What do you say about a record which (at least occasionally) makes you cringe and recoil because some of the sounds on it are just so abhorrent, but it isn't so bad that the idea of listening to it doesn't always make you die a little inside? How does one say,...
The problem with requiems – especially requiems made in tribute to celebrities – is that everybody involved always feels compelled to make sure their voice is heard loud enough that theirs is the one associated with the event. That such a personal thing as...
Hey junky,How're things goin' where you are, ya wood-armed reprobates? I betcher gettin' a little itchy again, 'specially cause I ain't ben aroun' regular-like ova da las' little while right? Aw, poor junky – well I'm here now ta...
It's always fun to think that second chances come for those who deserve them, but the fact is that the chance to start over is a truly special rarity – especially for musicians. Forgiving (if only for a moment) is easy enough to do, but forgetting most...
Last week saw the release of the Uncluded's new album Hokey Fright, but who are the Uncluded? Well, they are none other than Kimya Dawson (from every song on the Juno soundtrack) and Aesop Rock (from every good hip hop song that's not on the radio). The...
"Want a little grace, but who’s gonna say a little grace for me?” Ezra Koenig sings on “Unbelievers,” the second track on Vampire Weekend’s new Modern Vampires of the City. Since landing on the cover of Spin in March 2008, lauded as...
As artists like David Bowie and The Stooges have already proven this year, it is possible for musicians to return and release new albums after long lapses in creative output – but judging how good they are (or aren't) is no easy feat. In the cases of both...
Sometimes providence is just meant to rule over situations in life. Things are meant to happen. People meet people. Stories are shared. Songs get sung. This is the way things went in getting this album into my hands. Online strangers meet each other by re-blogging each...
Of Love and Loss, the new record from NYC-based Bipolar Explorer is something of a departure from their previous work, it is at once quieter and more far-reaching. It is eclectic and spare, and altogether haunting. The band, it turns out, was already staking out new...
Listening to The Baptist Generals' new album, it seems like it should be important to take a quick look at the history of the label which put it out (Sub Pop) to really understand the release's importance. Founded in Seattle in the mid-Eighties, Sub Pop's...