Not too many years ago, there was a label called Sarah Records. It was an English label whose releases all chimed with a similar aesthetic that came to be known as twee-pop. Pristine, simple arrangements, songs of love and loss, and clean, mod-pop-inspired design. Groups like the Field Mice, Heavenly and the Orchids were inspired by post-punk and girl-groups. These were records that sounded sweet and innocent and yet were driven and absorbed by the D.I.Y culture, existing as a...

LCD Soundsystem's new album "Sound of Silver" due out March 20th is followed by a 14 date tour. Their digital EP "North American Scum" was also recently released on February 20th. Also, don't forget to check them out on Letterman April 11th. 3/30 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom3/31 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom4/28 Indio, CA Coachella4/30 San Francisco, CA Mezzanine5/02 Seattle, WA Showbox5/03 Vancouver, BC Commodore Ballroom5/06 Chicago, IL Metro5/07 Detroit, MI Majestic Theatre5/08 Toronto, ONT Phoenix Concert...

There was a time in my blip of a DJ career where I flat-out refused to play !!! based merely on their name alone. “How f-ing pretentious,” I thought, as my blood boiled. Then one night I heard the jam of all jams and ran over to see what the hell it was. “Of course! It’s that f-ing three exclamation point band,” I yelled out to whoever was listening, thinking back to what my ma and pa used to say,...

At this point I would be way more excited about LCD Soundsystem playing at my house. I would invite them in, feed them snacks, let them set up, then make them play "All My Friends" eighteen times in a row because that’s how I’m used to hearing it. Sound of Silver, their forth coming album, is an attempt to move more than just your ass. James Murphy, in all his nasally glory on the obvious anthem and first single "North...

ARTIST: Decemberists on Tour DATE: 02-17-07 WRITER: Press McGee   2006 was a good year for The Decemberists. They battled Colbert, sold their souls to the major label devil and still came out on top, and Colin Meloy had time to pop out a kid. So now, they’ve decided to let us all bask in the glow of their glowing glow, hitting the road with My Brightest Diamond for two months (or two moons, for you sea-faring folk). Check the...

2006 was a good year for The Decemberists. They battled Colbert, sold their souls to the major label devil and still came out on top, and Colin Meloy had time to pop out a kid. So now, they've decided to let us all bask in the glow of their glowing glow, hitting the road with My Brightest Diamond for two months (or two moons, for you sea-faring folk). Check the tour dates, yo:  DECEMBERISTS SPRING 2007 TOUR 3/21     Jersey City,...

Clouds are the kind of heavy-rock band that make me want to get drunk and drive a van into a desert sunset. The music conjures up a classic stoner scene then obliterates it with alcoholic aggression like a biker gang rolling up on a beach party. “New Amnesia” opens with a screech of white feedback before plowing forward into a set of riffs that call to mind Blue Cheer at their heaviest. The band downshifts into the heavy blues of...

Posing in an alleyway on the edge of L.A.’s venerated Troubadour, the members of stellastarr* are having test shots taken for GC’s exclusive photo feature. The flash is bright. Monsters and Waiting is at sound check inside. Thinking L.A. glam? Everything but. They are test shots after all, and the L.A. skyline is in a perpetual blink. But the stellastarr* kids are damned good sports about it. They even entertain the idea of answering some good ol’ novelty questions in...

Now that the O.C. is gone, where will indie bands play awesome background music as suspiciously old teenagers fall in and out of love, depending on how close to sweeps it is? Teenagers of the normal sort can re-enact their favorite Seth-Summer love scenes as the Walkmen tour this spring (provided the show is at an all ages venue, of course), first with Ferraby Lionheart and the Broken West, then with the Kaiser Chiefs, Annuals and the Little Ones. Check...

South By Southwest: It's overwhelming, it's awesome, and at 2 AM, the sausage-cart guy in front of Emo's has delivered more people from hunger than Moses did from the Egyptians. Here's a direct quote from the official SXSW website: "Over 1300 acts are currently confirmed and more are on their way." Here's a small chunk of that list (because even if I just copied and pasted, it would still take too damn long to post every one): Aesop Rock (Brooklyn...