Maybe I'm just simple, but it never occurred to me that Franz Ferdinand might have even one reggae-infused bone in its bandmembers' collective body. No really—did anyone know? The band has always (at least in my mind) been perceived as a slightly new wave-ish Top 40 rock outfit but, in listening to Blood:, a dub rendering of the songs on the band's smash hit Tonight: (released earlier this year), a series of new possibilities present themselves. In retrospect, were those...
San Diego's The Black Heart Procession will be releasing their new album, Six, on Oct. 6th. Their first new work since 2006's The Spell, Six returns to the naming conventions of their first three albums, but is BHP's premier effort on Temporary Residence, LTD. To stoke the fires of longing the band is making "Rats" available for download right now, and released the tracklist as well: The Black Heart Procession – Six – 10/6/09 01. When You Finish Me02. Wasteland03....
Anyone that has been following Alexisonfire over the last seven years knew it was time for the band to make some changes. The band's self-titled debut and Watch Out! established the band as the kings of Canadian screamo – there's no arguing or debating that fact – and the band both enjoyed and flourished in that acceptance. When Crisis came along in 2006, the album found Alexisonfire at the absolute pinnacle of its powers as the songs added up to...
Andrew Bird is preparing to hit the road next week, serenading Conan O'Brien and the TV viewing public on July 7th before embarking on a summer tour that will see him supporting the likes of such indie rock stalwarts as Death Cab for Cutie and The Decemberists, as well as headlining stops with Ra Ra Riot and Heartless Bastards rounding out the bill. (editor's note: Both Ra Ra Riot and Heartless Bastards are fucking fantastic, and definitely sweeten the pot...
It must be Summertime in Chicago. Why? Because there are 97 festivals in every part of town every single weekend. Taste of Randolph, Taste of Chicago, Taste of whatever, something something Block Party… you get the idea. But besides the ToC, the two big boys are Lollapalooza and the Pitchfork Music Festival. Unlike Lolla, Pitchfork has called Chicago home for the last decade, and has become the face of online music media, where “any publicity is good publicity” actually comes...