The Sea and Cake are like a modern day classic rock band. While their sound has morphed stylistically over the past six albums, like a fine wine, their brand of post rock has aged well over the years. Nowadays, when one is required to navigate a complicated minefield of nuwave-disco-lofi-neo-proto-mustache-post-nude-ironic stylings in order to keep up with the current scene, a new record by these timeless Chicago overachievers is just what the doctor ordered—and Everybody delivers in full. The record...

Los Angeles epic instrumental quintet Red Sparowes kicks off a U.S. tour in support of its sophomore Neurot Recordings album Every Red Heart Shines Toward The Red Sun this week. The band had previously played select dates on the east and west coasts (as well as in the U.K.) last fall, but this is the first full scale jaunt for the quintet due to the busy schedules of its members who also split time in metal heavyweights ISIS, Neurosis, Battle...

There are shows that elbow you so hard in the face that you think you’re either 1) going to die because your nose may have pierced through your skull, 2) dancing so hard your shoes are melting off, 3) simply moshing at your finest. And then there are those shows that leave you stunned, silenced and sometimes even displaced. Well into the next week, in my case. It was like everyone in the world was at the Troubadour to see...

The White Stripes have revealed the details of their forthcoming album. The Detroit duo have titled the record Icky Thump, and have just finished mixing and recording it at Blackbird Studio. A release date for the follow up to 2005's Get Behind Me Satan has not yet been set, but a posting on the band's website says: "We are doing our best (whatever that is) to release the album as soon as corporately possible. And though we are tired, worn,...

London-based alternative rock trio PLACEBO will be touring the U.S and eastern Canada through the month of April, including an appearance on the Coachella Tour stage in California. PLACEBO TOUR DATES, SPRING 2007 Apr 6 – Roxy – Boston, MAApr 7 – Metropolis – Montreal, QCApr 9 – Guvernment – Toronto, ONApr 10 – Theater of the Living Arts – Philadelphia, PAApr 11- Roseland – New York, NYApr 13 – House of Blues – Chicago, ILApr 14 – Beaumont Club...

If you’ve been in a bar or club over the past few years, there’s a damn good chance you’ve heard at least one song from the NY-based electro-rock-pop label A Touch of Class. For close to ten years, ATOC has been dropping dancefloor bombs from artists like Waldorf, The Ones and Scissor Sisters, and capped off a few years of hit 12-inches with their 2003 release A Touch of Class Sucks! which is a 2×12 vinyl release divided up in...

CINEMATIC ORCHESTRA TO RELEASE FIRST STUDIO ALBUM IN FIVE YEARS Group heads in new direction with stunning guest vocalists Fontella Bass, Patrick Watson, and Lou Rhodes June 5th sees the release of the first full studio album by Jason Swinscoe's Cinematic Orchestra since 2002's Everyday. Entitled Ma Fleur, the record was written as the soundtrack to a specially commissioned screenplay for an imagined film (which may or may not yet be made). The album will be released by Domino Recordings...

CINEMATIC ORCHESTRA TO RELEASE FIRST STUDIO ALBUM IN FIVE YEARS Group heads in new direction with stunning guest vocalists Fontella Bass, Patrick Watson, and Lou Rhodes June 5th sees the release of the first full studio album by Jason Swinscoe's Cinematic Orchestra since 2002's Everyday. Entitled Ma Fleur, the record was written as the soundtrack to a specially commissioned screenplay for an imagined film (which may or may not yet be made). The album will be released by Domino Recordings...

Last week, I was invited to a party at the home of someone I didn't know. The party was technically an "after-party" which didn't get going until 2:30 a.m. Most of us had been at a bar earlier, drinking Jack & Cokes and trying not to wither beneath the Friday night San Fernando Valley infiltration of Hollywood. The after-party was hosted by a fellow whose name I never got, but who had a DJ set-up complete with dual turntables plus...

There’s something to be said for the amount of pull an artist has with their peers. In the instance of Neko Case, there’s a hell of a lot of it. On her recent tour, she played with Eric Bachman of Crooked Fingers and supported Merle Haggard, and will play with Emmylou Harris in March. In rock terms, those last two would compare to artists like Dylan and Joni Mitchell, just to put it in perspective. Case’s special guest for her...