Some musicians flounder when asked to create and perform new material on short notice. Extra Life frontman Charlie Looker isn’t one of them. In 2006, Looker was asked to perform a solo set at The Stone in the East Village. Looker didn’t have any solo material, as he’d been spending his nights exploring the esoteric … [Read more…]
On Tuesday, two of the most anticipated indie albums saw their official releases. The National dropped High Violet, an album that put Twitter users into a cumulative tizzy when The New York Times streamed the album in full a few weeks ago. The other album is Treats, the debut by Brooklyn “it” band Sleigh Bells. … [Read more…]
Free the Music is a guide to new albums, EPs and songs that are available for free online. Today’s drop is: Das Racist – Shut Up, Dude. In today’s everyones-a-blogger, link economy online community, many an Internet scribe would be content with where Brooklyn’s Das Racist was at the end of 2009. A “year as … [Read more…]
Congratulations to MGMT. The Brooklyn “indie” act just released the cover for their sophomore LP, Congratulations, and it may be the worst album artwork I’ve seen all year: All other bands out there, take notice. MGMT has thrown down the gauntlet for atrocious cover craft, and it is quite the challenge. True, I’m not an … [Read more…]
Overlooked in the Aughts is an ongoing feature focusing on some of the best albums from the 2000s that haven’t quite received the attention they deserved. Today’s post: Parts & Labor’s Mapmaker. Back in June, music writer Christopher R. Weingarten extolled the pains that have befallen music journalism at the 140 Characters Conference. Among many of his excellent … [Read more…]
The best live shows of 2008
There’s nothing quite like a musical discovery, and Jimes is not quite like anything else I’ve found in recent memory. Jimes is the kind of thing you inadvertently stumble upon and then mildly-obsess about for a handful of minutes. Jimes is absurd, endearing, and entertaining, simply by being. Jimes hails from Chevy Chase, an annexed … [Read more…]
Giddy would be a great explanation for how I felt when I saw this news release from Jagjaguwar: We’re proud to announce that PARTS & LABOR will be releasing their new album, “Receivers,” on 10/21/08 here in the US and 11/03/08 in the UK. Brooklyn’s Parts & Labor has become one of my favorite bands … [Read more…]
In one corner, weighing in at 6 members is The Mae Shi, with support from The Death Set, at Great Scott. In the other, pulling together as a duo is No Age, with a little help from High Places and Abe Vigoda, at the Middle East Downstairs. It is a challenge to behold… For music … [Read more…]
By now most music-loving folk are aware of the pay-what-you-want, online release of Girl Talk’s latest album, Feed The Animals. But this isn’t about that… well, it’s almost not about that. As any other savy internet users are concerned, a trio of folks hailing from the greater Baltimore/DC area new about this all to well. … [Read more…]