Depending on what your expectations are from a live band these days, you would have left the Roxy Theater either completely thrilled by the performance from Sweden’s Peter Bjorn and John or slightly disappointed with the fact that they didn’t sound exactly like the record and that they’re using a backing track/triggered samples during their “big song” and elsewhere. With the set opener, “Let’s Call it Off.” from of their third album Writer’s Block, it was immediately apparent that they...
Lately it seems as if everyone is in the business of mixing genres, trying to create something unheard of. This can be interesting, but sometimes it’s nice to stick to some roots. With the current folk revival, some artists are choosing to shy away from an over-produced sound to return to the basics. The result is simple, sweet music that is best enjoyed live. To be honest, it’s refreshing to once again see a show where there isn’t a single...
Only a select few artists can pull off the “dude with a guitar” thing as well as California-native M. Ward does. You have Jose Gonzalez, Beck when he feels like it, and a few others. But Ward has something just as unique, allowing him to silence a thousand people and just let him sing—with either guitar or piano—and keep the NPR-loving crowd feeling absolutely lucky to be there. The sold-out performance at Los Angeles’ El Rey Theater marked his fifth...
It would be a really easy thing to give the new Orthodox record a quick listen and toss it aside as another wannabe Lysol or Dopesmoker. I say this because initially it is easy to spot the similarities; all three move at a glacier’s pace, they drone obsessively, and each one is capable of completely overwhelming the senses of the listener. It’s easy to understand how someone could do this, but at the same time I think that doing so...
Ok, so maybe not cookies. But Deerhoof are popping up at Sundance in Dedication, starring Billy Crudup and Mandy Moore. They are all over the charts, cracking the Billboard Top 200 (#150) and CMJ Top 200 (#3). And now they are on tour in support of their new album Friend Opportunity. I guess you can't stop them, just hope to contain them. Try it on these days: 1-24 – Los Angeles, CA – El Rey (w/Hella and Busdriver)1-26 – New...
“I will charm, I will slice, I will dazzle, I will outshine them all” The bummer part about coming out with a first album which receives a good deal of hype is that your second album becomes a point of comparison. (Sorry, I’m going to do it here) If what you liked about Bloc Party on Silent Alarm is Kele's shouty exuberant vocals, dance party sound, or “drinking poison and eating glass” verve, then A Weekend in The...
So you’ve got a couple of rock critics (okay, most of them) saying you sound like the Velvet Underground. Then you, eager listener, are sitting at your local hipster-inhabited coffee house that lets you smoke inside after 10pm (no names will be named for the sake of the establishment), and the Domino label-adoring barista puts on the new Clinic album, Visitations. Is it, is it Suicide? Is it some warped up bastardized version of shoegaze? You know what it is...
Interviews can be tricky. Some artists dread the whole press "thing" and cough up information about as willingly as a potential third-strike suspect under the bright lights. Others babble on incessantly, leaving interviewers with hours of tape and mere seconds of usable content. Then there are the interviewees that make a writer's job the easiest thing in the world. Explosions in the Sky drummer Chris Hrasky was so thoughtful and well spoken when interviewed about the release of the band’s...
ARTIST: Explosions In The Sky DATE: 02-02-07 WRITER: Aaron Autrand PHOTO: Dianne Jones Interviews can be tricky. Some artists dread the whole press “thing” and cough up information about as willingly as a potential third-strike suspect under the bright lights. Others babble on incessantly, leaving interviewers with hours of tape and mere seconds of usable content. Then there are the interviewees that make a writer’s job the easiest thing in the world. Explosions in the Sky drummer Chris Hrasky...