Bill Callahan, formerly a.k.a. Smog, a.k.a. , is taking to the highways and byways of America this fall in support of Woke on a Whaleheart, his latest album on Drag City. The tour is his first sans moniker, and will be opened up by renowned acoustic guitarist Sir...
Self-proclaimed “Flower Punkers” The Black Lips just announced a new record and a huge-ass tour, beginning the day after their September 11th release of Good Bad Not Evil (Vice). Their 5th album in 4 years, these Atlanta-natives are nothing short of...
Every generation has a band that is perhaps too complicated to fully comprehend, but once you take a step back and allow the vivid soundscapes to envelop your body and seep into your veins, it begins to make sense. Sigur Ros is one of those bands. Being a fan for...
1993. High school parking lots, headphones, closed bedroom doors—Smashing Pumpkins were everywhere the disaffected youth needed them. Notebooks bore the long, skinny heart logo and guitar teachers taught simple, memorable songs like “Disarm” and...
There was nary a distortion pedal in sight. The evening was clean and crisp like a boot camp bunk—except, of course, for Rob Crow's formidable beard. Perhaps it was said beard that needed all the room that The Grove of Anaheim provided. And provide room it...
I have to be cautious with my wording when I recommend Gogol Bordello to friends. Foremost, I have to make sure they understand the extreme matter-of-fact tone that I use when I say they are undoubtedly the greatest live act currently performing. Certainly, I could...
Of all the events of my life that have led me to be the audiophile that I am, none was more shaping than a week of summer camp in which my counselor mentioned to me that I should listen to the new Radiohead album, OK Computer. This was mid-July 1997. Since my counselor...
"It's a contributory factor to epilepsy. It's the biggest destructor in the history of education. It's a jungle cult. It's what the Watusis do to whip up a war. What I see in the discos with people jogging away is just what I've seen in the...
I awake to a friendly, apologetic voice of a gal pal asking for forgiveness for her birthday-bash plans that have taken us to a rather rashly hip, hot and sticky London club with a DJ bill tough enough to satisfy any pair of skinny jeans. The venue is three stories...
A pregnant woman stood stage left amongst a packed Troubadour crowd for Wednesday night’s sold out Tokyo Police Club show. For a few hundred revelers and the potential hipster in the making, tonight would mark the first audio/visual outing of the young group who...