Archive: 2008

We get a little lazy as the week winds down, so let’s check in and see what some other people are writing about during this shortened week… Rock Revival lists the Ten Worst Critically Acclaimed Albums Of All Time Carrie Brownstein mulls over this question: “What constitutes that subtle difference between a cover tune and […]

Tonight’s a great night for music in the Big Apple. First, you’ve got Keller Williams playing his first area gig with the WMD’s at the Nokia. Then, New Orleans’ funksters Dumpstaphunk bring a taste of the Crescent City to Sullivan Hall. Many folks feel Dumpstaphunk are currently the best band out of New Orleans, and […]

Besides writing some of the best original music of the past thirty years, U2 also knows how to kick down a terrific cover during their sets. If you’re unfamiliar with U2’s varied roster of covers check out this 45 track compilation, featuring kickass versions of I Shall Be Released, Help, Whiskey in a Jar, and […]

Thirty-five years ago, Chick Corea and Gary Burton’s Crystal Silence began to unite the improvisational spirit of jazz with a classical formalism. The fruits of that collaboration continue with a sequel, The New Crystal Silence that is a logical extension of the original work of the duet, right down to its evocative cover art.

I wasn't sure what to expect of the audience at a New York Dolls show in 2008. Would it be mostly an older crowd who'd known the Dolls from their earliest days?

Blending melodic pop atmospheres with intimate and cinematic dreamscapes, Great Northern have been winning fans and friends across the US with their extensive touring over the past year and their debut album, Trading Twilight For Daylight, Recently streamlining into a trio, the  Los Angeles favorites will now be special guests of The Gutter Twins (Mark Lanegan and Greg Dulli’s […]

Portishead  have announced the release of Third, their hugely anticipated new album, their fourth album in total, and first since 1998’s Roseland NYC live. Third is to be released on Mercury/Island on April 29th 2008. Portishead will appear on the main stage at Coachella on Saturday April 26, 2008. Third Tracklisting1. Silence 2. Hunter 3. Nylon Smile […]

Legendary guitarist Steve Kimock returns to his northern California roots for a run of mid-March dates with a line-up featuring several longtime friends and as well as a few fresh faces. Boasting an All-Star cast, with Melvin Seals (JGB) on the B-3 and keyboards, Steve’s prodigal son John Morgan Kimock on drums, veteran bassist Hutch […]

2007 was a triumphant year for Bobby Bare Jr., finding him hitting the road with Lucero and the Slip, performing a surprise set at Portland’s Musicfest that featured members of the Decemberists as his backing band, and riding high from his critically-acclaimed Bloodshot Release The Longest Meow. 2008 is shaping up to be just as […]

Coldplay have completed recording on their eagerly-awaited fourth album, which is currently being mixed. The album, the follow-up to 2005’s ‘X&Y’, has been produced by Brian Eno, Markus Dravs and the band themselves, and is expected to be released sometime in the summer. The band’s manager, Dave Holmes, said: “They’re in the final mixing [stage]. […]

While venerable coffee giant Starbucks has been struggling to compete in the beverage department of late, they seem to be hitting the mark with their in-store music selection (that doubles as a check-out impulse buy). For their latest release they’ve gotten the former Robert Zimmerman to handpick selections for an Artist Choice compilation. Read on for the track list of sixteen songs you’ve probably never heard of either, and another bit of Bob Dylan news…

If you live in NYC, you probably take the site of the Empire State Building for granted. If you live in San Diego, you probably take a sunny 72-degree day for granted. And if you are a rock fan, you probably take David Bowie for granted.

Bowie, who put out his first album, David Bowie, in 1967 has been a fixture on the rock landscape ever since and has crossed genre lines so many times, charting it would look like an airline route map in the back of those terrible in-flight magazines.

Whatever your pleasure, Bowie has something for you. You want straight up rock and roll? There’s 1974’s Diamond Dogs and 1980’s Scary Monsters. If it’s a red wine night at home, there is 1971’s Hunky Dory, with more piano-driven tracks, including the powerful “Quicksand” and “Life on Mars,” a song that has surfaced everywhere from Phish shows to Wes Anderson movies.

Read on for more Thin White Duke lovin’, and a few clips from his illustrious career…

I can’t help that I have Wilco on the brain – Jeff Tweedy and company wrap up their five-night career spanning run tonight and I’m off to see them in Philly on Saturday (mmm cheesesteaks and Wilco the perfect combination). So with that in mind I figured I’d dip into their catalog and offer up a mix of some of the rarities they have busted out at the Riviera in Chicago so far this week. Enjoy!:

Read on after the jump for a breakdown…

If you’re one of those people who just needs to have a bigger music collection then all your friends, we’ve got quite the opportunity for you. The world’s undisputed largest collection of recorded music is now on sale via EBay. A three million dollar opening bid gives you the chance to buy three million records and 300,000 CDs. Have fun importing all of those bad boys into iTunes.

Here are some links to help you fight the mid-week blues:

• Don’t try to bring more than 72 beers to Rothbury
• Thieves make off with $25k worth of Matt Costa’s gear
• Photo Gallery: A Day In The Life of The Beatles
• Did you know Tiger Woods digs Van Halen?
• Stereogum’s Oldstand looks at an old issue of Rolling Stone
• Spinner counts down the 25 Best Band logos
• Popdose offers The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Toto
• Jeff Miller reviews night four of the Wilco Residency

Finally, Mike Gordon sat-in with Melvin Sparks at Nectar’s this weekend. Read on for two incredibly funky clips…

it’s not apparent by now, after eight official studio albums and the de rigueur double live set, Big Head Todd and the Monsters are not going to blow anyone away. But on the basis of the new All the Love You Need, they have learned how to avoid the pitfalls of the AOR subgenre in which they reside.

The RATM concert in Osaka was an memorable event as the fans at Osaka-Jo Hall got wild, but never malicious. What makes a Rage show so powerful is having every member of the audience understanding the band's message, accepting it, and becoming one.

As Tall As Lions is a landscape of instruments that continually overlap to create a sonic cocktail – part orchestral pop, part lounge with a Latin backbeat holding it all in check.

It’s not history-making like their previous outing, but DJ/producers Sasha and John Digweed are hitting the road together again this spring for the first time since 2002. The duo’s 21-date, one-month bus tour will kick off at Mansion in Miami during Winter Music Conference (March 27), and end at Coachella’s dance tent (April 26), hitting […]

Having gone platinum in the UK, Kate Nash’s Paul Epworth produced debut saw its US release via Geffen on January 8th and debuted at #36 on the Billboard album charts. U.S. Tour Dates  Tuesday, April 15 – Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse Wednesday, April 16 – Asheville, NC – The Orange Peel Thursday, April 17 Washington, DC […]

Spoon have announced the first dates of their ‘Victory Lap’ tour of the US, kicking off April 2 in Kansas City. The band will be joined by The Walkmen and White Rabbits, and will support the release of Spoon’s ‘Don’t You Evah’ EP on April 8. The dates are: Kansas City, KS Uptown (April 2) […]