So the Jersey punks – who put out the best album of 2008, the title track of which I gushed about last November – have put the title track from their forthcoming album, American Slang, up on their MySpace site. It’s the next logical step in the band’s sonic evolution. That is, they retain the punk style of Sink of Swim and the ’70s soul-tempered nature of The ’59 Sound while adding a dash of…
Official cover art for “Heaven is Whenever” Another highly anticipated LP this year is the allegedly ‘less anthemic’ “Heaven Is Whenever”, Hold Steady’s follow-up to the band’s previous incredible effort, the 2008 “Stay Positive”. ‘Less anthemic’ as Craig Finn puts it, though, since if I were to judge the new album by its first single, “Hurricane J”, which calls back to a recurring character named Jessie, I’d say it’s a pretty big understatement. Just hit…
So the ‘Stripes made a live document of their 2007 tour of Canada (where they played every single Province), entitled Under Great White Northern Lights. It’s gonna be a film and an album. The important part here is the album portion. It’s out next week, but you can hear it now over at NPR’s website. Notable inclusions are the blistering duo of “Seven Nation Army” (duh) and the title track from Icky Thump, as well…
Yes, track number 3 from the proposed 44-song, 11-EP “album” Teargarden by Kaleidyscope has been released. This one, called “A Stitch in Time,” is about as left-field as the title suggests. There’s sitar over acoustic indie-pop flair, as well as swirls of guitar here and there that float around the simple ditty. Think the lighter side of Mellon Collie if Billy had pulled a Beatles trip to India. This is easily the best of the…
Yes, the forthcoming Gorillaz record, Plastic Beach, can be streamed in its entirety here. Go listen to it now. It’s that awesome.
Massive Attack’s highly anticipated fifth studio album, “Heligoland”, is slated for an official worldwide release next week, and while it is reasonably spaced away, today I’ve found out about a very scrumptious appetizer. Over at facebook, the service is streaming the British duo’s Helligoland Remix EP, a six track compilation featuring rehashes by Gui Boratto, She is Danger, Ryuichi Sakamoto & Yukihiro Takahashi, Breakage and Tim Goldsworthy. In order to stream the songs, you’ll need…
Last year the legendary former Genesis lead-vocalist, Peter Gabriel, released a very interesting cover album titled “Scratch My Back”, recorded at Air Lyndhurst and Real World Studios during the same year, consisting of Gabriel covering twelve songs by various artists, using orchestra and voice rather than normal rock instruments. The album will get released on February 15 via Virgin and will feature Peter Gabriel sing his version of songs by artists like Arcade Fire, Radiohead,…
Hello! If you’re anything like me, you probably hate most things. You might even have publically announced yourself to be opposed to the concept of “people”, and declared emotions to be for the weak. But somewhere deep inside that decrepit old husk of a heart, you’re probably asking yourself if there’s any sweet, sincere, impressively jangly pop music out there, waiting to melt the icy tentacle of cynicism that currently clasps your weary aorta. With…
With such artists under their roster, like The National, Deerhunter, TV on the Radio, Bon Iver or St. Vincent just to name a few, it would have been only foolish for the British indie label 4AD not to make their own in-house show. Following the success of the amazing Deerhunter set at the 4AD studios from last year, the label have launched the 4AD Sessions – an ongoing series of video recordings with various acts…
Hooray! I love when I get to talk about Irish indie heroes Ham Sandwich, as I’ve done before here, wherein I recount how their gig both melted my face, and rescultped it in a new, smiling, more handsome fashion. But now? Now I bring news of their new single, Out of the Darkness, which is available from here and here, and it’s streaming here. It’s the first song to be made available from their upcoming…
Steve Lampiris
Tibi Puiu
Al Byrne