Yet another indie band from Brooklyn? Yup, only this one seems to have placed a stronger emphasis on the songs than their image. In a music scene as cluttered as Brooklyn, it takes a pretty amazing band to stand out above the fray, and In Cadeo just happen to have the songs to back up all the adulation that should be coming their way shortly.
Like trying to live up to its extremely popular older brother, Fringe was unfairly being compared to Lost even before the first episode aired. Because of its co-creator – JJ Abrams – Fringe had the impossible task of having to live up to the cult built around that other Abram’s show. On its own, Fringe held up quite well, as the first season on DVD shows. Though it took a…
Stephen Kellogg goes a little more country on his latest album, but that is far from being a bad thing. Songs like “A (With Love)†and “Satisfied Man†could have come straight out of Nashville’s Music Row, rather than from the mic of Massachusetts’ native Stephen Kellogg.
It’s easy to forget just how long Blur has been around. Thanks to the handy timeline tucked inside the liner notes of the anthology Midlife: A Beginner’s Guide to Blur, you realize that they started before the EU was officially established, before the Soviet Union broke up and just one month after the Internet was opened to the public. The 25 tracks that make up the release – a collection…
You’d be forgiven for taking the Stone Roses for granted a bit. They only had one remarkable album (their self-titled debut) and it was released in 1989, at the beginning of alternative rock’s heyday, forcing them to compete with everyone from Depeche Mode to Nirvana. But thanks to Legacy Records, the Manchester-based band gets another shot. Because of the infectious, if a bit mopey single “I Wanna to Be Adored, 
Despite only having two members, the folk-inspired indie pop duo Smile Smile – comprised of Ryan Hamilton and Jencey Hirunrusme – manage to make some fairly expansive songs on their debut. Blue Roses, originally released in 2006 and re-released this summer, is remarkable in its simplicity.
On first blush, it would appear that the architect of the new Love and Rockets tribute album was just pulling random names out of hat. How else do you explain one hit wonders Better Than Ezra, alongside more indie-minded artists like The Dandy Warhol’s, Frances Black and up-and-comers War Tapes?
As sometime guitarist for Dayton’s favorite sons Guided By Voices and Robert Pollard’s post-break-up solo work, Doug Gillard delivered album after album of satisfying jangly lo-fi pop. On Call From Restricted, his own latest solo effort, Gillard delivers more the of that familiar jangly guitar pop, but with impressively accessible vocals.
You’d be hard pressed to find any characters as cool as the suit-sportin’, booze-swillin’ ad men (and women) that populate AMC’s incredibly original series Mad Men. The second season, just released on DVD, followed through on all the promises set out in the debut.
Australian novelist Tom Gilling may not be that well known outside of his native Australia, but if his latest book is any indication he surely should be. The surprisingly funny mystery/thriller Seven Mile Beach is far more interesting than any of the last few Grisham and Patterson tomes lining the book shelves.
A live album by a band that’s been missing from radio for a good two decades is usually a bad sign. A gimmicky half acoustic, half plugged in record is even more ominous. But Philadelphia’s once-favorite sons have managed to pull of the difficult, putting out a nostalgia record that is just as good, if not better than anything they have done before. The first disc was recorded live in…
There are certain liberties authors are granted. Only David Mamet can get away with stringing together seemingly unrelated explicatives into believable dialogue the way he does; only Stephen King can make Maine seem like the third circle of Hell; and only Joe Lansdale, Texas born and bred, can get away with the often goofy quotes his duo Hap Collins and Leonard Pine spout off on just about every other page…
The only really disappointing thing about Let Go, The Silent Year’s latest EP is the length. At six songs, the band’s latest is an appropriate follow up to last year’s decent full length The Globe, managing to eclipse those songs both musically and lyrically. The group delivers unpretentious indie pop in the vein of What Made Milwaukee Famous and Vampire Weekend (without the goofy prep school kid attitude). The album…
There’s something about acoustic guitars that draws former punk rockers like moths to a flame. Frank Turner, former member of Million Dead, unplugged after his band dissolved about three years ago and decided to go the route of Billy Bragg, writing lyrically smart, occasionally politically-tinged folk rock songs. On Love Ire & Song, his second full length (he’s also released a couple of EPs and a new LP is just…
It’s amazing this book ever made it to print. Music writer Barney Hoskyns was shut out at just about every attempt to interview anyone who was even remotely close to the notoriously media shy Tom Waits. In fact, the end of the book comes with a collection of often humorous e-mail transcripts from a slew of Waits’ friends, collaborators and associates explaining why they would not be able to answer…
With just seven songs, the Black Whales manage to make a damn fine introduction to the world. With influences that are as varied as The Clash, The Beach Boys, Talking Heads and The Kinks, Origins manages to incorporate a myriad of influences while still sounding starkly original.
It’s been six long years since their last release, but Reno Divorce has made the wait more than worth it. On Tears Before Breakfast, their third record, the Denver-based foursome plays blistering punk rock better than most of their contemporaries.
Toronto-based musician Steve Singh has taken the DIY ethos to heart. On his latest, Heavy Metal Sunset, the singer/songwriter wrote, performed, mixed and produced all 10 songs. Mining a stellar list of influences as varied as Stevie Wonder and Glenn Tillbrook, Singh makes pop music like no one else performing today.
Just seconds into Cool Device’s self-titled debut, through the blistering gnash of distorted chords, its clear front man/guitarist Jason Frederick has some demons to exercise. You can’t blame the guy; the whole reason he started Cool Devices was a reaction to news that his old Columbus, OH-based group The Means were getting back together without him. Now based in Chicago, Frederick’ new band Cool Devices manages to rip through seven…
Despite releasing seven studio albums, and a catalogue of truly great alternative country songs, The Jayhawks were never able to move past the cult band status before going on hiatus in 2003. Listening to their just-released anthology – 20 songs culled from all of the band’s records – it’s a bit surprising that the Minneapolis band never reached rock star status.
