Fri 2 Mar 2007
New Arctic Monkeys Single, & Fall's The Season For Stars
On two utterly unrelated fronts, a radio rip from the debut of the new Arctic Monkeys track "Brainstorm"–which is the first single from their forthcoming sophomore album Favourite Worst Nightmare–has popped up online via Prefix.
The track is pretty stellar, and I recommend you check it out.
Next up we have a tentative season for when to expect a new record from the band Stars; which will be a currently untitled follow-up to the '04 masterpiece Set Yourself On Fire. It's coming in…fall of this year. That's it. We'll keep you posted when anything interesting breaks.
This Is Me Smiling
Every so often, pop-rock surprises me. When Trent sent in his thoughts on the debut full-length from This Is Me Smiling, I had to check out the product behind the glowing review. What I found was a pretty comfortable mix of piano-driven pop and rock's most accessible corners; reminding me a little of Andrew McMahon's creative output over the years- the better parts of Something Corporate and the maturity of Jack's Mannequin. Not bad at all.
The band's debut was originally released back in 2005 by The Vinyl Summer and will see re-release next Tuesday via Onehaven / Columbia. Good things could be coming for this band. Do have a read of Trent's review here, and download a track from the album below.
MP3: This Is Me Smiling - "Goodbye To Each New Day"
Thu 1 Mar 2007
Thoughts On Kalli's "While The City Sleeps" Album
The Icelandic singer-songwriter Kalli, formerly of the band Without Gravity, has put together his first solo album. The disc plays to Kalli's strengths, as he takes the Thom Yorke-esque, Elliot Smith approach to haunting, subdued folk tunes.
I've been spinning an advance copy of the disc, and I've got to tell you it's pretty darn good. Not fantastic, as it could use a dash of polish in the songwriting department–but all in all it's an excellent first offering. I would definitely look for Kalli to have a great solo career ahead of him.
Highlights include the tunes "Raindrops," and "Bridges Burn." The disc hits U.S. shelves on March 30th, 2007. I highly recommend you check it out.
Bloodjinn break the silence
There are many ways to describe the music of recent Pluto Records signings Bloodjinn … all usually affixed with exclamation points and/or emphasis. Like "f*cking metal!" or "f*cking hardcore!" And while there are plenty of those who ply their trade in this genre, few shred as hard as this fivesome. It's all aggression, blazing guitars, metal riffs, and some truly unforgiving vocals; all killer, absolutely no filler.
They've been around since 1999 and have recently added ex-He Is Legend guitarist, McKenzie Bell, into the mix. Their brand new album, This Machine Runs On Empty, is scheduled for release next week (March 6th) via Pluto. To promote the release, Bloodjinn are playing several shows during the early weeks of March including a CD release gig this Saturday in Greensboro. Check out two songs from the upcoming album (more…)
Ryan Adams Returns Triumphantly To His Legitimate Music Career
The ever-prolific Ryan Adams has announced that he has a new proper full-length on the way; marking his first new material since he posted a massive amount of goofy hip-hop mash-ups on his official website a few months back.
The new disc is going to be called Easy Tiger, and Adams is eying a June 5th release date.
No word on a genre, but I would expect it to fall somewhere around his recent handful of albums; i.e. expect some Cold Roses-esque tunes, I would think.
The tracklist is…
"Goodnight Rose"
"Everybody Knows"
"The Sun Also Sets"
"Halloween Head"
"Off Broadway"
"Two Hearts"
"Tears Of Gold"
"These Girls"
"Two"
"I Taught Myself How To Grow Old"
"Oh My God, Whatever, Etc."
"Rip Off"
"Pearls On A String"
Wed 28 Feb 2007
Anais Mitchell
Sarah shares her thoughts on the recently released Anais Mitchell full-length, The Brightness. It's a thumbs up; "If there were a calm, beautiful center of the musical world, it would be Anais (an-ayis) Mitchell and her music. An underground folk gem of 11 songs, The Brightness is crafted into a hybrid of the best elements of folk singing, songwriting and storytelling, and is interwoven with intimate stories and skilled guitar picking."
Lovedrug
Our MP3 spotlight shifts to another Militia Group artist- this time it's Ohio indie rockers (more…)
Tue 27 Feb 2007
Arcade Fire's Neon Bible now available for streaming
The Arcade Fire's much-anticipated new album, Neon Bible, can now be heard in its entirety for one week over at NME.com. The British rag, which provides coverage of approximately 4 different bands (Oasis, The Killers, Arctic Monkeys, [insert indie flava-o-the-week], is currently streaming the album at their website (unfortunately, you have to sign up for membership before you can stream it).
Neon Bible is the follow-up to their wildly successful 2004 effort, Funeral. The Arcade Fire are also set to headline this year's Sasquatch Music Festival which is set to take place Memorial Day weekend (May 26-27) in Washington State. Other headliners for the event include Interpol, the Beastie Boys, and MIA.
Parkway Drive added to Warped Tour
Byron Bay metalcore act Parkway Drive have been added to this year's Warped Tour. Their website has said the band will be part of the traveling showcase from July 7th to August 12th.
This year's edition includes headlining performances from New Found Glory, Bad Religion, Bayside, and Coheed & Cambria among the bunch. The summer tour will kick off in June and will run through August, but venues and details are yet to be finalized. The highly successful tour has come under fire (more…)
Mon 26 Feb 2007
Coverflow: Coming Soon To An iPod Near You
The wicked nifty Cover Flow option (which can currently be used for navigating your iTunes music library) will likely soon be coming to the iPod, as well. The Cover Flow navigation option is already set to be available on the forthcoming iPhone, but the fact that it's coming to the regular ole' iPods is also pretty darn nifty, as well.
As most minor-ish features go, the Cover Flow on the iPod will be added and updated via what is called a firmware update available sometime soon in the coming future through the iTunes updater. To check out a video of the iPod cover-flowing in action, head right here.
Maroon 5 Looking Toward Album Number Two
A follow-up to the monster sleeper hit Songs About Jane, from crooning rockers Maroon 5, is currently well in the works. The band is looking at a May 07 release date for the new record.
As far as a title goes, they're currently looking at calling the disc It Won't Be Soon Before Long, and the first single is slated to be the tune "Makes Me Wonder."
The new album will also be the first on the shuffled, rearrangement of the Universal Music Group. The name of the imprint this disc is coming out on is now called A&M/Octone, and this will mark it's first release.
Thanks to Billboard for the heads up.
Idlewild to release new album in March; new single available now
Scottish rock act Idlewild are preparing to release their brand new album in March. Titled, Make Another World, the album is set for international release March 5th but won't hit American shores in its physical form until April 6th (it will be available digitally March 6th). The band have already debuted the album's first single, "No Emotion," and the video can be seen below. They're set to hit Japan for a few dates before returning to the United Kingdom for a string of shows in late March. The band last released (the rather subdued) Warnings/Promises in 2005 but have since parted ways with Parlophone and landed on the Sanctuary (more…)
A Night with NOFX
I recently rode public transport hell to see NOFX for the second time in my life. Besides some minor crowd annoyances, the crappy venue staff … and the crappy venue staff, it was a good night all around. A good selection of tunes, the usual on-stage/off-stage banter, a marriage proposal, and "The Decline" meant that while NOFX will soon be eligible for social security benefits, they still can kick it better than many of the kids today.
Victor Bravo
Phillip recently got his hands on an EP by NY band Victor Bravo and he's got nice things to say (more…)