The new year is almost here, and with it comes a maelstrom of “End of the Year Lists.†Here on Ex-Spectator, I’ll be rolling out a few “End of the Yearâ€/â€End of the Decade†lists. Today’s list: The Best Free Albums, EPs and Mixtapes of 2009. Since Radiohead made the pay-what-you-want model so notable with … [Read more…]
Dan Deacon is a DIY mastermind, one of a handful of prolific and well-known artists who do things themselves, and do things a certain way. He plays all ages shows. He plays shows for $10 a pop. He plays shows in “unorthodox” venues. And he doesn’t sell his music to a big corporation… Normally. Some … [Read more…]
Billboard just released its list of the top one-hit wonders of the decade. I enjoy one-hit wonders just as much as the next person: It’s always great when you can experience a song that piques the interest of a broad range of people for a short period of time. Where would I have been in … [Read more…]
Indie Rock Reviews have posted information regarding a rumor that beloved Chicago emo acts Cap’n Jazz and Owls may reunite. Take a look [Thanks Ori Nevo for the tip]: With Pavement’s reunion plans all but finalized, it was only a matter of time before other defunct acts added their name to the list. The latest: … [Read more…]
The Indiana Daily Student‘s Cory Barker recently put out his “Best of the Decade” list on emo. Fine enough. Except that he begins with this little quote: Before 2000, we’re pretty sure that the word emo didn’t even exist. What? No need to really delve into this, but shouldn’t Barker have, I don’t know, say, … [Read more…]
Metal never really gets the credit it deserves. Behind the seemingly impenetrable wall of sound – that rush of gruff vocals, ear-shattering drumming, whiplash-inducing guitar work and pounding bass – rests something irresistible. The aural atmospheres seem to plug into a part of the brain that releases visceral, animal like urges that are then burnt … [Read more…]
Usually, newspaper corrections tend to fly under the radar. They appear in the paper days after the initial article with the mistake in question was published. By that time, most readers have most likely forgotten about the mistake and/or article and have moved on. That’s not the case with Akeya Dickson’s Washington Post article on … [Read more…]
The Grammy Award nominees were officially announced last night. Most criticisms of its blatant populism and lack of any surprise nominations aside, let’s tackle the really big issue with this years nominees: No Mickey Rourke. This is bigger than his Oscar loss last year to the overrated performance by Sean Penn in Milk. But wait. … [Read more…]
People always talk about how technology impacts our society at such a rapid pace and look-at-all-the-terrible-things-that-are-happening-because-of-it, blah blah blah. I never thought an iPhone App would turn into Arnold Schwarzenegger a la Terminator. This is hardly on the same level of end-of-the-world-at-the-hands-of-technology type of situation, but it does frighten me: [youtubevid id=”VSkT5XykJzo&feature=player_embedded”] Where do you … [Read more…]
Last night, FX aired the “Sons of Anarchy†season finale to the largest audience in the show’s history. And it was a doozy of a show, and no doubt will draw more people into the show’s Hamlet-inspired tale of a California biker gang caught in the eye of an ideological storm when the third series … [Read more…]