Back in March, the music scene was left a bit numb when a new Jack White side-project was announced, the alt supergroup The Dead Weather – comprised of, obviously, Jack White on drums (this not so obvious), Alison Moshart of The Kills on vocals, Dean Fertita of Queens of the Stone Age on guitar and Jack Lawrence of The Raconteurs on bass guitar. Since then, though, not much has been heard from them, apart from…
Last night Animal Collective played a set in D.C.’s 9:30 club, where they simply rocked the sold out crowd. On top of that, fans had the chance to hear in first audition a new AC song, going by the working title of “Bleed.” One can plainly see it’s still a very raw version, but even so the track impresses through its sophisticated sound layers and trippy vocals by Panda and Geologist. Check it out bellow…
This week’s highlight is definitely Green Day’s new record “21st Century Breakdown,” the follow-up to the band’s 2004 commercial success “American Idiot.” The punk rockers are looking pretty good at the moment, having a very good chance in topping the Billboard charts next week. Their 2007 reunion album, “Rise To Your Knees,” wasn’t seen very well, both critically and commercially-wise, but the Meat Puppets’ new “Sewn Together” LP looks damn fine. The sound is still…
About two years ago, I wrote a bit about an up and coming Brooklyn noir-rock band, called The Vandelles, which terribly impressed me with their merky, lo-fi sound. Back then I said: “Their sound resembles The Jesus and Mary Chain and Danish duo The Ravonettes, but at the same time preserves that uncanny American charm.” Yup, still truer than ever. The band is releasing its debut album, called “Del Black Aloha,” later this year and…
Letterman was graced with a special guest last night when Animal Collective dropped by to play their smashing single “Summertime Clothes.” Quite appropriate, seeing how the most beautiful season is right around the corner. Anyway, their live performance was unexpectedly … mediocre. Avey, Panda and Geo weren’t at all in shape for some reason. They were just sitting behind their tablets, pressing a few buttons, while humming the harmonies. Then again, it’s national TV and…
Although Diry Projectors’ latest release, titled “Bitte Orca”, is scheduled for a June 9th release, it unfortunately got leaked all over the Internet sometime around late March. Bummer. I’m not gonna lie here, I download it too. I just couldn’t wait anymore, so I immediately put it on my Blackberry the minute I heard it leaked and it’s been on repeat ever since. Now, there’s no doubt in my mind when I say this is…
I saw this beautiful a cappella version sometime last year, when Bon Iver was in Paris to record for Vincent Moon’s La Blogoteque session, and remember that at the time I was completely shocked by its spontaneous beauty. The pure joy of people singing out of the random, the completely silenced crowd outside a Paris condominium or simply a happy dog, turned the song into a really special experience. For some reason or another, I…
U2’s new video for Magnificent is staged in a Moroccan square, featuring the band playing, while various scenes of the beautiful, sunny Moroccan countryside are shown. Some interesting sheet slides, too. The video was directed by Alex Courtes, who also was behind the terrible Get On Your Boots video, and was filmed in the city of Pez where also the No Line On The Horizon album was recorded.
A blog called Contradefacto on Blast just recently released an awesome goody bag filled with Chromatics songs. No studio album stuff, though, as the compilation only includes songs from various tours, EPs, remixes or demos gathered across many, many years. Definitely a great opportunity how the band has greatly evolved along the years. I take my hat off to you, sir! Excellent work. The compilation is about 250 MB in size, but trust me, it’s…
To keep it short, folks, Vekatimes is one of those superb album that comes by every once in a while and makes our lives a bit sweeter . Definitely one of the best I’ve heard in a very, very long time. More on it in an upcoming review of Grizzly Bear’s latest release, which I hope to publish sometime next week. Until then, check out this awesome live rendition of one of Vekatimes’ many highlights,…
Tibi Puiu