Queens of the Stone Age unleashed a precise and brutal attack on Atlanta’s Center Stage Theater (formerly Earthlink Live) Monday night. QOTSA kicked off this mini tour in support of the re-release of their eponymous debut album at SXSW a few days ago. Usually I’m not big on re-releases, especially when the original release was [...]
Bass players always get shit and it is generally because the average music listener isn’t enthralled with the thudding hum of the bass line. Musicians and music nerds know that the bass locks with the drums to lay the foundation for everything on top of it, but this isn’t a crusade to bring respect to [...]
Ha ha – Not really, I just thought that would be a funny headline, but the seventh track on The King of Limbs, “Give Up the Ghost” draws the “Grizzly Bear is the American Radiohead” comparison full circle. It starts with birdsong and builds a haunting layered vocal call and a stripped down percussion that [...]
I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me. First I can’t get this song out of my head, then when I finally get around to listening to Kid Cudi‘s new album, Man on the Moon 2: Legend of Mr. Rager, it’s his anthemic song with Kanye – “Erase Me” that won’t escape me. [...]
OK. This show was weird. Not crazy or anything, but the presentation was kind of stilted and incongruous. Broken Social Scene sounded great and worked a thorough playlist that included “7/4 Shoreline,” “World Sick,” “Texico Bitches,” and “Lover’s Spit,” but lead singer, Kevin Drew, was battling laryngitis or lung issues and made it known. His [...]
Chicago’s Smith Westerns are gaining plenty of acclaim and buzz around their latest album, Dye it Blonde. They have Chi-Town sound in their 70′s guitar rock approach with the indie twist of subtly downplaying a sound that could be much larger in favor of hooks and bright melodies. Orlando music aficionado , Bao, compares them [...]
I’m not all that familiar with L.A-based Lord Huron. I like this song’s Fleet Fox-ish sound with its dark, rustic feel. Maybe it’s because I just watched Jeremiah Johnson on AMC, but I connected with the naturalist tone of a lone mountain man losing his marbles amidst the dreary, yet beautiful backdrop of frontier America. [...]
Upon entry I was greeted by Portland, Oregon’s Billygoat in the middle of their set. It was gorgeous, haunting, ambient music created with drums, guitar and the vocalist working a synthesizer and an array of other electronic equipment. This was set and synchronized to some of the most stunning digital animation I’ve seen at a [...]
On Tuesday night the godfathers of indie rock swept into The Social on the heels of Rain-a-geddon – more commonly known as a thunderstorm in these parts – and proved why they maintained their status for over 20 years. They embody everything that “indie” stands (stood) for. Besides being eligible for a pension from Matador [...]
Ernest Green called the show about 5 or 6 songs into their set Saturday night. “I’m having some problems with my computer if you haven’t already noticed,” he bemoaned. I guess he couldn’t get Garage Band open. Beach ball! This time around he brought out a band: a rhythm section, and another dude on synthesizer [...]