Virtually everyone in the music industry (including musicians themselves) agrees that there's a certain stigma attached to making guitar-dominated rock ‘n’ roll: it's painfully simple to do; it's kiddie play. While doing interviews in support of Nevermind, Dave Grohl even went so far as to say that Nirvana went out of their way to ensure that the songs on the record were very simply constructed and stark, "like the songs you used to sing when you were a kid," according...
Danish rockers, The Raveonettes, will embark on a North American tour in February in support of their Vice Records debut, Lust Lust Lust. The jaunt will be preceded by a lone stop alongside Blonde Redhead at New York's Terminal 5 later this month. Set to kick off ten days after the record's release on February 19th, the tour will wind its way across the States and the Great White North, making an extended stop in Austin, Texas for this year's...
Everyone’s favorite psych-and-folk-rock pioneers, Black Mountain, are back on the road for an early 2008 tour in support of their second full-length album, In The Future. The band has toured the world, playing everything from the smallest of rock clubs to the largest of outdoor amphitheaters, yet have succeeded in maintaining live performances with universal appeal. Even though they are championed by the more underground-minded record-collector type of music geek as well as by high-profile musicians such as Wayne Coyne...
Johnathan Rice, the 24 year-old raspy-voiced talent out of Virgina, is still riding high on the wave of positive press he received for his recent release Further North. Despite his seeming perpetual existence within the shadow of Oberst, Rice has been winning fans across the country thanks to his impressive live performances, opening for bands such as Rilo Kiley, The Redwalls, Martha Wainwright and Wilco, and with his charming sensitivity enticing audiences to the musical destinations of his choice. Now...
White Denim’s newest free single, “Paint Silver Gold,” was released today on the hottest label on earth, RCRD LBL. The song sounds like a mix between early Jimi Hendrix and The Who’s “The Real Me,” and I would consider that a good thing. "Paint Silver Gold" is the second single from the group's RCRD LBL EP, which is available for legal and free download only at RCRD LBL.com, and will feature four songs with a new track being released every...
At this point, it has become standard practice in the business of making music to re-issue material years after the original release in a bid to beef up a band's stature in the musical community. Think about it—even after a band has moved on to other things or changed creative directions, fans both new and old like a time line of where their favorite band has been and where they're going, or simply to shoehorn the artist in question back...
If the devil sang love songs, he'd sing with a voice similar to Mikael Akerfeldt's, the lead singer of Swedish death-metal band Opeth. Their songs are laden with a mixture of wrath and ire that flash back to emotional elements of despair and hopelessness, yet also burgeon with yearnings for love, forgiveness and respect. Progressive death metal masters, Opeth, produce some of the most emotional sounding melodic songs of doom out there. I've been listening to Opeth for a few...
Hot off an eventful 2007, Syracuse, NY’s Ra Ra Riot hits the road for twelve dates around the East Coast and Midwest. Their self-titled debut EP got them much-deserved hype and helped them get on tours with bands like Tokyo Police Club, Editors and Art Brut. The band also recently played a sold-out benefit show with TPC and Vampire Weekend to honor their friend and drummer who passed away last summer. All proceeds went to the John Ryan Pike Memorial...
It’s really hard to say, but I’ve never become a fan of a band after they messaged me on MySpace beckoning me to “check them out.” I do, however, give most of them a chance because, well, you never know. This isn’t exactly how it happened with Asthmaboy, but it was close—bulletin vs. spam email. What intrigued me most was the offer to download their album for free, no questions asked. Just, “Here you go. Thanks for stopping by.” Now,...