New Music from Fol Chen
Get ready for pure musical insanity.
I sometimes feel the word “eclectic” is overused in the music criticism world; but I know I’m guilty of using it to describe a band that I feel is all over the place or just crazy. For the band Fol Chen, I feel the word “eclectic” is really the only way to accurately peg them down. Fol Chen themselves describe their sound the best...
Posted by Amy Dittmeier on Dec 22, 2008 @ 7:00 am
Takin' You Back
The Who put the “rock” in “rock opera.”
Before Pink Floyd wrote The Wall or Green Day even thought about the possibility of American Idiot, The Who delivered a masterpiece in the form of the first full-length rock opera in Tommy. Their fourth, and possibly best, album tells the story of a blind, deaf and dumb child who becomes a messianic figure and strives for enlightenment. The Who is, without a doubt, one of the greatest rock bands of all time...
Posted by Cory Roop on Dec 19, 2008 @ 7:00 am
New Music from Jay Jay Pistolet
More than likely Jay Jay will end up on a Zach Braff movie soundtrack one day.
Sad sappy love songs truly make the world spin. They have the ability to get us out of our doldrums - or in some cases make us feel worse. It takes a certain kind of song to make you believe that one can actually make love out of nothing at all, and Jay Jay Pistolet has written such a song.
Combining the sedated nature of Nick Drake and the minimal folk of Johnny Flynn, Jay Jay Pistolet (Justin Hayward-Young) has created a captivating sound. "Hooked Up On Us," by this Hampshire UK native, is as mushy as Ben Gibbard's backside. Believe me, have a squeeze.
The combination of Jay Jay's beautifully breezy vocals and a strolling guitar line is a rare sound that could easily quiet a rowdy drunken club crowd. Accompanied by some subtle tympani and banjo plucks, "Hooked Up On Us" is a quiet little masterpiece for the broken hearted. If there is ever a time when the words just don't come out right, play this song for your loved one and all will most likely be forgiven. If not, it was never meant to be.
When not opening for the likes of Laura Marling or Okkervil River, Jay Jay Pistolet managed to record the Happy Birthday E.P. with Charlie Fink of Noah and the Whale, which is available on Stiff Records.
Posted by Joe Roth on Dec 17, 2008 @ 7:00 am
New Music from MC Lars
Post-punk laptop rock gets release date, goes Christmas.
Now this is the kind of rap that I can embrace. MC Lars’ unique style of punk-infused hip-hop is something that scene kids and hipsters alike can enjoy. His appeal is evident in the list of bands with whom he’s toured. There’s everything from pop-punk acts Simple Plan and Bowling for Soup to ska in Streetlight Manifesto and Suburban Legends to the short-lived indie dance-punk act Test Icicles...
Posted by Cory Roop on Dec 16, 2008 @ 12:00 am
New Music from Or, The Whale
Odd punctuation in band names always makes them better.
It’s odd to hear a down south sound coming from the San Francisco bay area, but then again stranger things have occurred in the music world. So it’s a good thing the local act Or, the Whale decided to give the big fuck you” to convention and did the type of music that they wanted to rather than fitting into the “scene...
Posted by Amy Dittmeier on Dec 15, 2008 @ 7:00 am