I first heard this album last week and it’s purely coincidence that this record is today’s top review on Pitchfork: really, I swear. Okay, so you don’t care, because you know what a great album this is. Anyway, I, too, think it’s a fantastic album (and
I’m from Austin. And every year thousands of record execs and related debris descend upon the fair city in that grand tradition that is known as South by Southwest. Well, SXSW 2001 just wrapped up: oh yes, that special week when you can’t get a table at your
In case you didn’t know, OMD is not just about ‘If You Leave.’ And this compilation of Peel Sessions from 1979 to 1983 highlights their songwriting ability, focus, and technique by stripping all the songs to their essentials…especially notable on ‘Enola Gay.’ This edition also includes their brilliant
Don’t know if you’ve seen the ads for this band ‘Crazy Town’ (what kind of a name is that? no, really?) on bus stops around town, but I just took a look at their site, in particular the ‘Who The Fuck Is Crazy Town’ section (that would be
No kidding: it takes a while to figure it out (even vaguely), but once you do there's probably little music that will make you (as in ‘persuade you to be’) as happy to hear as what Max Tundra’s put together here. It’s definitely chaotic, but not
Elliott Smith’s 1995 self-titled album is the album of the week for one reason: the song ‘St. Ides Heaven.’ Yeah, the rest of the album is fantastic, classic Elliott Smith (beautiful vocals, fingerpicking, near-perfect song structures), don’t get me wrong. But it’s ‘St. Ides Heaven’
The ’80s were a lot of things, and one of the things it was was (perhaps) unrealistically horrifying, what with all the movies about post-nuclear-war wastelands (hey, there was even a Tom Petty video that depicted a post-nuclear-war wasteland [see the 1982 photo here]). Well, Austin’
Ah, it was a Grammy Award ceremony to behold. And, yet, it was completely without point or interest. And (and yet), I watched it. Well, except for the part that was on during Temptation Island. But I think something about these Grammys (sp?) should be noted: CNN reported that Eminem,
New York Muscle: Equal parts Throbbing Gristle, Suicide, Grandmaster Flash, and, well, A.R.E. WEAPONS, this is a gritty, challenging debut album from the much-loved DJ pair from D.C. Thick, rough synth rhythms built for dancing. [ purchase ]
Brooding and sensual (probably not the first time those words have been used to describe this album), Curtains is magnificent, heartbreaking, and simply grandiose. The songs on the album are at once brash and delicate, sincere and crass, self-assured and insecure—but always riveting. And, I’ve always felt,
