It might appear that the ultra-abrasive Brooklyn band Parts & Labor has been unusually quiet since dropping its 2008 album, Receivers. Although 2009 was the first year the group went without producing a new album since 2005, the electronics-tinged art-punk act has actually been as productive as ever. “We spent about half of last year … [Read more…]
On Monday, Rolling Stone debuted it’s online subscription model, as well as a much-needed website facelift. Unfortunately, it may be too little, too late. In the years Rolling Stone wasted their web-space, with nothing to show but a handful of articles hosted on a domain, music blogs and sites have sped past the magazine (and many … [Read more…]
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. What does that mean? Well, it means it’s time for a Valentine’s Day mix, of course! Below is a nice little mix of songs for VD 2010: 1. Electric Six – “Electric Demons in Love”: [youtubevid id=”cDGQTlJjCrg”] 2. Andre 3000 – “Happy Valentine’s Day”: [youtubevid id=”DYnzdj4EK1c”] 3. Nina … [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 Overlooked Albums of the Aughts. A while back I started an ongoing feature called “Overlooked in … [Read more…]
Eye Weekly has a pretty great interview with Christopher R. Weingarten, formerly of good ole’ Parts & Labor, now known most prominently for his Twitter account, 1000TimesYes. Anyway, Weingarten has some pretty stellar things to say about the omnipresence of emo and indie in the early part of the decade, the impact of crowdsourcing on … [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…]
 “Personally, all of my favorite bands/artists are my favorites because of their albums, not singles. They created their own world within those albums to an extent that you just can’t do with much detail on one song.” –Dan Friel, Parts & Labor You can read the rest of my interview with Dan and flip … [Read more…]
Roundup of various end of the year music lists…
The best live shows of 2008
A countdown of the best albums of 2008, in all their colors.