Sun Araw’s 2008 LP Beach Head has been remastered and reissued on Sun Araw’s own label Sun Ark Records. The new version of Beach Head is available on vinyl now. For the uninitiated, Sun Araw is Los Angeles-based guitarist Cameron Stallones. Sun Araw originally issued a limited pressing of Beach Head in 2008 — a release of sunburnt affection for a place that has since submerged: a coastal constellation of…
Atomic Clock, Zion I’s seventh album, sees the group exploring more cosmic and introspective territory than it’s predecessor The TakeOver. The Oakland duo’s message of self-actualization, focus, and spirituality however has remained a constant throughout the group’s carreer. On “Always,” Atomic Clock’s first song, the refrain of “Love conquers always, gotta keep your head up” sums up Zion I’s aesthetic nicely. Paul Bradley and Robyn Twomey’s video, below, projects Amp…
Experimentalist music producer and remix mastermind Diplo teams up with Greensleeves Records to reload and re-release some of Reggae’s greatest classics on Riddimentary – Diplo Selects Greensleeves. Known for his electronic dub musical styling and as one-half of world renowned production team Major Lazer, Thomas Wesley Pentz aka Diplo lends his eclectic ear and considerable talents as a Reggae selector to Riddimentary. The continuous blended mix covers over 20 years…
Tempe, AZ band, Gospel Claws have recorded a cover of one of their favorite tunes from Pulp’s This Is Hardcore. The buzz around their new record C-L-A-W-S has yet to stop building. In a recent interview with Paste Magazine, frontman Joel Marquard says of them being featured on NPR’s All Songs Considered… “I was pretty freaked out. That was insane because I listen to that podcast—I download it to my…
Blair Packham really starts off this album with a vocal style that is not unlike Elvis Costello; the vocals during this opening track recollects “Veronica”-era Costello, while the backing instrumentation gives the track an innovative flair. The only thing that can be said as a negative about this opening salvo has to be the extended ending of the track; the momentum that Packham was building up is dissipated. The second…
Dead Snares front man and creator Jeffrey Cain has teamed up with video director and stop-motion animator Tobias Stretch to create a mini-film for “The Language,” the first track from the Dead Snares debut CD Speak The Language. An epic work of puppetry and stop motion, the video can be viewed at http://popantipop.com/deadsnares/the_language.php or http://vimeo.com/17600764. Jeffrey Cain came across a Tobias Stretch film on the web last year and immediately…
“Wall St.” shows individuals immediately that Pablo is trying to shoehorn eirself into the space between Americana singers like Devendra Banhart and new-folkies like Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes). The vocal harmonies of Pablo during the opening track is almost enough to keep individuals interested, but it seems like “Wall St.” suffers a little bit during the Spartan musical arrangements present. If there were just a little more in the way…
Brooklyn-based, genre-bending musician Ariel Aparicio has signed to Rock Ridge Music with plans to release his next album, “Aerials,” via digital distribution in March 2011. Says Aparicio of the forthcoming album and his label partnership: “Aerials is my most complete work to date. Every song is there for a reason, every word and every sound. It manages to bring together all my musical influences – dance, alternative, punk, new wave,…
The bombastic opening to this LP, the break-neck speeds achieved by “Progress” shows a band that is not afraid to hit the ground running. The mastering on this disc may not be up to Sonic Iguana quality, but the general sound that emanates from this disc both sounds appealing to many a listener’s ears and bolsters the slightly rough and raw sound that Overated live will bring to the tone…
Always known as innovators, Cornershop are finishing their new album, Cornershop & the Double ‘O’ Groove Of in a modern and exciting way. Following the success of self-releasing the band’s last album, Judy Sucks a Lemon For Breakfast (March 2010/USA) and most recently, Battle of New Orleans EP (October 2010/USA), Cornershop is partnering with the platform PledgeMusic to offer their music directly to the fans, everyone gets a fairer deal.…
Drawing over 350,000 to concert venues across the country since it’s successful launch in 2009, the Rock and Worship Roadshow, is ready to embark on it’s 3rd Annual run of the popular concert series. Compassion International will serve as the executive producer and is proud to announce the star-studded cast which includes the recent American Music Award winning band MercyMe, critically acclaimed band Jars of Clay, Thousand Foot Krutch, Matt…
TOUR DATES: 02/17 Brooklyn, NY- Knitting Factory 02/18 Boston, MA- Brighton Music Hall 02/19 Montreal, ON- Il Motore 02/20 Toronto, ON- Horseshoe Tavern 02/22 Detroit, MI- Lager House 02/23 Bloomington, IN- The Bishop 02/24 Chicago, IL- Lincoln Hall 02/25 Minneapolis, MN- Cedar Cultural Center 02/26 Iowa City, IA- The Mill 02/28 St. Louis, MO- Biliken Club 03/01 Cincinnati, OH- MOTR Pub 03/02 Columbus, OH- Wexner Center 03/03 Cleveland, OH- Grog…
Over It has taken the open slot as Lobster’s most impressive band after Yellowcard left about a year and a half ago. Chances are after “Silverstrand”, Over It will do much the same thing (unless Lobster locked them down for a few albums). Anyways, “Silverstrand” opens up with the immediately radio-friendly “Siren on the 101”, a track that mixes melodic vocals with guitar lines that would normally seem much too…
Likened to “watching two superheroes do their thing,” by SF Weekly, instrumental duo El Ten Eleven may not don capes but their musical acrobatics are indeed extraordinary to witness. The LA-based twosome will soar into the new year armed with their combination double-neck bass/guitar and drums assault for their second tour in support of their latest LP, It’s Still Like A Secret, released last month on the band’s own Fake…
One of the first things that hit me when I first put on the CD is the rich influences that the members of Over It have. The first track on the disc, “Limiter”, mixes breakneck punk vocals with 80s-metal (read: Megadeth) guitar lines and Rush-style (Signals-Era) bass. “Wrong Way” moves on from “Limiter”, continuing the richly-belted out punk guitars and simply brutal guitar licks to provide a song that literally…
Outsmarting Simon start out their “Stand Up Tonight” with a well-meaning but essentially bland track in “Number Two”. The vocals are reminiscent of Yellowcard and Over It, and while the track plods on with a tempo that threatens to turn people off before they’ve adequately been turned on, Outsmarting Simon do play a strong, instrumentally-based type of emotive rock. The bass lines that provide such a presence during “Thirty-Third and…
THE WRETCHED END features ex-Emperor/ex-Zyklon guitarist Samoth, Mindgrinder/ex-Scum guitarist Cosmo and ex-Dark Funeral/ex-Aeon drummer Nils Fjellström. “Zoo Human Syndrome” comes off the band’s recently released Candlelight debut entitled Ominous. Said Samoth of the track: “‘Zoo Human Syndrome’ is the last song on the album, and it’s one of my favorites actually. It’s quite melodic and atmospheric with a more epic feel. This one definitely has some black metal influences and…
Pop-rock pantheon worshippers Taylor Locke and The Roughs have completed not one but two albums in 2010…. And they’re just getting started. The pair of full-lengths – Grain & Grape and Marathon – were self-written, recorded and released within a mere year of forming, a prolific pace for any band. While The Roughs may be new on the scene, they are no strangers to this business of music. The Roughs…
Jonquil are Hugo Manuel, Sam Hudson Scott and Robin McDiarmid, three men in their early twenties living in Oxford, England. The band rehearse and record at home in their new east Oxford studio, having recently relocated from the House of Supreme Mathematics that they shared with Foals during the writing of Total Life Forever and Jonquil’s own One Hundred Suns. All tracks continue to be produced by Manuel who also…
It takes a decent amount of time for Ostinato to get started on their “Chasing The Form”. The disc’s first track is “Goal of all Believers”, and it is well past a minute before David’s voice reaches a volume level that can be heard. It takes two minutes before the band is able to create the chaos and fury that Ostinato has been known for since 1997. The music that…