PopMatters: Listen

Early Summer 2012 New Music Playlist

2012-05-25T17:00:00Z

The unofficial beginning of summer brings another playlist with 15 new songs by the Walkmen, Santigold, Spiritualized and more.

To most people, the Memorial Day weekend is the start of summer so why not explore some new music for your own personal soundtrack. With a mix of recent arrivals and established artists, releases abound for the listening to heat things up. Notes are provided with background info for further discovery.

Counterbalance No. 83: The Stooges' 'Fun House'

2012-05-25T14:00:00Z

This week's Counterbalance is out of its mind on Saturday night, 1970 rolling in sight. And just on the horizon is the Stooges' sophomore effort—will it feel all right? Find out.

Klinger: It's certainly no surprise to me why critics would be so taken with the Stooges, and Fun House in particular. As the decade changed hands from the 1960s to the '70s, rock still felt like it was very much in a state of flux. And it may well have seemed that one of the casualties of that changeover was the concept of the rock band as a bunch of blue collar buddies loading up…

Saint Etienne: Words and Music

2012-05-25T07:00:06Z

With the aptly titled Words and Music, Saint Etienne offers a statement of purpose for its existence more than 20 years after its founding in what’s essentially a love letter to musical fandom.

You could say that Saint Etienne has been too perfect for its own good, at least when it comes to attracting a mainstream audience by creating what the general listening public expects from pop music. But more discerning listeners can appreciate Saint Etienne for being pretty much peerless in its ability to craft immaculate pop songs in all shapes and sizes, from orchestral mini-epics to Abba-esque Europop to electro compositions that seem like hits from…

fIREHOSE: lowFlOWs: The Columbia Anthology ('91-'93)

2012-05-25T07:00:05Z

lowFLOWs is a great rock 'n' roll story, the story of musicians pushing on in the face of heartbreak and finding new sounds, new music, and new creative heights.

You got to give Ed Crawford credit: the guy had guts. Whatever it was that drove him to talk Watt and Hurley into forming a new band, it couldn't have been an easy sell. For one, when Crawford approached Hurley and Watt in 1986, the two players had just lost best friend D. Boon -- frontman for their band, famous funk-punk act the Minutemen -- the December before, and both were heartbroken. Watt had basically…

The Raveonettes: Into the Night

2012-05-25T07:00:04Z

The Danish duo return to form and deliver some of their most compelling material in recent memory.

The Raveonettes waste no time getting Into the Night off the ground. A vintage sounding guitar kicks off the title track before it explodes into one of the band's most memorable songs. Their 1950's pop revivalism-meets-Jesus and Mary Chain approach is nearing perfection and "Into the Night" is proof. After an opening as strong as that it would've been easy for this EP to lose momentum but the band has consistently proven to be in…

Carina Round: Tigermending

2012-05-25T07:00:04Z

Carina Round's third full-length is a perfectly crafted record from an amazingly talented songwriter.

I’m not entirely sure what constitutes a “cool” female artist versus a “weepy” female artist. There must be some clear definition in some music reviewer’s mind which gets flagged the moment a word or turn of phrase is used in a female artist’s song indicating that, yes, this artist is indeed “weepy” and “uncool”. I would like to know precisely what this seemingly arbitrary definition is, because at some point Carina Round became lumped into…

Carole King: The Legendary Demos

2012-05-25T07:00:03Z

The music from the middle of the decade shows how much things have changed in such a short time. The songs are serious, even when they do concern love, such as “So Goes Love”, about the end of a relationship. But these more adult concerns are still wrapped in pop conventions.

Mainstream American society held conservative and narrow views during the early 1960s. Pop songs concerned romantic love and teen tribulations. Brill Building songwriters such as Carole King helped expand the topics and concerns, but mostly they were commercial composers in a world whose values centered on the acquisition of material wealth, buying a nice house in the suburbs and living happily ever after with one’s spouse and children. Songs generally focused on the one true…

Jean-luc Fafchamps: KDGhZ2SA, a Six-Letter Sufi Word

2012-05-25T07:00:03Z

New music endeavor recalls Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies or Sufjan Stevens's 50 States Project.

Belgian composer Jean-Luc Fafchamps writes in an appealingly post-everything style, with diatonic minimalist gestures butting up against wheezy microtonal drones and so forth. Fafchamps’s latest muse is the Arabic alphabet, specifically a Sufi chart assigning certain characteristics to the various letters; he’s in the midst of writing an ode to each letter. This progress report documents a concert performance of his first “word”, which is -- how about that? -- paced like a concert. “K”…

Pumice: Puny

2012-05-25T07:00:02Z

Noise music is supposed to be challenging. That's someting that Pumice understands and has taken to heart as Puny makes clear. Fortunately, like the best noise releases, their are breaks from the madness where everything makes sense, at least for a little while.

Whenever the issue of noise music is brought up in my most close-knit circles, it immediately becomes a defining tool. There may not be a genre as divisive as noise music has proven to be. It seems that everyone has a passionate opinion about it and that there's virtually no room for indifference. Somewhat surprisingly, in my experience, its most ardent defenders (myself included) who have either done time playing punk houses basements in as…

Estrogen Highs: Irrelevant Future

2012-05-25T07:00:02Z

Estrogen Highs likes to switch back and forth between straight-ahead punk and power-pop. This would be a cool idea if Estrogen Highs were any good at playing power-pop. They aren't.

Estrogen Highs spends their second album, Irrelevant Future, straddling the line between punk and pop. Actually they don't really straddle the line so much as jump back and forth across it, repeatedly. Opener "Tell it to Them" is a 2-minute blast of punk energy, as frontman/guitarist/keyboardist/songwriter Stefan Christensen shout-sings his way through the track while the band pounds away on simple chords. But second song "Alchemy Contest" is much more laid-back, all lazily strummed guitars…

Robin Trower: Farther on Up the Road: The Chrysalis Years 1977-1983

2012-05-25T07:00:01Z

The great Robin Trower shouldn't have strayed this far.

Over the past few years, Chrysalis has been re-releasing albums by some of its biggest acts of the past like UFO. They have also released several archived sets, of which this is one, of all the recordings made by the so-called "white Jimi Hendrix", Robin Trower. Two previous sets are fantastic; one contains his most potent work including the near-masterpiece Bridge of Sighs, while the other is a collection of blistering performances first heard on…

T.S. Bonniwell: Close

2012-05-25T07:00:01Z

The garage rocker who went in for strings and faded into obscurity.

Sean Bonniwell made a name for himself in the 1960s with garage gurus the Music Machine, so this transformation to thoughtful singer-songwriter material in the final hours of that decade -- to say nothing of his newfound moniker (he was born Thomas Sean Bonniwell) -- must have inspired a few quizzical looks. Featuring lush production from Vic Briggs (Eric Burdon & the Animals) and material that veers toward the painfully earnest, Close didn’t do much…

Laurent Mignard Duke Orchestra: Ellington French Touch

2012-05-25T07:00:00Z

A new concert recording by the formidable Duke Orchestra of Paris led by Laurent Mignard collects Ellington’s French-inspired compositions, including a wealth of unheard music. The album brings into focus the triumphant late period of jazz’s greatest composer.

Duke Ellington dashed off a truckload of music in the '60s and early '70s, much more than was viable for contemporary commercial release. Despite numerous CD releases drawn posthumously from his ‘stockpile’, the Ellington oeuvre seems near inexhaustible. Ellington French Touch, a new concert recording by the formidable Duke Orchestra of Paris led by Laurent Mignard, collects Ellington’s French-inspired compositions, which conveniently include a wealth of unheard music. The album brings into focus the triumphant…

Michael Jackson’s ‘Bad’ to get 25th anniversary reissue

2012-05-24T18:35:02Z

Los Angeles Times (MCT) -- LOS ANGELES — In the three years following Michael Jackson’s death, his estate has been conservative with posthumous releases from the King of Pop’s archives while focusing on other endeavors such as a hit video game and a Cirque du Soleil production. To commemorate the 25th anniversary of his seminal 1987 disc, “Bad,” his estate, in collaboration with Epic/Legacy Recordings, will reissue the disc with new music and a never-before-released concert video, the label and…

All in all, it’s more bricks in ‘The Wall’

2012-05-24T17:35:45Z

Los Angeles Times (MCT) -- LOS ANGELES — When Pink Floyd first took its concept album “The Wall” to the concert stage more than three decades ago, even lead singer and chief songwriter Roger Waters couldn’t have imagined a day when rock music might get any bigger. But 32 years later, his magnum opus about the battle between individual freedoms and authoritarian oppression has magnified beyond Waters’ own expectations of yore. Now the man who once excoriated the voluminous expansion…

The Beach Boys at 50: Reaching their fans through QVC

2012-05-24T16:35:24Z

The Philadelphia Inquirer (MCT) -- WEST CHESTER, Pa. — And on the 46th anniversary of the release of “Pet Sounds,” the Beach Boys played QVC. The reunited Beach Boys, that is, who are in the early stages of a 50th-anniversary reunion tour. They came to the sprawling 84-acre West Chester campus of the home shopping channel to hawk “That’s Why God Made the Radio,” their new album due to be released June 5. This version of the aging, archetypal California…

Catching Up with Former American Idols: Season Five

2012-05-24T16:00:00Z

Season Five’s American Idol saw a record number of Billboard chart appearances, with 18 contestants from the show eventually receiving some sort of record contract. What are those contestants up to, now?

American Idol’s fifth season was filled with shocking eliminations. Big-voiced R&B/gospel singer Mandisa didn’t make it to the top eight. Kellie Pickler, a country singer who reminded people of previous winner Carrie Underwood, didn’t make it into the top five. Plus, American Idol’s most successful male contestant and one of the biggest stars in modern rock music, Chris Daughtry, didn’t win. Regardless of who was voted off when, it was the still the highest rated…

Bat Out of Hell, Hell in a Handbasket: An Interview with Meat Loaf

2012-05-24T15:30:54Z

Upon the release of Hell in a Handbasket, the classic rock icon opens up about fame, faith, and his fears about the world.

Meat Loaf named his most recent album Hell in a Handbasket because that's where the '70s rock icon -- who now prefers to be known simply as "Meat" -- feels the world is headed. "I keep hearing these stories about selfishness and 'me, me, me, me, what I believe and all of you can just go to Hell'", he said in a recent PopMatters interview. He heard a student sued a high school to remove…

Library of Congress names new entries for National Recording Registry

2012-05-24T13:35:26Z

Los Angeles Times (MCT) -- LOS ANGELES — Donna Summer’s throbbing 1977 hit “I Feel Love”; Prince’s 1984 “Purple Rain” album; the first known commercial sound recording, dating to 1888; the Sugar Hill Gang’s watershed rap record “Rapper’s Delight”; and 1930s and ‘40s news reports and speech excerpts from journalist Edward R. Murrow’s “I Can Hear It Now” radio program are among 25 sound recordings newly enshrined in the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry, library officials announced Wednesday. Among…

Post-Classical 'Transcendentalism EP' available for Streaming

2012-05-24T13:00:00Z

Transcendentalism EP accompanies the triple-headline Transcendentalists European tour that just concluded.

On the heels of their week long European tour, the post-classical composers, Dustin O’Halloran, Hauschka and Jóhann Jóhannsson have released the Transcendentalism EP featuring two special and / or newly arranged tracks from each artist. The EP is available for streaming now and can be purchased as MP3 or on limited edition vinyl.

In Defense Of... Rock Radio: A Force in Popular Culture

2012-05-24T07:00:25Z

With Clear Channel recently purchasing Boston's WFNX, almost certainly with the intention of changing its format, we look at how important it is for alternative radio to exist -- and evolve.

Have you heard of the Charm City Devils? My guess is that unless you live in the Baltimore, Maryland/Washington D.C. area -- or you happen to still own a Taproot T-shirt -- you have no idea who I'm talking about. In fact, even I wouldn't have came across them and their latest record, Sins, if I didn't hold my day job during which, among other things, I review local CDs in the aforementioned metropolitan area. …

Bringing the Bass Up Front: An Interview with Stanley Clarke

2012-05-24T07:00:16Z

With the re-issue of all seven of Stanley Clarke’s solo discs in a career-spanning box set, we talk to the legendary bass player about his career, writing classics like "Lopsy Lu" and "School Days", the ideal balance of heart and virtuosity and the value of live performance, warts and all.

It’s 1975. Stanley Clarke, the bass player for Return to Forever, has just released his second solo album Journey To Love. The single "Silly Putty" has begun climbing up the pop charts. He and his band are playing a sold-out concert in Indiana. The reception is wildly enthusiastic. But later, as Clarke heads backstage, he runs into a promoter, shaking his head, profoundly unsettled by the idea of a bass player writing songs, leading a…

Killer Mike: R.A.P. Music

2012-05-24T07:00:06Z

Killer Mike and El-P revive the spirit of early '90s Bomb Squad productions from Ice Cube and Public Enemy as faithfully and forward-thinkingly as possible.

Perhaps more than any producer save for the Bomb Squad crew members, El-P has very consciously avoided making records that come across as bipartisan. His sonic agenda has always very clearly been aimed towards hip-hop listeners of a peculiar faith, oftentimes to the point of being accused as nothing more than a noisemaker by those who prefer their rap music soundtracked by various Hitmen or diggers of crates. Killer Mike, on the other hand, has…

Shannon Stephens: Pull It Together

2012-05-24T07:00:05Z

Instead of spending so much time pulling things together, Stephens and company would have done well to break a few things down.

Pull It Together is, at first listen, a refreshingly clear-eyed record from Shannon Stephens. It shrugs off layers of orchestration from past records, and instead Stephens assembles a crack band behind to create dusty, lean, and often blues-inspired foundations over which she lays her sweet vocals. And those vocals are at their absolute strongest here. She's brimming with confidence here, and her voice is rangy and powerful as a result. At her best here, she…

The Brian Jonestown Massacre: Aufheben

2012-05-24T07:00:04Z

A theme of deliberate confusion runs throughout Aufheben's 11 songs. Hell, even dubbing them “songs” is a bit of misnomer, as structure is largely forsaken for instrumental pastiches and all-enveloping grooves.

It’s nothing short of fitting that the Brian Jonestown Massacre’s new album carries an indefinable title. Scratch that — it’s not that Aufheben lacks a definition, but that it has too many, all of which seem to contradict one another. The German word, alternately translatable as “to abolish” or “to ascend”, among others, is perfectly suited as a banner draped across the group’s latest effort, rife as it is with experimental abstruseness. The band has…

Craft Spells: Gallery

2012-05-24T07:00:04Z

It's a shame Justin Vallesteros went back to recording solo, because touring showed us that he plays best when he plays with others.

Justin Vallesteros found success with his first Craft Spells record, 2011's Idle Labor, but the album truly came alive when he assembled a band to take it on the road. There, the gauzy pop that sounds so in-line with other home-recording artists today, took on its own personality. So it's puzzling that, for the follow-up EP Gallery, Vallesteros has gone back to recording by himself. The elements remain the same -- the guitar tones melt…

Paul Thorn: What the Hell Is Goin' On?

2012-05-24T07:00:03Z

Thorn should know a good song when he hears it. His own works are filled with saints, sinners and the strange whose lives cannot be viewed through the prism of the sacred or the profane. The same is true of the people he sings about on the new cover record.

The old childhood taunt goes it takes one to know one. But no one would tease Paul Thorn because he would whoop your ass. He’s one of America’s best singer songwriters, and now he has put out an album of other people’s songs. I guess that considering his talent, Thorn should know a good song when he hears it. His own works are filled with saints, sinners and the strange whose lives cannot be viewed…

Bastille: Other People's Heartache EP

2012-05-24T07:00:03Z

Other People's Heartache EP, a beautiful collection of covers, could end up not just being one of the year's best mixtapes but one of the year's best recordings as well.

When an artist releases an EP comprised entirely of covers, it's generally seen as gimmicky or just for fun; really brilliant covers are usually few and far between. (Look at the Beatles covers found on the B-sides of any Oasis from the '90s; you'll see what I mean.) This is not the case, however, for Bastille, a South London-based group led by songwriter Dan Smith. If anything, Bastille expresses themselves best through cover versions; though…

Wes Montgomery: Echoes of Indiana Avenue

2012-05-24T07:00:02Z

Other than a crackling record on a turntable, there is perhaps nothing more satisfying to a jazz aficionado than the release of never-before-heard material from a great player.

Other than a crackling record on a turntable, there is perhaps nothing more satisfying to a jazz aficionado than the release of never-before-heard material from a great player. For that reason, Echoes of Indiana Avenue may be one of the most satisfying jazz releases in decades. Recorded in different venues – two live sessions and one studio – the disc comprises nine tracks recorded by Wes Montgomery between 1957 and 1958, performances that came before…

Cheers Elephant: Like Wind Blows Fire

2012-05-24T07:00:02Z

Philadelphia quartet fans flames of success on new release.

This Philadelphia quartet arrives with an album that is pleasantly crafted, well written, and memorable. With a dash of British Invasion here, nods to contemporaries such as Real Estate and Girls there, and a general waft of high pop sensibilities, Cheers Elephant impresses most when its three part harmonies are shining and shimmering and when its sense of humor comes to the fore. Derek Krzywicki tackles most of the songwriting––and quite well, especially on “Leaves”,…

Soulfly: Enslaved

2012-05-24T07:00:01Z

On their eighth album, Soulfly strikes back at critics, proving why change is both overrated and unnecessary for them.

Soulfly has been Max Cavalera's bully pulpit for 15 years now, and with very few exceptions, he hasn't wasted it. Undoubtedly, Soulfly has been one of the most active and consistent metal bands in the world since 2004's Prophecy, touring constantly and releasing a new album seamlessly when the time was right. Sure, Max did set aside time for his Cavalera Conspiracy project when he needed to, but Soulfly has been and continues to be…

Laid Back - "Cocaine Cool Extended" MP3 (PopMatters Premiere)

2012-05-23T17:45:50Z

Laid Back were part of the first early wave of musicians creating electro-pop and their music has influenced countless others and been sampled often over the years.

Fellow Danes Tim Stahl and John Guldberg began working together back in the '70s when they met in the group the Starbox Band and quickly departed to work on their own electronic music as a duo under the moniker Laid Back. The group found success in Europe with their first #1 hit, "Maybe I'm Crazy", released in 1981 and 1982's "Sunshine Reggae", which has sold more than 20 million if you count all the compilations…

Confronting the Enemy: Rascal Flatts

2012-05-23T16:50:00Z

I vigorously defend lots of country music that sends others running. Yet there is one band that drives me absolutely batty. I need to confront and dissect this visceral feeling that their music is the worst, ever. It's time to face my enemy: Rascal Flatts.

Everyone has music that instantly sends them into convulsions and makes them run screaming with an “eewww” expression on their face. It feels almost instinctive when it happens, an innate reaction to something that's just... gross. There are many music fans out there, perhaps especially within young, hip music-obsessive circles, who feel this way about pretty much all currently popular country music – the pop-leaning, post-Shania Twain country that pulls from ‘80s pop and rock…

The Top 10 Overplayed Songs You Hate by Artists You Love

2012-05-23T14:00:00Z

Individually, they've each amassed a musical legacy worthy of several daily spins. Yet according to radio, these terrific musicians are only worth one -- or on the outside chance, two -- songs each. As a result, they've become pigeonholed, and these 10 tracks have become (almost) insufferable.

As Elvis Costello was wont to opine, radio seems to be solidly in the hands of such a lot of fools trying to anesthetize the way that you feel. Clearly, they are cutting up the catalog of many meaningful bands, reducing their import to a few selected songs. Granted, once you've traveled beyond the basics of many musical groups, their oeuvre seems less and less solid. On the other hand, many musicians are lucky if…

The Toure-Raichel Collective - 'The Tel Aviv Session' EPK (PopMatters Premiere)

2012-05-23T13:49:00Z

This is, simply put, one of the best Afro-pop collaborations you are likely to hear, rivaling the elder Toure’s 1994 effort with Ry Cooder, Talking Tuimbuktu.

PopMatters' David Maine recently raved about the collaboration between Afrobeat's Vieux Farka Toure and Israeli singer-songwriter Idan Raichel, saying "it would be an understatement to say that The Tel Aviv Session is a good record, or even a great one. This is, simply put, one of the best Afro-pop collaborations you are likely to hear, rivaling the elder Toure’s 1994 effort with Ry Cooder, Talking Tuimbuktu." The album is one of those genre-mashing blends that…

Poppy & the Jezebels: Dig the New Breed!

2012-05-23T07:00:20Z

They’re four girls whose debut single, released on a good old fashioned independent label, was also the first song they ever wrote at just aged 13. They sound like little else right now -- except the swell of Generation LOL rising up to take on the charts. They’re Poppy & the Jezebels and they’re from Birmingham.

So, it’s night. We’re into British summer time but it’s raining, as it invariably is in the UK city of Birmingham. Slap in the middle between erudite London and the indie warring hordes of the hipster north, and forever cast by the gonzo metal of its loudest sons, Ozzy and Sabbath, to those for whom music is a thinking man’s game, Birmingham is, by way of American parlance, the flyover city. A place everybody likes…

Garbage: Not Your Kind of People

2012-05-23T07:00:06Z

Garbage's first new record in seven years is precisely what you would expect from a band who peaked in the late '90s.

At some point in the past decade, a vicious backlash started over reviews that dared to reference the back catalogue of an artist in a comparative sense. It seems as if people believe that every new album functions as a completely desolate and solitary work devoid of history or popular consumption. This backlash almost requires that reviewers become amnesiacs. Then, and only then, can an artist’s new material be truly critiqued for its stand alone…

Father Yod & the Source Family: The Thought Adjusters

2012-05-23T07:00:05Z

A decorated veteran, a stuntman, a monk, a restaurant owner, a spiritual leader, and a frontman. Father Yod was all these things and more, becoming a LA cult figure until his death in 1975. Drag City releases some of Father Yod & the Source Family's most sought-after material.

The Thought Adjusters is an appropriately sprawling and understandably messy release. It's the work of what was essentially a Los Angeles religious commune-turned-psychedelic noise jam band. There's no denying that Father Yod's magnetism is present throughout the records near-78 minute run time. He's the perfect presentation of what's expected out of a cult leader and the role seems so natural for Father Yod (formerly James Edward Baker) it was as if it was a role…

Todd Snider: Time As We Know It: The Songs of Jerry Jeff Walker

2012-05-23T07:00:04Z

It’s a shambling, half-tossed study of an artist who epitomised the shambling, half-tossed record, executed by a musician who has made his career out of shambling, half-tossed performances. Brilliant.

One night we were sitting there listening and Trogg put on this CD of this guy I’d never heard before. Jerry Jeff Walker. Who some of you might have heard of… If you haven’t ever heard of him the main thing that people know him for is the song “Mr Bojangles” but he’s got a ton of great songs. And, I had never heard that kind of music before. I got so excited and I…

David Sylvian: A Victim of Stars 1982-2012

2012-05-23T07:00:03Z

A Victim of Stars is a fine testament to Sylvian’s artistry, but by all means new listeners shouldn’t stop there.

For those unfamiliar with Japan singer David Sylvian's solo work, a compilation such as A Victim of Stars is like a glorious brush on the cheek by a silk glove. Although songs included here are oftentimes more atmospheric than lush, the loving way in which each piece has been crafted and the overall ambience provided makes for a paradoxically subtle and complex experience. Due to the compilation's restraint from instant gratification and its seamless linking…

Kenny Garrett: Seeds from the Underground

2012-05-23T07:00:02Z

The fiery alto player and former Miles Davis sideman delivers a program of original, driving tunes dedicated to various influences and played by his working band. Cookin’!

Man, this band is cookin’! I know that may be a clichéd jazz word, but it’s the only tern that properly describes this album by saxophonist Kenny Garrett. This program of original tunes is played with fire and verve by Garrett’s working band, and it steams -- it swings -- it just cooks. That’s the right -- the only -- word. Oddly enough, jazz hasn’t produced enough of these records lately. Seeds from the Underground…

Gavin Harrison & Ø5Ric: The Man Who Sold Himself

2012-05-23T07:00:01Z

Despite Gavin Harrison & Ø5Ric's rhythmic prowess, The Man Who Sold Himself is a coldly intellectual work of prog that isn't as fun to listen to as it is challenging.

As an avowed prog fan, I am more than aware of the notion of the supergroup. Once a prog musician attains a certain status, it seems only natural for him to voyage off into different musical outlets to fill the niches his main group can't fill. A list of all the projects any of the members of Dream Theater or Porcupine Tree are involved in is bound to take up several pages or flow charts.…

The Cult: Choice of Weapon

2012-05-22T18:45:00Z

The veteran English rockers hope the third comeback album will be the charm.

There are three kinds of Cult fans. The first kind followed them through their post-punk/goth beginnings as Southern Death Cult and through their breakthrough album, Love (1985). These fans felt betrayed or lost interest when the Cult turned toward the hard rock mainstream with the Rick Rubin-produced Electric (1987). Most of these folks have probably long since stopped listening to music altogether. The second kind found Electric rather groovy, or rockin', or both, and were…

Lindsay Fuller - "Libby" (Video) (PopMatters Premiere)

2012-05-22T17:20:00Z

Seattle's Lindsay Fuller can belt a tune and make you really feel the lyrics too, which matters a hell of a lot when you sing a songs about the many people of Libby, Montana suffering from lung disease.

Seattle's Lindsay Fuller was raised in Alabama, a state that births more soulful singers per capita than anyplace else in the country. So, yeah, the woman can belt a tune and make you really feel the lyrics too, which matters a hell of a lot when you pen lines as heartfelt as "Oh libby, you take my breath away / Lure me to my grave / But our history remains." Fuller's latest album, You, Anniversary,…

Death Disco: The (Death) Cult's Visit to "God's Zoo"

2012-05-22T14:00:00Z

Before the big riffs and the arena-sized swagger, the band now known as the Cult injected disco and funk into its gothic theater for one riveting dance-rock smash.

In the late 1980s, British band the Cult held the banner high for glam-free, classicist hard rock. Given focus and muscle by producers Rick Rubin and Bob Rock, Cult LPs Electric (1987) and Sonic Temple (1989) found commercial favor by splitting the difference between AC/DC and the Doors, and matching ginormous meat-and-potatoes riffage with panoramic-voiced singer Ian Astbury’s unquenchable fascination with Native American spirituality. Over two decades later, the Cult is still at it (with…

Kraftwerk and Yamantaka // Sonic Titan Crash the High Art Party

2012-05-22T07:00:15Z

What happens when the world of rock music collides with the world of the fine arts?

For eight days in early April this year, legendary German electronic musicians Kraftwerk performed eight of their albums—one per night, plus other assorted tracks—at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), allegedly for the ticket-buying and well-attired public, though tickets seemed to evaporate into thin air in a matter of milliseconds. MoMA billed the event as Kraftwerk – Retrospective 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8. That title matters. Here are some other artists…

They'll Be Your Emmylou: An Interview with First Aid Kit

2012-05-22T07:00:10Z

These Swedish sisters are barely in their 20s, but now with their second album acknowledging country's storied past, they get big help from the likes of Mike Mogis, the Felice Brothers, and Conor Oberst. The ladies sit down with PopMatters to tell us all about their wonderful journey ...

The Söderberg sisters, Johanna and Klara, are only 21 and 18 (respectively), but they've already recorded with Bright Eyes in Omaha and made Patti Smith cry with their rendition of Smith's classic "Dancing Barefoot". Not bad for a group who only recently put out their second album. The sisters, who are natively Swedish, are best known for immaculate delivery in pure voices haunted by the ghosts of classic country, some of whom the sisters sing…

Young Man: Vol. 1

2012-05-22T07:00:05Z

Young Man's second release in a three-part series about the fleeting nature of youth and transition into adulthood is nothing short of spectacular.

Much like the recently released Prophet by Ramona Falls, Vol. 1 is Young Man's second full-length and first to feature a full band. Another similarity? Both records are unbelievably good, jaw-dropping in their structure, creativity and overall artistry. Making Vol. 1 particularly impressive, though, is that this is only the second full-length record that frontman Colin Caulfield has released. From start to finish, Vol. 1 is one of the most exhilarating, inventive releases that 2012…

Josephine Foster and the Victor Herrero Band: Perlas

2012-05-22T07:00:04Z

Simply stunning retelling of traditional Spanish folkloric music by Josephine Foster and the Victor Herrero Band.

Following up the superb 2010 album Anda Jaleo, Josephine Foster and the Victor Herrero Band don’t disappoint with Perlas, a new collection of Spanish folkloric songs and poems. Foster, who is American, has an ethereal, otherworldly, tremulous voice that soars, whispers and enchants as she sings from a diverse range of Spanish folk traditions: Castile, Basque, Santander and the Costa Brava, to name but a few. The Victor Herrero Band plays glorious arrangements on an…

Tu Fawning: A Monument

2012-05-22T07:00:04Z

Much of A Monument treads the same epic path that is reigned over by the Arcade Fires and Radioheads of the indie rock world. And while Tu Fawning never quite reach the same heights of grandeur as these masters of the form, their ambition and their technical prowess results in an album that reveals further depths with each listen.

Tu Fawning’s Joe Haege and Corrina Repp are long time veterans of the Portland, Oregon music scene — Haege as a member of the experimentally minded indie group 31Knots, and Repp as a solo folk artist whose hushed and haunting style found its fullest realization on her 2006 album The Absent and the Distant. The band's 2010 debut, Hearts on Hold was a collaborative effort that pushed both artists in new directions that fused sampling,…

Kishi Bashi: 151a

2012-05-22T07:00:03Z

Singer/violinist/multi-instrumentalist K Ishibashi takes some cues from both Andrew Bird and Animal Collective and creates a lovely debut album that's equal parts romantic yearning and playful non-sequiturs.

The best spot-the-influence albums don't just work obvious reference points into new shape via synthesis -- they match or better those influences on their home turf. On his debut solo album, K Ishibashi (aka Kishi Bashi) doesn't bother ducking the Andrew Bird and Owen Pallett comparisons that are bound to dog him as a solo pop violinist/multi-instrumentalist, and he seemingly makes no bones about his admiration for Animal Collective. That Ishibashi occasionally slips into Japanese…

Stik Figa: Stik Figa As Himself

2012-05-22T07:00:03Z

Putting the fun back in funky, at least for a while.

Hey, remember when rappers actually sounded like people you wanted to hang out with—Tone-Loc, KRS-One, De La Soul, Digable Planets—rather than people you'd be better off running away from? Stik Figa remembers. Hailing from hip-hop mecca Topeka, Kansas, SF lays down some memorably funky grooves on his debut, Stik Figa As Himself. The opening salvo features bouncing basslines and plenty of soulful keys to go with Stik's rapidfire, self-deprecating delivery, delivered with casual aplomb. "The…

Various Artists: Subway Salsa: The Montuno Records Story

2012-05-22T07:00:02Z

Proof, if needed, of the crucial cultural role record shops play in the musical and social life of a city, even when buried deep down in a subway system.

Deep down in New York’s Times Square subway station, one of the busiest transport interchanges in the world, stands Record Mart: a beacon of musical and cultural history, the record shop which spawned the Montuno Record label. Home to all manner of subterranean dwellers, Record Mart is a historical New York Latin music landmark. Vampisoul, another cultural music beacon (this time based in Madrid), have -- quite literally -- dug deep for the latest in…

Miles Nielsen: Presents the Rusted Hearts

2012-05-22T07:00:02Z

Cheap Trick scion gets his twang on.

Miles Nielsen's dad Rick is the iconic guitarist for power pop trailblazers Cheap Trick. Though he clearly shares his father's love of the Beatles, the younger Nielsen carves out his own musical identity on this, his second solo project. Presents the Rusted Hearts is full of thoughtful, comfy-cozy roots rock that recalls the good-time vibe of Being There-era Wilco. It's an accomplished if not particularly distinguished set, but Nielsen's warm enthusiasm ultimately wins the day.…

Rose Cousins: We Have Made a Spark

2012-05-22T07:00:01Z

A roomful of friends can't elevate this tepid set above the humdrum.

Rose Cousins is a Canadian-born, Boston-based singer-songwriter whose latest full-length, We Have Made a Spark, is a collaboration with a number of Boston musicians. Impeccably recorded and performed, We Have Made a Spark benefits from the contributions of a number of talented people, including but not limited to Zachariah Hickman on upright bass and organ, Charlie Rose on pedal steel, banjo and dobro, and Laura Cortese on violin and backing vocals. Despite this variety of…

Lost Horizon: Awakening the World/Flame to the Ground Beneath

2012-05-22T07:00:00Z

Look at the sleeve art for these two records. Trust me, they say all that needs to be said.

It's never good to start off a piece of writing with a cliché, but this one is too apt to not use: "Don't judge a book by its cover." Despite being a through-and-through metal fan, it can become very difficult to apply that adage given the tendency of record labels and magazines to make metal look as utterly badass as possible. I recall Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth describing how for one photoshoot he had to…

Roger Waters unveils Pink Floyd channel for Sirius XM

2012-05-21T17:34:59Z

Los Angeles Times (MCT) -- LOS ANGELES — In advance of his performance of “The Wall” on Saturday at the Los Angeles Coliseum, British rocker Roger Waters stopped in on veteran rock deejay Jim Ladd’s nightly show on Sirius XM on Thursday to announce the launch of a Pink Floyd channel. The new channel is slated to launch May 29 on the satellite network. The channel will carry Pink Floyd concerts, interviews, rarities and will air the group’s full recorded…

Prog's Only Stupid Dream: Porcupine Tree - "Stranger by the Minute"

2012-05-21T16:00:00Z

The second single off of Stupid Dream, "Stranger by the Minute" is one of the album's most endearing songs, a tongue-in-cheek mash of psychedelic lyrics and radio-friendly rock. It's also unusually chipper for these usually melancholy proggers.

Steven Wilson's lyricism, especially in Porcupine Tree, is no stranger to bizarre imagery. Consider this stanza from one of the few classic tracks from the debut LP, the ballad "Nine Cats": "A minstrel bought a crooked spoon / And gave it to a blue baboon / Who filled it full of virgin snow / And wandered in the afterglow". Though that would not be the last of Wilson’s psychedelic lyrics in Porcupine Tree’s career, the…

Vinyl Records Are Making a Rapid Comeback

2012-05-21T15:30:23Z

Like a bygone artist, the black disc has made a comeback, now enjoyed by hipsters and youngsters who grew up grooving to sounds on little gadgets but seem willing to set aside technology for more authentic moments with music.

McClatchy Newspapers (MCT) -- FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Cam Bentley walked into a Fort Lauderdale record store this dreary afternoon, head nodding to Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough,” streaming from iPod to headphones. She walked past the CDs to the Soul section of the vinyl department — stacks and stacks of LPs stuffed between Alternative and Blues — on an earnest hunt for the same song on wax. A daughter of the digital age, Bentley only…

Mick Jagger Performs on 'Saturday Night Live'

2012-05-21T15:15:53Z

Jagger does Saturday Night Live finale...

Rolling Stones’ singer, Mick Jagger, hosted Saturday Night Live’s season finale, and it wasn’t a downer at all. Jagger deftly participated in skits, but furthermore performed songs with Jeff Beck, Arcade Fire, and Foo Fighters. During his monologue he cheerfully poked fun at his own sense of pride; and he played “The Last Time” with Arcade Fire. But the best song of the evening, by far, had to be his bluesy take on the U.S.…