Every punk historian will tell you that the bulk of the genre was built upon a handful of bands in the twilight of the 1970s (Ramones, Sex Pistols and The Clash along with about a dozen others) and hardcore was borne of a few more (Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Black Flag,...
I've never been much of a car person. Granted, after 20 years in Southern California I've made my peace with them. I've learned to drive the freeways with ease. I've even been known to express something like affection for my beat-to-shit 1990 Honda...
It’s always a weird phenomenon when the band you show up for is the opener and not the headliner—like going to a fabulous restaurant and ordering appetizers, then scoffing at the main course. But all bands—even the more obscure opening ones—have...
Trend after trend emerges in the music scene, and we chase after them until the next new thing comes around. Sometimes these trends explode into defining eras, but even those shrink back to make way for what comes next. It seems that in all this chasing we can forget...
When I walked into Slim's on Friday evening, it would have been far too easy to become jaded. The average age of the crowd had to be no more than 18, and looking around it felt more like I was in Hot Topic at some mall in Middle America, rather than a Rockabilly...
NOTE: FOR THOSE OF YOU LOOKING FOR INFO ON CAT POWER'S "SPACE ODDITY" COVER, CLICK HERE. So I heard that that Mark Ronson guy met that Radiohead guy once out on the London-town with some other guys. Story goes, Mark Ronson introduces himself and the...
I got to see Beach House open for Ariel Pink in the summer of 2006. Victoria Legrand's glassy stare and Alex Scally's literal shoe-gazing made for a dreamy performance of lo-fi somnolence. Looking back, I realize the duo's mental presence has always been...
For the past 8 or so years, the rumors or Portishead putting another album out were as hard to believe as the right-on-cue phony Coachella lineup fliers that circulates a week or so before the real one. But, after a show and a few hints FROM their site saying that...
The unclassifiable sound of Beach House (lo-fi dream opera?), is being captured on video directed by Baltimore underground film legend Skizz Cyzyk. The first single, "You Came To Me," from their soon-to-be-released second album is now joined with a...
Picking up where 2006’s The Warning left off, Hot Chip’s latest, Made in the Dark, finds the U.K. electro-rockers as danceable as ever. Kicking off their third LP with “Out at the Pictures,” an upbeat guitar-heavy jive, Hot Chip gives us...