Archive: 2009

Arkells' debut record, Jackson Square, a homage to their blue-collar hometown of Hamilton, Ontario has been garnering raves reviews with college radio and major press alike. Jackson Square is a wash of covertly optimistic lyrics and groovy, punch-drunk hooks.

There's no getting away from it but MSTRKRFT do ever so slightly resemble those French behemoths of dance, Daft Punk and Justice. And not just when it comes an aping of the rock-meets-dance sound but also in the fact that we're dealing with yet another duo.

When The North Mississippi Allstars' Luther Dickinson began working with The Black Crowes, his partners, brother Cody and bassist Chris Chew, formed Hill Country Revue, whose music is a composite of the raw early sound of The Allstars and the riff-heavy style of Lynyrd Skynyrd,

On June 1, Pearl Jam will be Conan O’Brien’s first musical guest

When I watched Ozzy Osbourne’s reality show in the early part of this decade, I couldn’t look at the former Black Sabbath frontman without feeling sad. As happy-go-lucky as MTV tried to make The Osbournes, it was clear Double O was having a hard time dealing with years and years of drug & alcohol addiction, […]

We’d like to welcome U-Melt keyboard ace Zac Lasher, who penned the latest installment of our Tour Diary series. Zac kept a journal for most of the band’s Spring Tour and we’ve divided his entries up into three parts.

[Photo by Jeremy Gordon]

4/16 – Chicago, IL

First night of the Midwestern run. After a highly successful string of shows in our beloved Northeastern United States, we leave the comforts of home for the Central time zone and beyond. Tonight, I got to see a friend who I haven’t seen since high school, and who I probably would have never seen again if it weren’t for that website called Facebook.

I think about the technology that we have at our disposal in this day and age, that was only the stuff of fiction when I was growing up. Personal communication devices that we carry with us that not only allow for person-to-person voice conversation between two or more people anywhere in the world, but also give you virtually instant access to pretty much any bit of information that isn’t a closely guarded secret at the touch of a button – or the touch of a screen. Its pretty amazing what sort of stuff we humans can make. READ ON for Zac’s journal entries from Dekalb and Madison…

Wilco, the current most buzzed about band on the planet, has recently updated their website to add a number of cool features including a Gigapan photo of their famed loft in Chicago. The images of the loft were taken using the GigaPan Epic, which NASA uses on the Mars Rover to capture images of the […]

The unofficial hiatus of The Strokes has proved to be quite productive for the members of the one-time saviors of downtown rock. While lead singer Julian Casablancas has been relatively quiet during the break contributing vocals on a handful of collaborations, the rest of his band mates used the off time to head into the […]

Here’s a clip of guitar gods Trey Anastasio and Joe Bonamassa taking turns ripping up Blues Deluxe at Higher Ground in South Burlington, Vermont… Trey Anastasio & Joe Bonamassa – Blues Deluxe

If you are a fan of the rock/jazz meld, Jeff Beck: Live at Ronnie Scott’s is a must watch. Palladia will air the special, which features footage from Beck’s series of 2007 shows at the London venue, on Wednesday at 5pm. From his early days as a member of the Yardbirds to the awesome Jeff […]

On the Broken Social Scene website, Kevin Drew has announced that the Canadian collaborative has started record their first record in four years and have decided to do it with John McEntire.  They have spent the last couple of weeks at Chuck Spearin’s house/rehearsal space/backyard writing tunes, drinking coffees, hanging with the family…and now as […]

Bowling Green, Kentucky has never been a hot spot of start-up rock bands, but Cage The Elephant, led by brothers Matt and Brad Shultz have garnered a worthwhile buzz as garage rockers, making them Kentucky’s second most popular rockers behind My Morning Jacket.

R.E.M. have begun work on new material. Guitarist Peter Buck and bassist Mike Mills have tentatively demoed 14 tracks for the follow-up to last year’s ‘Accelerate’ LP, according to Pitchfork. The pair have been working on the songs with producer Tucker Martine in Portland, without singer Michael Stipe. "I’m not even sure you could say […]

Colin Greenwood has told NME.COM the Oxford band have begun recording their new album with producer Nigel Godrich. The bassist revealed that the band went into the studio to start work on the follow-up to 2007’s ‘In Rainbows’ last week (beginning May 11) "We’ve just started work [in the studio] last week," he told NME.COM. […]

Wayman Tisdale, the one-time Oklahoma star and NBA player who recorded several jazz albums, died at 44 after a two year battle with cancer, the Associated Press reports. Tisdale, a 6′ 9" forward who was an Olympic gold medalist and three-time All-American for Oklahoma, played for the Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings, and Phoenix Suns during […]

It’s been one of the most hotly anticipated albums of 2009 since it was first announced: “Dark Night of the Soul,” a collaboration between the producer Danger Mouse (Gnarls Barkley, Gorillaz, The Black Keys) and critically acclaimed psych-rock act Sparklehorse (a.k.a. Mark Linkous). Due to unspecified legal issues with EMI, though, the project’s official release […]

The Disco Biscuits have announced the addition of eight performances to their Summer 2009 tour dates. “The Road to Camp Bisco Tour” will feature a string of late June performances leading into the band’s confirmed summer festival appearances. Tickets for the new shows will go on sale through BiscoTix (http://biscotix.musictoday.com) on Friday, May 15th at […]

The first volume of the long awaited Neil Young Archives series of box sets, produced by Neil Young himself. Volume I covers the period from his earliest recordings with The Squires in Winnipeg, 1963, through to his classic 1972 album Harvest and beyond, including studio and live tracks with the legendary Buffalo Springfield; Crosby, Stills, […]

The extremely hot Disco Biscuits have added eight shows to their Summer Tour Schedule leading up the band’s Camp Bisco three-day festival at Indian Lookout Country Club near Albany. Check out their website for the full list of dates but of particular note is the band’s return to the House of Blues in Atlantic City […]

In our never-ending quest to dig up some great bands that cost less than a corned beef sandwich at Katz’s Deli, we bring you another round of Blips. Blips highlights some great bands that are largely still in their larvae stage, but will soon morph into their beautiful butterfly. In this edition, we have some really cool new music, so take a sec, poke around their various websites, and see what you think of these four under the radar musical groups…

BuzzUniverse

MySpace / Facebook

If you caught BuzzUniverse’s eye opening set at Mountain Jam last year you probably aren’t surprised that the eclectic group from New Jersey has been invited back to perform at this year’s festival. BuzzU gets people dancing with their high energy originals and diverse cover selections, a quality that acts as an aural shot of espresso for festival attendees.

READ ON for more about BuzzU and Nashville’s The Sways…