An ‘elbow’, other than the obvious physiological definition, is defined by Webster’s dictionary as “a sharp bend in a road or river; or a length of pipe with a sharp bend in it.” It is, in effect, a location where a conduit unexpectedly arcs away from its assumed destination – a definition that suits the band Elbow’s new record, The Seldom Seen Kid, to a proverbial ‘T’. Bred and spread from the UK, it’s impossible to miss Elbow’s background as,...
Weezer is back. And it’s the real Weezer this time. Make Believe may have been their biggest commercial success, but in the eyes of many fans and critics alike, it was a colossal failure. While The Red Album could be even more successful than its predecessor, this is the album that Weezer fans have been waiting for since the band returned in 2000. “Troublemaker” is easily my favorite track on the record. Nothing groundbreaking here, clocks in at 2:46 and...
I was pretty damned stoked when the lineup for this year’s Gigantour was announced. I have always been a huge fan of the mighty High on Fire, and I was totally looking forward to finally getting a chance to see them on a BIG stage. I had never witnessed Job for a Cowboy, Children of Bodom or In Flames live before, but I had heard that they all put on pretty awesome live shows. As far as Megadeth, well, since...
El Perro Del Mar creates an echoy, intimate place outside of time on their new CD, From the Valley to the Stars, appropriate for an album inspired by the concept of Heaven. Entirely self-produced and self-recorded by Sarah Assbring in her hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden, the album tells a quiet, mostly forlorn tale about love, loss and loneliness through a deconstructed Wall of Sound. Assbring is not alone in expressing herself with these broken music box versions of '60s pop...
To me, a Cloud Cult show is like a repeated viewing of Dead Poet's Society. Maybe a little too earnest sometimes, but emotionally they drag you all over the place, and I always end up with brimming tears, whether it's the “Oh Captain, My Captain” scene, or just before the first verse kicks in on “No One Said It Would Be Easy.” Both are also something I wouldn't hesitate to take part in if the opportunity came up, which is...
There are times when solo and side projects can be remarkably revealing regarding the musical depth of the players involved in them. As a textbook example of that statement, listen to Retribution Gospel Choir’s debut for even five minutes and hear Low mastermind Alan Sparhawk abandon slowcore and step into the brave new world (for him anyway) of grunge with a couple of his friends. The ghosts of the mid-nineties underground manifest immediately in the mid-paced, scruffy but delicate and...
I got mad spring fever over here! So much new music for the summer and the bands and labels have said, "hey, let's just give these people a little morsel." Which translates into, FREE MUSIC. There are all sorts of projects up for grabs this week, including South, Stereolab, Sunny Day Sets Fire, Common Market, Ratatat, The Morning Benders and a ton more. Enjoy! Download – "Red Leaves" by Common Market – Download – "Rat Is Dead (Rage)" by...
No matter how you look at them, The Decemberists are a completely unique entity in the context of modern rock. Since their first appearance seven years ago, they have won fans that, when put on the spot and asked what is so endearing about the band, couldn’t tell you exactly what they like—they can’t point to any one specific thing—just that they like the music and became fans virtually upon hearing it. Unlike so many acts that have lived, enjoyed...
The crowd was characterized by its collective hats. There was the straw cowboy, the porkpie, the fedora, the floppy knit in neutral colors that held volumes upon volumes of hair, the short-brimmed military and of course, the newsboy. The cross-section of headgear present to witness the cross-section of bands: opener Jonathan Wilson, a sort of J. Mascis-lite—younger, skinnier and only slightly grey in the hair department, but on pointe with the guitar acrobatics—headliner Vetiver—as quiet and unassuming folkies as their...
Especially in the last decade and a half, musicians on the East coast of Canada have been trying to shake the image that the rest of the world has of them. Not that it isn’t cultivated; if you believe the lyric sheets of the top or longest standing maritime bands, the band members perpetually do their lovers wrong or are wronged regularly by them, they’re usually sauced out of their minds or are gearing up for another epic bar mission...