For those of you that love Icelandic rock and/or all those Wes Anderson loving hipsters, Sigur Rós have confirmed a November 6 street date for two separate but related releases: a DVD called Heima and a double CD set titled Hvarf / Heim. Heima-which translates as both "At Home" and "Homeland"– chronicles a series of free concerts Sigur Rós played in their native Iceland over the course of summer 2006. Combining both the biggest and smallest shows of their career,...

Looks like it's attack of the former buzz bands. The Arctic Monkeys are gearing up to hit the road on Wednesday for a US tour in support of their latest album Favourite Worst Nightmare (the 'u' is because they're British!). Opening for A.M. are the boys from Voxtrot, who aren't British, but kinda sing like they are. Need some dates? Read 'em and weep: 09/05/07 New York, NY @ Central Park Summerstage09/06/07 Providence, RI @ Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel09/08/07 Toronto, ON...

The single most important construct to the fabric of humanity and the condition of it is the establishment of motivation. ‘Motive’ is the cornerstone for crime, punishment, change, virtue, vice and myriad other human endeavours but, most importantly, defining motives and qualifying motivation means articulating cause for the purpose of allowing others to understand outcomes and effects. Without that understanding—that relatable human element that everyone can find within themselves—people get very nervous. That was the instinct the...

Man vs. Fuck Yeah Fest. For a split second there I thought I had a great opportunity to catch the majority of musicians, stand-up comedians and spoken-word artists performing at the festival, all of which was curated by Sean Carlson and former Black Flag now Circle Jerks frontman Keith Morris. The gameplan was set in stone: catch one or maybe even two songs/jokes/phrases by said artist and run to the next available venue. The close proximity of all the venues...

Man vs. Fuck Yeah Fest. For a split second there I thought I had a great opportunity to catch the majority of musicians, stand-up comedians and spoken-word artists performing at the festival, all of which was curated by Sean Carlson and former Black Flag now Circle Jerks frontman Keith Morris. The gameplan was set in stone: catch one or maybe even two songs/jokes/phrases by said artist and run to the next available venue. The close proximity of all the venues...

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When Tim Kasher, the fabled lyricist behind Cursive and The Good Life, talks about the albums that have influenced him, his voice suddenly perks up. He sounds positively excited to explain the basic, raw sound of The Go-Go’s hit album, Beauty and The Beat. Kasher’s been writing songs since puberty and has, happily, been putting out albums almost as long. Although he did not plan it this way, the albums he’s put out have switched off each year between Cursive...

If I were to be in a band, I would be in Au Revoir Simone. Well, I would want to be anyway. Given the fact that the last musical instruction I had was three-years worth of euphonium lessons—not exactly a hip, rock-friendly instrument—I’m guessing I would be immediately demoted to tambourine girl. But even saying you’re in an all-girl, all-keyboard, angel-voiced indie band has to earn you some sort of cool cred, n’est-ce pas? Following sets by The Morning Benders...

Irish fever has been sweeping over pop culture lately, and it’s in part thanks to the all-star cast in the academy award winning movie, The Departed Of course, the real stars of the film were soundtrack-contributing Irish punks hailing from Boston… The Dropkick Murphys’ cover of “I’m Shipping Off to Boston” brought them loads of new fans and this month they plan to make good use of this newfound fame with a September 18 release of their sixth studio album, The...

The Sounds of the Underground tour coming to Irvine was a lot like a bunch of Hell’s Angels crashing a baby shower. In fact, on that sunny Saturday afternoon, I’m sure plenty of Irvinetians (extraterrestrials perhaps?) happened to be celebrating the arrival of their August babies or even half a baby, according to the statistical data that reveals upper-middleclass suburbanites can somehow have 1.5 children. Who knew that children could be conceived in a town so sterile? I’ve actually seen...