This song is a little old, but caught my attention on Satellite radio, then I forgot it. More recently it popped up in the film Cyrus. Australian duo Empire of the Sun’s track, “Walking on a Dream” is kind of chill wave-y and reminds me a little of Steely Dan and “Caribbean Queen” by Billy [...]
Curtis Lane is the debut album from Active Child, the namesake of L.A songwriter Pat Grossi. Blogs and journalists are bubbling with giddiness and positive reviews for Active Child. I assume the warm reception is because this EP comes across like a more elegant, ethereal Animal Collective. The first song, “I’m in Your Church at Night” [...]
M.I.A’s new, grinding cacophony MAYA is an album crafted for the new “connected” society. Themes and sounds are piled in a shaker, swirled violently and poured out in clumpy snippets of odd melodies and mish-mashes of style and presentation. It is like MAYA was made by and for the ADD, short attention span of the modern [...]
People always ask me why I like the Smashing Pumpkins. It’s not a 90′s alt rock nostalgia thing at all. They (Billy Corgan) embrace everything I ever loved about music: anger, sadness, love, and volume. Corgan assimilates everything from Blue Cheer and Black Sabbath to Blondie, My Bloody Valentine, and The Cure. I hear things from [...]
This is a cool song that uses clips from a 70′s short film called “Clown.” It’s basically the tale of a lovable little scamp and his ineptitude as a dog owner. No, cute kid has a cute dog named Clown which he loses. What the video doesn’t show is the boy eventually finding the dog, [...]
Now that’s how you fucking do it! You play some old songs, some new songs, some “classics,” some re-worked versions of songs and extended jam outs of others. You come on for an encore and do a catchy upbeat rocker that is your latest release then slide into a searing, passionate concert ender – shake the rafters [...]
The 5th song of 44 from the monumental Teargarden by Kaleidyscope is out. The last 4 were captured in the EP Songs for a Sailor and “Freak” marks the beginning of the next EP, The Solstice Bare. “Freak” sees Billy returning to form; innovative guitar, poignant lyrics wrapped up in a grinding, yet catchy rocker complete [...]
I’ve opined about the conflagration of indie / alternative duos so I will digress in expounding on Phantogram’s musical configuration. “Mouthful of Diamonds” is the first song I’ve heard from this Saratoga Springs group. It is a dark, lush, almost symphonic pop song that lingers in me brain. Not since Ice Cube on N.W.A’s “Dopeman” [...]
Australia’s Tame Impala is what I’ve been waiting for. The alternative music scene is bustling with lush pop songwriters, nifty duos, and electronica hybrids which are all great, but sometimes a dude needs a little rock! It is nice to hear a fresh treatment to straight-forward guitar rock and Tame Impala is able to do [...]
Trent Reznor announced that Nine Inch Nails would be shelved indefinitely in order to pursue other musical interests. How to Destroy Angels is the new group which includes his wife, Mariqueen Maandig and long-time co-conspirator Atticus Ross. The video for “The Space in Between” is creepily awesome and the band’s EP is available for free [...]