I remember a friend playing De-Loused in the Comatorium on his car stereo, wowing at Bixler-Zavala’s high-in-the-sky vocal range. I didn’t take the notion all too seriously because this friend was more into the B-52s and show tunes. The Mars Volta fled into a whirlpool of forgotten musical recommendations. I don’t exactly recall what brought me back to them. It could have easily been the press that oh-so-emphasized their fashion-forward-looking-backward 70s-super tight jeans. When I eventually gave them a second...
Listening to any Eels record feels like going for a cup of coffee with the friend you’ve got that always makes you laugh because they’re remarkably bitter and cynical. While they have the ability to make light about those things when they’re in your company, you know that those are also the things that they agonize over in private and keep them up at night. You, for your part, laugh too at the time—but when that friend isn’t in your...
As far as I'm concerned, San Francisco Bay Area thrash legends Testament should have been included in "Thrash Metal Big Four" of Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax. Testament's legacy (no pun intended) is undeniable, and they have influenced a countless number of today's metal bands. Listening to them today, their music still sounds fresh and relevant, and has definitely withheld the test of time. A staple in the Bay Area scene, I remember seeing them many times, way back to...
Tapes 'n Tapes will hit the road this spring in support of their upcoming album, Walk It Off, which is set for release on April 8. After select appearances at SXSW, they will start the tour in their hometown of Minneapolis on April 10 and continue their way across the country throughout April and May. The ticket presale starts on February 15th at noon EST via tapesntapes.com and public on sale is set for February 22. Produced by Dave Fridmann...
After a couple of stabs at being clever—which obviously didn't pan out, since you aren't reading them here—it's often time to cut the fat and just give up the meat. So here it is: April 15th—normally set aside for bitching about taxes—has been pegged as the release date for Buckshot and 9th Wonder's The Formula, follow-up to 2005's Chemistry. (See what they did there? Chemistry? The Formula? Now that's clever.) The album features a guest spot from Talib Kweli—apparently Black...
Metal has been waiting for a band like Dub Trio. After decades of countless bands mining the same themes, the same sources and the same sonic motifs, the genre was in desperate need of new blood in order to keep from getting so inbred as to be hopelessly impotent. Dub Trio has no choice but to be unique though; with no singer to howl or grunt the same tired lines by rote, the band has had to find new ways...
What did people listen to before Daft Punk became popular? The Chemical Brothers? The Prodigy? Yeesh. It seems like every good part of dance music today has some tie to the French duo. The amazing thing about this compilation is that it points out just how close to the surface their sound is, and how in many cases they have only tweaked certain elements of not-so-classic tunes and yet created something that sounds totally original. Their inspirations, their source samples,...
There is one element of Ryan Adams that will always remain predictable. No, it’s not his greasy matted locks or beaten blue jeans, his bizarre comedic banter or the broken heart pinned to his sleeve. Sure, these are a few of Adams’ familiar traits, but at any given time the man can (and will) flip his entire style upside down and leave yet another broken puzzle for his fans to try to piece together. And as this puzzle continues to...
To celebrate their 15 years in existence, Thrill Jockey has decided to put this celebratory compilation together—which gives them the chance to have artists on the roster cover…you know, other artists on the roster. It's a time-honored tradition usually regulated to one-off singles. So then this set makes even more sense when you consider that this compilation is available as a box of seven-inch singles. But the Dansette isn't available now and we're just taking a look at this as...
I have a friend who is fond of quantifications. "Top three songs you want playing at your funeral.” “Number one film to have in the event of catastrophic famine.” “Three albums you'd take with you to a desert island." Naturally, I find these questions hard to answer. Albums I would grab on the brink of mortality? Desolation? Starvation? MORTALITY?!!? That's asking for some pretty hefty loves. But I like that my friend asks these questions. I find myself thinking about...