You wanted the best? You got the best.
For those of you whose lives don’t revolve around the revolving of a 12″ piece of vinyl, a 5″ piece of plastic, or an infinitesimally small hard drive, today is National Record Store Day. Last year, I picked up Animal Collective’s Sung Tongs, Chance Jones’ The Angels’ Share, and, uh, something else that I can’t … Read more
All the sniffling midwestern kids
I’ve spent the last two years thinking about the Festival of Faith and Music. When I heard about it two years ago, some rumor that Neko Case and Emmylou Harris were going to share a stage and talk about the ways their art interacted with their face, my interest was piqued. I spent too much … Read more
Standing on their shoulders to punch their faces
Apparently, while I was off getting my Jack Kerouac on, two of my favorite musicians did the unthinkable: David Berman of the Silver Jews and Tad Kubler of the Hold Steady dared to criticize Radiohead. (Berman here and Kubler here, both links via Stereogum). Predictably, NASA had to come in to keep the internet from … Read more
The name of the game
Here’s an excerpt from a press release we got this week. (The name of the band is blocked out so as to not drag their name around; they’re actually pretty good). While it sounds hyperbolic, it’s actually pretty par for the course; every last one of these things sounds like this: “[Album Title] is one … Read more
Young Lions
At its best, rock ‘n’ roll unites people. From the original banding of the counterculture in the 1950s to the tightness of those hippie drum circles in the Haight to Joe Punk pulling his buddy up in the pit, good rock music has the capacity to provide much-needed community to people who would otherwise might … Read more
R’n'r Confessional: Animal Magnetism
Rock ‘n’ Roll Confessional Perhaps it’s time I started treating this column more like its namesake. I have a confession to make. If you read my last posting back in December, you may remember me demanding to know whether Animal Collective has any fans. To me they’ve always been one of those bands that people … Read more
R’n'r Confessional: Letter to an Indie Nation
Rock ‘n’ Roll Confessional, Dec 07 Letter to an Indie Nation Through convenient revisionist history, Bob Dylan lives in our minds just as he was in 1965: skinny, wild haired, hidden behind dark glasses, and smoking; jittery on methamphetamines and singing about morality; criticizing society while trying his best to find his place in it. … Read more
