February 2008

The Helio Sequence: Eyes Forward (INTERVIEW)

On the full mend from shredded vocal chords following six months of tours in the U.S. and Europe with Blonde Redhead, Modest Mouse, Kings of Leon, and Secret Machines, Brandon Summers had the chance to chat with Glide about their latest record.

Read More

EELS: Useless Trinkets

E has said that some of his best songs sometimes don't make that final cut for LP's. This collection not only proves him right but leaves hope there are still some more trinkets lying around waiting to be discovered.

Read More

Briefly: OK Go & Bonerama Team Up For NOLA

Famed treadmillers OK Go spent the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans recording with funky soul tromboners Bonerama, and the five-song benefit EP comes out, appropriately, today. Read on after the jump for details on the Fat Tuesday iTunes release, and tune in next Monday when Bonerama and Damian Kulash from OK Go perform one of the songs on Letterman…

Read More

Preview: Opening Wilco’s Vault (No Homo)

Our good friend Luke Sacks offers an out-of-towner preview of Wilco’s upcoming five-night stand at the Riviera in Chicago, which takes place on February 15-20 A previous commitment — okay,

Read More

Yay, Trey: Big Red Cleans Up His Act

Nearly every mention of Trey Anastasio’s name over the past year has been attached to negative news, so we’re glad to report some good red news. The former Space Antelope

Read More

Better Than Noodling: Okkervil River

You may be well familiar with the bands featured in this section, but Some Dude from Hits from the Blog wants to ensure there’s No Jambandfan Left Behind…

You know how they say that Christopher Columbus didn’t really discover America he just “encountered” it? Well that’s sort of how I feel about how I came to start listening to the music of Okkervil River.

Okkervil


How I can really lay claim to discovering a band that has been releasing albums (and I’m sure touring relentlessly) since late last century? I first encountered this Austin-based act some time last summer when every music reviewer was drooling over their latest offering, The Stage Names, a wordy, bombastic album with ruminations on the daily life of someone who happens to be in a rock band.

The reviews piqued my interest, but it wasn’t until I caught their performance on Conan that I knew they’d be my latest musical obsession. The song they played was big, brawny and cluttered with sound; it seemed like they could fall apart at any moment, but somehow lead singer Will Sheff’s vocals came in and tied it all together. Read on after the jump and take a listen to their cinematic tales…

Read More

View posts by year