The Pleasures of Saudade
A year in Lisbon teaches you more than how to select a decent vinho verde. An ode to the uniquely hopeful, desperate music that’s missing from the usual American fare.
Listening
A collection of 333 issues
No Take Backs
Four Tet is actually Kieran Hebden, a post-rock/electronic musician from London. Dubstep producer Burial, after a great deal of speculation, finally owned up to being William Bevan. Hebden and Bevan are mates, as they say across the pond, which is why they collaborated for the two tracks on
Waiting for the Right Move
Less than a month has passed since up-and-coming Austin act VEGA, who were pretty well-received at SXSW earlier this year, allegedly stole Crystal Castles's guitar pedal, and yet we're all just barely getting over the conflict. Two full weeks later, the questions that
For a Bigger City
The Dirty Projectors sound weird. Not weird like never letting your children celebrate their birthday, or like an extensive collection of Beanie Babies. The Dirty Projectors are weird like people who refold their napkins when getting up from the table, if only for a bathroom break, or like a bunch
Free Music Archive
For those of you with a guilty conscience looking to sit out the battle between the record labels and the maniacally shortsighted (though preciously so) "everything should be free" people, look no further than the new Free Music Archive. Brought to you in large part by the guys
Thinking This Is Fun
Winning is hard, really for two main reasons: first, you have to win. The best winners make this look easy, but it never is. The second reason concerns what happens after you win. All the striving and dedication to your craft has paid off, but it puts you in a
Buke and Gass
It's always a special thrill to see a band that forces itself to do more with less. Not only do they end up finding all sorts of ingenious backroad ways to arrive at their music, but their shows seem to radiate with this funny, inspirational charm. It'
One of the Beautiful
"Regarding our absence, sometimes one needs to disappear in order to regroup; situations change and human beings are swept here and there by the marvelous ebb and flow of culture." Such is the explanation--noticeably void of definitives, of real cause and effect--posted on the Voxtrot website.
Dance Til You're Dead
Under most circumstances, a tonal shift in a band's entire sound is a signal of desperation. Perhaps they are past their prime, perhaps they aren't selling out the same venues they used to. But sometimes it's the sign of a truly restless creativity, one
Xylopholks
Last week, amid a crush of evening commuters, I stood slackjawed on the L train platform and witnessed what I could only assume were two grown men, one in a blue Cookie Monster-ish costume, the other a pink gorilla [turns out it was Jon Singer and Bridget Kearney--ed.