Hello again, good Prexites, we have a surprise for you this week. Normally, we are in the middle of reviewing the Utopia Box set Last Of The New Wave Riders. But why settle for a box set when you can see the real thing? Well almost the real thing. Imagine my surprise when the opportunity to see Todd Rundgren live presented itself! Upon learning of the gig through his premiere fan site The TRConnection, I learned that this was a pre-release promotional tour for his upcoming album Arena, featuring songs written in a hard-rock context. What I was not expecting from this show was the ENTRIRE song list from the Arena album. I was able to fall in love with the songs before I plunk out the cash for the download or CD (in my rabid fan state, I will buy both!).

Read the rest of this entry »

read comments (2)

I recently went to see a show in Brooklyn. Typical. What was not so typical, however, were the band who graced my ears upon arrival at the Silent Barn. Read the rest of this entry »

read comments (0)

There are a handful of albums that I gush about consistently. I can’t shut up about them- To my friends, or to my friends’ friends. Largely, because it amazes me that these records weren’t more popular.

I’ve waited a long time for the opportunity to gush openly about one such record:

Artist: The Wrens

Album: Secaucus

Label: Grass Records/Wind-Up Records

Read the rest of this entry »

read comments (0)

I’m going to start by saying that I do love me some “Mercy”. I think it’s a perfect summer pop song. Read the rest of this entry »

read comments (0)

4 Aug 2008– The paradox which fascinates me the most is that of music.  Music is the only thing worth fighting for, living for, and dying for because of the power it has over the human soul, but never has music started a war (with the exceptions of the social revolution of the 1960s and the pop-revolution of the 1980s which then spawned the Religious Right’s overzealous counterrevolution). To the cynics among is, music is constantly delegated to the sidelines, constantly minimized as nothing more than a catalyst for pretentious attention whores’ way of drawing attention to themselves and fulfilling their obsessive compulsive need to be different and express themselves *insert sarcasm here.* I pity those cynics, for not being able to be a part of something larger than themselves. Rather than write a post about a new band that I like, or a concert that has already passed, this week I pose that we reflect on the songs that have mattered most to us throughout our lives. For myself, it is Guns N Roses, Sweet Child o Mine, among others of course. Here’s why that song means so much to mean, and no, it is not because it is on Guitar Hero. Read the rest of this entry »

read comments (0)

21-year-old singer-songwriter Samantha Crain, jumps into the Folk Rock world with her debut EP “The Confiscation.” The EP was released by indie label Ramseur Records on July 22nd. It’s already gaining praise for its literate story telling and whimsical sound.

Read the rest of this entry »

read comments (0)

He’s the best damn fool you’ll ever know, with too many tears, from lyin’ like a dog. The seventy-one-year-old Rock and Blues legend, who influenced the likes of Hendrix, Clapton, and Vaughan, has released his latest album, “Skin Deep.” The twelve track LP consists of songs like, “Hammer And A Nail,” “Lyin’ Like A Dog,” and “Smell The Funk,” and features Susan Tedeschi, guitar greats, Derek Trucks, Eric Clapton, and Robert Randolph, and nine-year-old guitar prodigy, Quinn Sullivan. Read the rest of this entry »

read comments (1)

…then I took another trip to the New York/ New Jersey area last weekend and found myself thinking that WBGO should advise listeners who are driving to keep their windows rolled down for fresh air lest the programming lull them to sleep while they are behind the wheel. OK, I’m being snarky.   In previous responses to my blogs on WBGO, I was told to give the station more of a listen than I had time to do on my last trip, which I thought was fair, so I kept the station locked in until I couldn’t stand it any more.  But this was initially going to be a blog about about baseball and jazz, so let me tell you about that first. Read the rest of this entry »

read comments (3)

Fifty years after the “British Invasion,” America is being bombarded from foreign invaders once again. This time, they’re coming by the boatful out of Scandinavia. I’m From Barcelona (but actually from Sweden), Sigur Rós, múm, Mugison, and of course Björk – which all run the genre gamut – have all come out of the collective lands of the midnight sun to grace the global indie scene with their experimental electronic sounds, unique vocal abilities, and vast instrumentation. Read the rest of this entry »

read comments (1)

In every home, among every person’s music collection is at least one “hidden gem”.  Sure, it may not look like much.  Maybe the sleeve is torn, or the vinyl is scuffed.  But with one drop of the needle, we’re reminded over and over again why we can never let go of it; why we insist that it be represented on every mix CD we make for someone.
 
So, let’s dust off some of these albums, starting with one that’s never wandered too far from my CD player since it was released in 2001.

Artist: Self
Album: Gizmodgery
Label: Spongebath/Dreamworks

Read the rest of this entry »

read comments (1)

It seems kind of odd to use the word ramshackle to describe a band as solid musically as this Philly-based group. But it’s really the only adjective that fits.

Read the rest of this entry »

read comments (0)