternative.
patriarch
Patriarch - of Palestinian blood, born in San Francisco - exists outside of both the floundering hyphy movement and the indie powder-rap scene of the Bay Area.
son volt
Son Volt frontman Jay Farrar, whose pioneering work in Uncle Tupelo in the early 1990's (with Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy) influenced a host of later artists, brushes his canvas with new colors on an impressive new effort, The Search.
