Blogs
Pop Exodus: An Open Letter to Roger Daltrey
Courtesy of We Know Memes. Hey Roger, how's life? Congrats on the release of your new album (even though it's just a glorified Greatest Hits Record). Now, don't get me wrong, I love you and the rest of The Who as much as the next college student but I have...
The Current: Laughing with Tyler, the Creator and Remembering Elliott Smith
The form of documentaries about musicians is changing. The days of just performance footage are long past, due to the ability of viewers to access clips of concerts on their own all over the internet. Now, it is crucial for these documentaries to show a side of the...
Coo Coo Cachoo: The Music of "Nowhere Boy"
Courtesy of IMDB. Not very many people know the story behind the Beatles, the famous British group that changed the course of rock & roll forever. I didn't either until I saw the film Nowhere Boy, the story of young John Lennon and the formation of his...
Plain Speak, "Foundations" (Self-Released)
Soft indie rock sad jamz. The first thing of note about this album is that it's certainly an album to “chill” to. Most of the tracks never get much louder than quiet jamming, and the slow acoustic plucking on tracks like “Vision At All” provide a good backdrop for...
Gruff Rhys, "American Interior" (Turnstile)
Shit just got weird.Weird in the best way possible, of course. Known for his old role in Welsh rock band Super Furry Animals, Gruff Rhys already has some fame to his name. Comparing songs across his solo albums is an interesting thing; whereas “Whale Trail,” a single...
Hollands, "Restless Youth" (Self-Released)
If you like distorted guitars with unexpected violin breaks, give this a try.New York based duo, Hollands, is made up of multi-instrumentalist John-Paul Norpoth and violinist Jannina Norpoth. In 2009 they released 2 EP's entitled Faces and Mother, both of which...
John Wesley Coleman III, "The Love That You Own" (Burger)
A blast of scorching, sun-spoiled distortion.“I Wish The Night To Be A Lot Longer” transports the listener into what sounds like a southern version of Mac Demarco's “Salad Days” or somewhat of an electrified Townes Van Zandt. Born and bred in the Lone Star State,...
18 , "Trust" (Houndstooth)
What is this?18+ are what I imagine would happen if Portishead had a younger sibling who spent too much time on the darker corners of the internet during their formative years. Either that or if Die Antwoord did mescaline in the streets of New Orleans. The duo of Boy...
Wild Smiles, "Always Tomorrow" (Sunday Best)
Hailing from England,the influence from the late 70s classic punk bands that came out of their nation can be heard clearly on Wild Smiles' debut album Always Tomorrow. Fast, simple riffs and Buzzcocks-style vocals open the album and set the precedent for...
Lisa LeBlanc, "Highways, Heartaches and Time Well Wasted" (Bonsound)
Mountain mama tells it like it is.Lisa LeBlanc brings the brash, raw realness on Highways, Heartaches And Times Well Wasted. “The smell of your old cigarette has stayed on my coat/ And even though I find it kind of gross/ It somehow comforts me” opens up an album...
Sama Dams, "Comfort in Doubt" (Self-Released)
Hot Yoga by Candlelight. Maybe I just have a different perception of yoga from others, but Comfort in Doubt seems to me to be a much better set list than a string of nature sounds. It's relaxing in a different way, a sensual way. Clearly, there's something sexy...
Criminal Hygiene, "Radio Free Antartica" (Self-Released)
West coast garage punk. Criminal Hygiene apparently enjoys getting drunk before recording music, and it shows on this album. But not in a bad way. The album has sort of a haphazard messiness to it, but rather turn the listener off it provides its own unique...
Keep Ya Head Up: Kendrick is Back at It
Fans didn't exactly get what they were expecting when Kendrick Lamar dropped his first single in nearly two years late this September. The track, simply entitled "i", is an upbeat anthem; sampling the Isley Brother's classic "Who's That Lady," and using a...
Under The Tide: The Antlers & "Sad" Music
Courtesy of The Guardian. The Antlers have been labeled as a “sad band.” It comes without surprise as one of their earlier albums, a concept album titled Hospice tells the story of a hospice worker caring for a patient suffering from terminal bone cancer. The overall...
Leading Ladies: "Broke With Expensive Taste" should be on everyone’s top albums list
Courtesy of @AZEALIABANKS. “212” featuring Lazy Jay dropped in 2011 as a free download on Azealia Banks's website. Three years later, Broke With Expensive Taste was stealthily released on Nov. 6. For me, one of the most important things I look for in a musician...
Another Kind of Currency: The Quotations Used on Titus Andronicus’ "The Monitor"
Courtesy of Stereogum. Well. Here it is. The column I've had ever since I thought about writing about music. Titus Andronicus is a punk band from New Jersey that just so happened to release an absolutely perfect album in 2010 entitled The Monitor. I've always...
The Tough Crowd: Scenes From A D.C. Basement Show
Courtesy of Impose. We're more than midway through the semester so it's time to switch it up. Next week The Tough Crowd will return to it's usual informational shenanigans, but this week it gets more personal. Being a senior in college means life gets busy. Too...
Live in the Hive: Alex G
Courtesy of Nicole Brunet Photography. A few weeks ago we were lucky enough to catch Alex G during his month-long fall tour with Gardens & Villa. It seems like the precocious Philadelphian has been touring nonstop ever since his most recent album DSU (a...
Capitol Punishment Preview: BADBADNOTGOOD w/ Ace Cosgrove
Courtesy of Eli Fosl. The juxtaposition of jazz and hip hop is not something new. A Tribe Called Quest and even Kendrick Lamar have played around with this interesting intersection. BadBadNotGood exemplifies the combination of these two seemingly opposite...
Pop Exodus: Arbitrary Rankings from This Week in Pop
Courtesy of Slack-Time. From the petulant pop-punk of Ace Wilder to the totally unnecessary sledgehammer similes of Fifth Harmony, I decided to make you a handy-dandy list of all the Most Important Tracks from the Week:Ace Wilder, "Riot" I've been...
Coo Coo Ca-Choo: Getting Nostalgic with the Vaccines
Courtesy of The Vaccines' Russian website. Rewind to Outside Lands 2011. I was 16, just barely a young adult. My best friend and I braved the festival wholeheartedly, taking in every moment of our music-filled surroundings. That and some second-hand...
The Current: Stream of Consciousness on Music Streaming
When I first started listening to what I define as “good” music, I would find a lot of new bands from Pandora Internet Radio. I'd plug in a song I liked and then some sort of computer algorithm would be employed and find me a bunch of other sick songs similar to...
Deerhoof, "La Isla Bonita" (Polyvinyl)
With nothing more than ten days of jam sessions, contemporary indie giants Deerhoof release one of their best efforts in years. There's something so impressive about fluency. When a studio artist doodles out of boredom and produces a beautiful portrait, when your...
Cooly G, "Wait ‘Til Night" (Hyperdub)
Commanding nocturnal blues.The title to Cooly G's latest full length effort, Wait 'Til Night, should be taken as a command as much as you should take it as simply a title, as this record seems only to exists between twilight and the break of dawn. There's a...
East India Youth, "Total Strife Forever" (Stolen Recordings)
Catharsis in a closet.This is just one of those times when the album art doesn't match the music. In my opinion at least. Whereas the cover is the stuff of traditional melancholy, an array of blues molding a somber face, Total Strife Forever (someone's bitter) is...
Deptford Goth, "Songs" (Pias)
A follow up album worth the listen.On his sophomore LP, British producer Daniel Woolhouse moves forward from his somber debut of 2013 toward somewhat of a sense of resolution. While his first record was weak trembling, Songs is lightness with a glaze of groove. What...
Son Little, "Things I Forgot" (Anti)
Neo-blues with all sorts of unique elements.Soulful and bluesy, Son Little's “Things I Forgot” gives a new twist to 20th century blues by adding in rock and indie elements. Little's vocals are one of the most impressive aspects of this album, and can be heard in...
Algernon Doll, "Omphalic" (Struggletown)
Slightly pop-y 90's alternative rock-inspired tunes.Algernon Doll would probably fit snugly on a bill with any 90's alt rock outfit. That isn't to say that they sound generic though; in fact, solo artist Ewan Grant has skillfully taken the recognizable sound and...
Filmstrip, "Moments of Matter" (Exit Stencil)
The twang and jangle of indie-country.Moments of Matter is everything a stereotypical indie-country album should be (if a genre such as this exists). It has the jangly guitars, some fiddlers, vocals with a southern twang, and lyrics expressing the importance of...
HAERTS, "HAERTS" (Columbia)
Glittery indie-pop overload.In early October 2013, the indie pop band known as HAERTS, released their first EP entitled Hemiplegia. Their upbeat 80's synth style mixed with shimmery guitar melodies and smooth female vocals helped to establish their sound and earned...