Bring Back the Guns Announce New Album
All the words that come to mind to describe “In Piles/On File,” the first-released song from Bring Back the Guns’ debut, Dry Futures, aren’t quite the right ones. I want to say “angular,” but I hate the word “angular,” and while it fits, it just sounds too boring and ordinary for this song. I want...
This is the Way Siren Fest Ends: Not with a Bang, but a Whimper
With the impending closure of Astroland at the end of the Summer, one question drove this year’s Siren Festival: “will it be the last?” The lackluster line-ups for the Siren Festivals of the past two years almost indicate that somebody knew this was coming. From 2001-2005, Siren Fest was a haven for people who didn’t...
St. Vincent @ Bowery Ballroom, July 17th
St. Vincent’s promotions team must have a grin on their faces a mile wide. In April, the wide-eyed, brunette songstress also known as Annie Clark was opening shows for long established act John Vanderslice in small to medium-sized venues. Fast-forward three months and she’s headlining them all on her own. Not as part of the...
Mark Ronson @ Highline Ballroom, Wednesday, July 11th
Though the phrase “big in Europe” has become something of a joke among the music set, for someone like Mark Ronson, it’s no laughing matter. While he was born in London, Ronson’s family moved to New York at the age of 8, and it’s this big city he considers his hometown. After attending prestigious schools...
Lost MP3 of the Week: “Inside and Out”
If you had asked me for my opinions on Feist about a year ago, I probably would’ve answered something along the lines of “meh.” I didn’t have particularly strong opinions about her either way, because while I liked what I had heard of hers, her music didn’t seem to impress me as much as it...
New Octopus Project: “I Saw The Bright Shinies”
My first introduction to the Octopus Project was a little over one year ago, through another intern at Rolling Stone. He handed me their album, One Ten Hundred Thousand Million and said something along the lines of, “you’ll listen to this 2-3 times and then hardly ever after that.” I believe the word he used...
Lost MP3 of the Week: “Coal to Diamonds”
I’m tired of defending Beth Ditto. Not because she doesn’t deserve to have someone defending her, but because she shouldn’t have to be defended. Yes, her behavior has been a little over the top. When you pose nude on the cover of NME, befriend Kate Moss and strip at Misshapes, people are bound to notice,...
Lost MP3 of the Week: “I’m Falling”
Awhile ago my roommate and I were discussing Real Genius, one of my favorite light-hearted comedies. For one reason or another — we must’ve either been discussing Val Kilmer or popcorn — I was telling her about the ending. Shocked that she had missed out on this movie, I added it to Netflix and forced...
Lost MP3 of the Week: “Burnin’ For You”
When I was in high school, rock radio was a huge part of my exposure to music. Despite CDs, despite the internet, radio was still where it was at for me (107.7 the end, specifically). I was a faithful radio listener – it was what I woke up with each morning and what I went...
New Interpol: “Heinrich Maneuver”
I’m a bit behind the times on this one, but let’s ignore the timeliness factor for just one moment. Interpol has a new song, and I’m sure there are those of you who have already stopped reading this (or are about to) because of the kind of culture that Interpol is generally thought to represent...
Jesus & Mary Chain, Bowerbirds, Bright Eyes
Part of the reason that it takes so long to get concert reviews up here is because I admittedly let myself run a little wild and, quite possibly, get a little too extravagant. So, for tonight we’re going to try something new – short reviews! If only because I saw three shows recently that I’d...
Lost MP3 of the Week: “It Was a Good Day”
I recently finished reading Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation by Jeff Chang. Overall, it was a highly informative read (though flawed in terms of journalistic style), and incredibly different from how I expected it to be. Chang does a brilliant job of balancing the socioeconomic forces behind the genre with...
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