With his latest album, Some Mad Hope, Matt Nathanson wants your attention. But there’s also part of him that wants to be known for writing songs you love. In other words, he’s not Adam Sandler’s long lost cousin.
The Black Angels hold an enhancement for that lurking guitar drone that turns their songs into blissfully psychedelic sensory overload, gauzy blues, and industrial-edgy shoegaze. What about all that critical posturing about the Black Angels turning "drone into an art form"? It’s one hundred percent accurate.
Mick Jones, former Clash lead guitarist and vocalist, would never have imagined that he would be considered a punk icon, no less a major part of a legendary band. The whole concept is overwhelming as he says, “I try to ignore all of that otherwise my head will explode.” Almost six years ago, Jones teamed up with his old bandmate and fellow punk legend, Tony James (Sigue Sigue Sputnik/Generation X) to create Carbon/Silicon. These days, Jones seems fulfilled to the point where just making music is enough. Getting there though, has been a trip and a half…
With the record industry in flux, 2008 will be full of surprises. Expect new mainstream releases from Coldplay, Madonna and Weezer sometime this year, and indie releases from Toyko Police Club’s, M83, Raveonettes, and Deerhunter's Bradford Cox new band, Atlas Sound. In the first quarter alone, a lot of spectacular releases are expected. And away we go.
Does Eugene Hütz, strike you as particularly laid back? You think he stands stoically in front of his microphone like Thom Yorke? Nope. Hütz, the Urkranian born lead singer of gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello is particularly animated, and he’s not ready to stand back and let his guitarist do the talking.
The Cowsills’ discography may provide memories of a different era, but the music stands the test of time because fans liked the music then and their kids still like it now for what it is—a soundtrack that conveys the excitement, rebellion and nostalgia of the Summer of Love.
Everyone makes their standard "best of's," top 10s" and "year in review" lists, but each December we like to take that model a couple of steps further. We go straight to the artists to see where they found inspiration over the past twelve months, and we don't stop with just album choices. We dig a bit deeper and go for a broader picture of the past year in art. From classic moments on the road to their guilty pleasure confessions, this is a panoramic snapshot of "the best of 2006," and a peek into what to expect in '07.
Every year this seems to come faster and faster, and every year Glide starts off the ‘best of the year’ discussions saying there really weren’t that many great albums to choose from. What used to be flipping through a dozen stacks of CDs, and finding a few forgotten gems, has now become two-dozen page scrolls through iTunes. And before you get to the random, unnamed tracks at the end, you realize how much newly issued music had a truly significant impact on our ears the past twelve months. So, as quickly as we initially dismissed the year, we inevitably end up having a hard time keeping the contenders list under 100.
The Sadies are one of today’s hardest working bands, having put out five albums since signing with Yep Roc Records four years ago (including the new release New Seasons), worked in various formats with alt country/indie crooner darling Neko Case. The Sadies are fronted by the Good brothers (Dallas and Travis) and have been making a name for themselves since growing up around their father’s (and uncles’) band, Canadian country Hall of Fame legends, The Good Brothers.
The Galactic album that became From the Corner to the Block was originally going to be all-instrumental, and in its initial stages was a little loose on concept. That was two years ago, when the band found itself on tour with Bay Area emcee Lyrics Born as the opening act and nightly sit-in guest, and was really enjoying itself as it figured out the next direction.
