Blogs

Find the nearest person to you. Ask them to clap their hands and set a tempo. Now, try to clap your hands on a different tempo. Go on, try. I‰'ll wait‰Û_. You probably couldn‰'t do it. It‰'s a nearly impossible feat. If you were able to, though, then you may possess...

At the heart of folk music lies the tradition of oral history. Folk singers express the hardships and sorrows common to every age ‰ÛÒ war, hunger, civil rights ‰ÛÒ through music crafted to be handed down to the next generation. Young musicians, ready to contribute to...

Anyone that has ever made a playlist or mixtape of 90s music probably put some Radiohead on it. I‰'m even willing to make a bet that the song included was either their classic, alternative anthem “Creep,‰” or possibly the equally quintessential track “Karma Police.‰”...

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the perfect band to check out as the seasons change from dreary, chilly and grey winter to cheery, sunny and bright spring: GIVERS. Hailing from Lafayette, Louisiana, this genuine band with only one self-titled, self-produced EP to...

Last week, I got to talk with the rap group Da Circle. The New York based duo, Fatz and Slim, have played in the background for a while, but have just released their debut album, 360 Deal. In connection with the Rebel Army collective, which includes Immortal Technique...

In the faraway land of Houston lives a man known to the world only as Jandek. Over a span of thirty-three years he has released sixty albums, but his identity remains a mystery. Once in a very great while, he emerges from his cave of obscurity to perform live and...

We‰'ve all seen those Blackberry commercials. The “Love What You Do‰” campaign consists of thirty-second spots blatantly calculated for the 18-to-34 crowd, featuring twenty-somethings doing unique young person activities with the help of their fancy new phones. Come...

Like so many other current Sam Beam admirers, I first discovered Iron & Wine through The Postal Service‰'s cover of “Such Great Heights.‰” Now, almost a decade after Beam‰'s first and only truly solo full-length album, The Creek Drank the Cradle, Iron & Wine...

Last Thursday, guests Flex Mathews and The Unknown came on D’N‘A to talk about their past, present and future in the hip hop world. The duo are rappers based in DC, dominating the local scene with their strong stage presence and complex lyrics. Flex...

In the early 1960‰'s jazz scene, freedom reigned, and it was good. The birthing pains of the free jazz movement had ceased, leaving a rich placenta for musicians to feast upon. Emerging from this feast with bloodstained lips of magic came a young tenor saxophonist...

I have never met you, James Murphy. And I won‰'t ever be lucky enough to cross paths with you. I‰'m not reviewing or analyzing or criticizing anything in this ‰ÛÒ I‰'m just sharing. Since you‰'re not ever going to read this piece (THAT would be embarrassing), let this...

Grinderman, Nick Cave‰'s relatively new collaboration with three of his Bad Seeds bandmates, played their noisy blues at the 9:30 Club last Tuesday. The band was born when Cave decided to write music on a guitar rather than his preferred piano. He discovered that he...

I‰'ll begin with a brief warning. You will probably not have fun listening to Brian Eno‰'s Ambient 1: Music for Airports. This is not dancing music. This is not driving-down-the-highway music. This is not makeover montage music. Some people wouldn‰'t even consider the...

There‰'s a story that I heard growing up in North Carolina about a spot known as the “Devil‰'s Tramping Ground.‰” This is a place where no trees grow. Animals avoid going near it out of fear of something. Local legend says that this is the place where the Devil...

Newly Subpop‰'d signees Jaill released their album “That‰'s How We Burn‰” in July to moderate acclaim. Please do not be thrown off by the extra “L‰” and judge them for the worst like‰ÛÓ you will be doing yourself a disservice. Among the teaming multitudes of mediocre...

One of the greatest parts of CMJ was reading band descriptions off the official pamplet. You can just tell the interns of CMJ toiled endlessly up until the week of shows to come up with 1,300 descriptions for each of the bands. The official description of Kisses read,...

CMJ has lots of panels, but the one I was most excited about was called, “So You Want to be a Music Blogger: Who Cares?‰” Not because I want to be a music blogger, but because the panel included Matthew Perpetua, founder and sole writer of Fluxblog (www.fluxblog.org)....

On Sunday night a little bit of Montreal descended upon D.C., taking up residence at the Rock & Roll Hotel for an evening of music. First up was Little Scream, a one women show who self described herself as “Aerosmith meets Enya.‰” This audience member absolutely...

I first heard Lord Huron after reviewing his music for our station and last week I got the chance to catch up with the LA-based, Michigan-born musician about a week before he headed out to New York for CMJ. Lord Huron has been making a steady amount of buzz around the...