Thrill of It All: A Visual History 1972-1982 is a two-DVD history of Roxy Music, a band which went from being one of the most adventurous in rock music to one of the tamest. A wealth of performance videos—including concert footage, television appearances and promotional videos— clearly present their progression from the glammest of glam rock bands to the most romantic of the New Romantics. When Roxy Music debuted in 1972, they were the epitome of art rock, at once...
This installment of "Overanalysis" is all about getting low. In fact, as I write this, I am huddled down deep in a concrete bunker, avoiding child support payments. The song this week is called “Low,” and it’s by some guy I’ve never heard of named Flo Rida. I’m going to assume that he was so overcome by his own cleverness that, after breaking the state’s name into two pseudowords, he completely neglected to determine why or how one might go...
Warp Records recently delayed shipment of 1,000 special edition albums of Auctechre’s ninth album (Quaristice) because the intricate photo etching process on their steel cases took longer than expected. The finished product looks beautiful even as a picture. Quaristice’s cover was created by The Designers Republic, who also designed Warp Records’ website and the infamous “X-Ray” cover for Supergrass’ self-titled album. All this artistic and product elitism visually encapsulates Auctechre’s indefinable...
The kids aren’t alright. A sold-out techno-house shake-up is nothing to take lightly, especially one housed in such a fine place as the Henry Fonda theatre. You can imagine my frustration when, after finding the last damn parking lot willing to let me park in the overgrown field behind their property in exchange for fifteen dollars, I discovered that a large portion of the crowd was barely old enough to drive. Hey, I’m not naïve. I know that was exactly...
Metal messiahs The Sword are offering fans a sneak peek at their upcoming album Gods of the Earth by releasing a free mp3 of "Fire Lances of the Ancient Hyperzephyrians," the first single off the Kemado-minted album which hits stores on April 1st. Prepare to have your face blown off. Can't get enough of The Sword? Then check out Ground Control's recent interview with J.D. Cronise right here. Download "Fire Lances of the Ancient Hyperzephyrians" Tour dates below: UK “Gods...
The winners of the 2008 PLUG INDEPENDENT MUSIC AWARDS were unveiled last night (Thursday, March 6) during the sold-out awards ceremony and concert held at Terminal 5 in New York City. Sponsored by DELL, Ourstage.com, SESAC, Metromix, Lionsgate, iStockphoto, Fairtilizer, Royalty Share, The Bowery Presents and SuperAlright, the Patton Oswalt-hosted event included performances by PLUG Award winners Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (PLUG Impact Award) and St. Vincent (Best Female Artist), along with sets by nominees Dizzee Rascal, Jose...
My, how time flies. It was seven years ago, almost to the day, that I attended my first Noise Pop show—an amazing evening at the Great American Music Hall featuring a little-known band called Jimmy Eat World. My college roommate and I drove to S.F. for the evening, got our car locked overnight in a parking garage in the Tenderloin that closed at midnight, and spent the night on the streets of the city’s sketchiest neighborhood avoiding catcalls from Polk...
As paradoxical as it sounds, Hey Venus sounds precisely like what those unfamiliar with Super Furry Animals would expect an album by the band to sound like, but they never have until now and the band has honestly never sounded so good. For the first time, singer Gruff Rhys and company have stopped resisting their inclination to indulge in every single solitary super sound of the seventies and discovered that they’re able to make those sounds vital again in so...
If one were to look up ‘idiosyncrasy’ in the dictionary—particularly one compiled and edited by the rock press—it’d be totally reasonable to discover a photograph of Mountain Goats’ singer/guitarist/mastermind John Darnielle next to the entry. Since 1995, Darnielle has played the role of mysterious maker of music masterfully and worn the mantle well—deciding to record on everything from a cheap department store boom box to the mixing desk in a world-class studio depending upon his mood—and...
Los Angeles natives Midnight Movies will be following up their second full length LP, Lion The Girl, with a brand new EP titled Nights out digitally this March 11. Midnight Movies expanded the neo-shoegaze movement on their aforementioned LP, and Nights aims to reinvent that sound with a new remixed, punk-electro urgency that is beautifully juxtaposed against frontwoman Gena Oliver’s wounded vocals. Furthermore, ostracized former Smashing Pumpking, James Iha, has provided percussion that is said to interject the album with...