Fresh off the burner, the new CD from Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman. They do indeed deliver the goods, right through customs and into the United States. Cover courtesy of Glass Onyon

So, apparently, my question last time, “can Anderson/Wakeman deliver the goods” has been answered!  Some of the East Coast US reviews are starting to surface, and, let’s just say I am thrilled we got our tickets!!  This is promising to be a trip down YES memory lane with nods to brand new music composed by the duo.  Not wanting to speak out of turn, I am going to wait for the show to make any decisions about the new material.  The good news is, I won’t be waiting long as Anderson and Wakeman are coming to my “hood” tomorrow and I will have pen in hand, trusty photographer armed with photo pass, and I will be happily passing on all the dish about the show!!!

But let’s give a look at what Anderson/Wakeman’s PR folks have to say about this latest release and corresponding tour”:

11/5/2011 – London, UK – As a follow-up to their critically acclaimed CD ‘The Living Tree’ from 2010, YES legends Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman prepare to release ‘Anderson / Wakeman – The Living Tree In Concert Part One’ on Gonzo Multimedia on November 28th. The CD was recorded during the duo’s British tour in 2010 and comes housed in a sleeve design by Mark Wilkinson who was also responsible for the design of the artwork for ‘The Living Tree’.

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LA’s Electric Guest recently released two singles, “Troubleman” and “American Daydream,” to give us a taste of their upcoming Danger Mouse-produced album, destined to debut this spring on Downtown Records.  Though the titles of the new tracks may call Cat Stevens and Tom Petty to mind, Electric Guest’s “electro-soul-pop,” as Nylon accurately describes it, is anything but your typical radio fodder.

“Troubleman,” a top tune over at KCRW, drifts towards the nine-minute mark, turning an expansive psychedelic narrative into the dreamy pop hook, “She’s got it bad for me,” which itself morphs throughout the song’s odyssey.  Slow guitar licks, aided by Danger Mouse’s signature production quality (which sounds similar to Broken Bells here), send the ponderous tune into a lazy, hazy other-world as the song introduces its title character, a stranger set in a strange sonic landscape.

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Amanda Badze is here to save your soul as she swoops onto the scene with a soaring voice and a retro R&B vibe.  This stylish lady, born in Zimbabwe though currently living stateside, sings to kill with her full 60s/70s soul power, mixed with a funky bass line and some rocking guitars, in her upcoming debut EP, Eyes of Seven.  Hitting the shelves in early 2012, Eyes of Seven has as many tracks as its namesake, and each explores the hidden corners of Badze’s vocal capacity.

Her first single, “How Does Love Feel,” has a surprisingly rockin’ guitar part and a jumping bass that invites a shimmy and shake-along.  Purely enjoyable, “How Does Love Feel” lacks a particular genre and harkens back to a time when pop was less electronic and more emotive.  Get a first listen to the track below:

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Atlanta’s cleanest garage rockers, Gringo Star, recently released their sophomore album, Count Yer Lucky Stars, on Gigantic Music.  Although it’s got a release date in 2011, Gringo Star combines rough and ready rock with the jangling, upbeat rhythms of the British Invasion, all mixed with the kind of pop-rock nostalgia that brings the 90s to mind.  At home amidst all of these decades, if there’s any justice in the world, Gringo Star will soon be taking over your local radio station with their cheery songs and addictive hooks.

Count Yer Lucky Stars starts off with a triple threat of absolutely catchy, buoyant tunes: “Shadow,” “You Want It,” and “Got It.”  “Got It” breaks from vowel-pulling, whining verses into a stacatto and confident chorus.  “You Want It” combines Kinks-esque layered vocals and pacing with the nasaly, detached vibe of The Strokes.  Gringo Star’s video for “Shadow” is like the party version of a typical horror movie, starring Alvin, while the song strums stiff.  Check it out below: Read the rest of this entry »

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For someone like me who keeps Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours practically glued to her record player, discovering Delta Rae was a revelation on par with the Second Coming.  This sextet from Durham, North Carolina call Fleetwood Mac to mind not just through their cover of “The Chain” but thanks to a shared musicianship and group sound almost lost in the do-it-yourself, one-man acts of these modern times.

Just in time for Halloween, Delta Rae have released a fantastically haunting music video for their phenomenal, quasi-spiritual single, “Bottom of the River.”  The track calls to mind music as old as chain gang call-and-response work songs, built on layers of percussion created by claps, chains, and the occasional thick drum thrust. Read the rest of this entry »

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The Black Keys are gearing up to release their next album, El Camino, this December.  They’ve teased us with a hilarious trailer video starring Bob Odenkirk of “Breaking Bad” (and “Oh, hey! It’s THAT guy!”) fame, and now they’ve given us an awesome look/listen to their album’s first single, “Lonely Boy.”  The dancing!  The dancing!

More rough and punk rock than their bluesy Brothers album, “Lonely Boy” certainly points to the different sound guitarist/singer Dan Auerbach was talking about earlier this year, citing The Clash and the Cramps as sources of inspiration for El Camino.  But like any good Black Keys tune, “Lonely Boy” is instantly catchy, and it makes all the boys wanna shake their booty.  Check out the awesome video and exciting new single below: Read the rest of this entry »

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Hide your women, children, and old Tom Waits records; there’s a new gravel-voiced growler in town, and his name is Scott H. Biram. Singing through heavy, echoed distortion, Biram’s tunes are the most badass tracks country could try to claim since Johnny Cash dropped dead.

Recorded in Austin, Biram’s latest record, Bad Ingredients, may seem to fall within the country genre, but it really bops along with more of a blues influence – rough, tough country blues served with a serious edge.  “Born in Jail” paints the picture of a bad little woman as good as John Lee Hooker ever could, driving along with a steady, grungy blues rhythm, ready to be added to the cannon of classic down-home, dirty love songs. Read the rest of this entry »

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Are you cool enough to chase down We Stole The Kids?  If so, you can find them there, at the place where all things hip thrive.  Fronted by drop-dead gorgeous and delightfully named Megan Vice, We Stole The Kids hail from New York City, and their music is a melting pot of today’s trendiest tunes.

“Find Me There” mixes Skrillex-style dubstep with a touch of hip-hop and a heavy dose of 80s electronic dance music.  Add a pair of badass shades and a giant pile of sweaty glitter, and you’ve got the smokey, wandering, hard-partying video for “Find Me There.”  Check it out below! Read the rest of this entry »

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Synth sounds are usually polished to the point of blinding, but one-man electro band Beat Ratio is adding analog back into techno.  This electrical banana-pants-wearing Londoner recently recorded two singles, “Monkey Girl” and “Island in the City,” which will be released as a free download via Plasticrane Prod. this Friday.

Beat Ratio told PREX that the squeaky-clean production quality of electronic music software was hampering his creativity.  “I felt I was becoming a slave of the unlimited possibilities of music software and kept losing myself in useless perfectionism,” Beat Ratio said. Read the rest of this entry »

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Oakland’s retro garage punks with some truly top-notch hairstyles, Bare Wires, recently released another single off of their upcoming Cheap Perfume record.  “Back on the Road,” which you can listen to here, works up a rough crescendo whose fury harkens back to the relentless thrust of Love’s “7 and 7 Is,” but ultimately sings of escape despite its instrumental confrontation.

Cheap Perfume drops next Tuesday, October 18th, on Southpaw Records.  In the meantime, take a listen to the new album’s title track here, and check out the video for their self-esteem single released earlier this year, “Don’t Ever Change,” below. Read the rest of this entry »

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Kurt Vile never stops.  Earlier this year, he released the phenomenal Smoke Ring for My Halo, but with his usual (perhaps contradictory) disregard for downtime, the prolific songwriter from Philadelphia is already back with new material for November.  His So Outta Reach EP is due to be released on November 8th, but he’s already let two singles leak from the upcoming album: the most recent, “Life’s a Beach,” and last month’s “The Creature.”

“Life’s a Beach” bounces along with a gentle, upbeat flavor reminiscent of Vile’s recent single, “Jesus Fever,” but sounds more like old school rock and roll, despite Kurt’s characteristically distorted vocals and hazy, atmospheric quality. Read the rest of this entry »

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Listening to Icelandic songstress Soley‘s debut full-length record, We Sink, is like listening to sweetened silence, a collection of dream sequences caught in an atmospheric haze; perfect moments wrapped in cryptic pondering.  The twelve song album is meditative and quiet, although amidst the solidly set mood of the record, little sounds and variances stir the ears and keep full, sleepy comfort a step away.

Her accented voice and touch of tribal influences are reminiscent of Swedish singer and scene queen Lykke Li.  Soley even sings about dancing, just like the similarly mystical and toe-tapping songwriter, but her take, “Dance,” dips into the eye-locked battle of control and manipulation caught in the perpetual and more metaphorical dance between two people, repeating “Dance for us/Dance for us.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Two months ago, we reported that some of Hank William’s unfinished lyrical scribblings were being transformed into an exciting new compilation album, The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams, which was officially released yesterday.  Now, Rolling Stone has the first listen to a track off of the album, “You Know That I Know,” recorded by Jack White.

White tweaks his signature, wavering, and high-reaching voice to more closely emulate Williams’ country twang, playing it as straight as if Hank had walked out of the grave, dusted off his britches, and dyed his hair gothic black.  The track even has a similar sound to Williams’ “Cold, Cold Heart” and seems like it could be playing out of an old-time radio in The Last Picture Show.  Yet as much as White channels Williams, he leaves his mark on the tune, bringing his favorite muses in to play. Read the rest of this entry »

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Chicago’s Pool Holograph, a one-man experimental pop band comprised solely of the multi-talented Wyatt Grant, recently released a new single, “Incognito.”

“Incognito” slowly hums into existence, building into a breathy verse balanced by a creeping, tension-building beat that soon explodes into a sweet, almost wordless chorus.  Quiet and obscured, “Incognito” slips away from you with a sweet whisper.  Listen to the single (and download it for free) after the jump.

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If She & Him were real human beings, and not just the unearthly pairing of an uber-cute hipster doll and the chilled-out reincarnation of Bob Dylan before his time of dying, they might sound a little more like Mahoney & the Moment.  This duo is a little less rock star, a little more kids you knew in high school.  Charming and heartfelt, their self-titled debut feels like a true collaborative effort and sounds soulfully sincere.  With a touch of country and a dollop of folk, listening to Mahoney & The Moment is like sinking into a pile of pillows — a comfortable lullaby. Read the rest of this entry »

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What makes Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty great?  Aside from memorable haircuts, it’s their ability to redefine simplicity and embrace the everyday, heading straight for the greater glory hidden in simple truths and shared experiences.  Local band The Grand Nationals‘ love for their all-American forefathers echoes through their debut record, Tennessee Rain.  The Grand Nationals’ folk-tinged tunes and like-able lyrics are absolutely enjoyable and reminiscent of the heartland rock of yore.

The Grand Nationals‘ “Movin’ On” is so heavily influenced by these kings of yesterday’s rock radio that I would almost swear I’ve heard it before.  With a bopping melody, narrative lyrics, and an unstoppable sunshine smile, “Movin’ On” sounds like a mix between Simon & Garfunkel’s “Cecilia” or solo Simon’s “Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard” and John Mellencamp’s “Jack and Diane.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Megafaun may sound like the mightiest beasts in the wild, but their latest self-titled release is actually fairly mild.  With easily drawn comparisons to the Grateful Dead, Megafaun is chock-full of semi-Southern, sleepy rock that still sounds radio-ready.  Perhaps it’s that strange, almost nostalgic quality that’s left me a bit underwhelmed, dozing off halfway through the record when the band turns from old-fashioned, feel-good front-porch music (mixed with the occasional odd number) to the sort of tunes you expect a character in a rom-com to write.

Nothing against dancing cheek to cheek, but numbers like “Hope You Know” and “Kill the Horns” leave me feeling like I’m caught in a cheesy movie (Sleepy in Seattle?).  Slow but not soulful, these tunes wash over easily, leaving no lasting impression.

The biggest hits come early on, with the combined power and easy-to-love quality of the album’s first two tracks, “Real Slow” and “These Words.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Anticipation is not something I can say I have felt waiting for the release of the last few Dream Theater albums. Their frequency (no more than two years apart) doesn’t help, and ever since 2003′s Train of Thought I think they have been releasing music with the same kind of variations on a theme. The last two records, Systematic Chaos and Black Clouds really were pretty indistinguishable. They needed a break or a change. And as is well documented, they rejected the break idea and went for the change. No more Mike Portnoy, no more band leader. The time was now for the other four in Dream Theater to take the responsibility. They replaced Portnoy with Mike Mangini and got on with the music. The result of which meant I was actually keenly anticipating the new release, this their first album of the new era, A Dramatic Turn of Events
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Are you a cat lover or a dog lover?  Something to ponder as you watch the video for the latest single from Brooklyn’s new electro-pop-with-a-Coldplay/Grizzly Bear-edge band, Milagres.  The video is set to “Halfway,” the first single off the band’s debut, Glowing Mouth.  It involves a gorgeous redhead, a bath of potions, a transforming white kitten, and a Luck Dragon-esque ride through rainbow-colored space.

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Girl power! It may not be the 90s anymore, but Wild Flag definitely knows how to kick it old school, mostly because the members of this brand-new band were also members of 90s legends Sleater-Kinney, Helium, and The Minders.  But this act is no throw back: now, more than ever, Wild Flag’s touch of girly grunge is both fresh and fun.

The supergroup’s self-titled debut starts off with the energetic “Romance,” whose defined beat and relentless stride reminds me of The Knack’s “My Sharona,” minus the pedophilia and plus some serious attitude.  By the time the hand claps break in, “Romance” has spanned every genre from grunge to keyboard-driven pop to girl-group harmonies and vintage vibes.  Check out The Best Show host Tom Scharpling’s video for the single after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

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