Popular indie music site Pitchfork announced it will launch Altered Zones, a sister site dedicated to DIY sounds so obscure not even those on staff at Pitchfork have heard of some of the bands or dreamt up cool new tags for the zany new tunes. Pitchfork has some lofty goals for the site, which will … [Read more…]
Millennium Park’s Jay Pritzker Pavilion fits approximately 11,000 people. That is, unless there is a free She & Him show. The Pavilion has 4,000 fixed seats, and the lawn fits about 7,000 people. When She & Him performed at Millennium Park’s concert pavilion Monday, the number of people that can fit in the area grew … [Read more…]
A massive argument amongst indie music bloggers spilled over Twitter on Thursday. Or, in real terms, a blip on Twitter’s scanner brought up some pretty big concepts about how new music is transmitted dispersed online, and right from the keyboards of a few “big” name indie bloggers. The whole shindig went down when I Guess … [Read more…]
Free the Music is a guide to new albums, EPs and songs that are available for free online. Today’s drop is: Caddywhompus – Remainder. At any one moment in indie music history, there are a number of divergent sounds heating up the national scene. They’ve got their communities, they’ve got their fans and they may or may … [Read more…]
The folks behind Lollapalooza officially unveiled the lineup for this year’s fest (that’s right - no more letter guessing) Tuesday morning. And it looks like someone’s been reading Pitchfork. The lineup is jam packed with indie bands. Many of those acts have received the greatest praise Pitchfork has to offer, the oft-coveted “Best New Music” chalice/crown/shiny thing. … [Read more…]
I was shocked when I stumbled upon the news that Internet-based indie radio station WOXY will shut down today [via the Daily Swarm]: Due to current economic realities and the lack of ongoing funding for WOXY’s operations, we’ve been forced to suspend our live broadcasts as of March 23rd. What seems so strange is that … [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…]
There’s a famous scene in Good Will Hunting where an arrogant Harvard student berates Ben Affleck’s Chuckie Sullivan with his in-depth historical knowledge. This is done to bully Sullivan and humiliate him in front of a couple of women Sullivan is trying to hit on. Then, in comes Matt Damon’s Will Hunting to save the … [Read more…]
Tor, one of the musicians who topped my “Best Free Albums of 2009” list and one brilliant mash-up artist, is at it once again. Eight hours ago, Tor dropped a new mash-up. Instead of another re-mixing of Sufjan Stevens, Tor tossed wordmaster Q-Tip onto some fine violin-work by Final Fantasy, otherwise known as Owen Pallett. … [Read more…]
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 Albums of 2009. As I’ve mentioned previously, there are a lot of pitfalls for “best of†… [Read more…]