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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On her first North American tour since the release of her self-titled debut album last year, Anika is planning to stop at Princeton University tomorrow night, September 29th.  Bridging the gap between dub, punk and 60s psychedelia, Anika sounds like Nico, if Lee “Scratch” Perry had produced her and Richard Hell had written the words she lived by.

Anika’s “Woman’s Dub” sound is the heaviest on her Bob Dylan cover, “Masters of War.” There are two versions of the cover on her album, one of which is an even thicker dub cut.  Its echoing drum machine definitely calls Perry to mind, but a sample towards the end of the original track takes the tune out of the past and into the present, turning “Masters of War” from a Vietnam-era protest song to an anti-war hymn that addresses the guilt of participating in the War on Terror and the unclear boundaries between heroes and villains. Read the rest of this entry »

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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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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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Slow and steady wins the race for this Black Animal.  The mysterious MH’s latest release, recorded in Chicago and New York, is a mix of hazy, dark folk reminiscent of Leonard Cohen and ambient Beach House-style tunes.

Independently released, this record falls heavy on your ears, driving the message home with a resounding, mournful tempo that ticks through the whole album.  Black Animal begins and ends slow and mellow, keeping a consistent mood but exploring variations within its sullen sound.  Black Animal is designed for lying on the floor, purring, and wallowing in thoughtful moments. Read the rest of this entry »

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Who are Gomez? Another great, esoteric band from a small town in England? Perhaps a truly great band from a small town in England? They haven’t made much of an impact in the US, just a small splash at the end of the 90s around the time of their debut Bring it On, and the follow up Liquid Skin. Since then, they have produced consistently and have a back catalogue of all sorts of wonderful and interesting music behind them. And here they are with their seventh album, Whatever’s On Your Mind which I picked up on a recent trip home. Another out of genre mix of this and that, diverse lyrics, tunes and melodies.

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This weekend, fang-bangers waved a fond farewell to True Blood (and a handful of its cast members) in the gory Season 4 finale.  As the blood dries and we shake off the bad vibes from that terrible season, there’s only one place left to turn for our supernatural fix: The Zombies!

Although the band reunited somewhat later on, The Zombies had their heyday in the late 60s.  Most lauded for their 1968 album, Odessey and Oracle, and most known for their hit single, “Time of the Season,” The Zombies have continued to make waves even today, not the least of which was this year’s cover of the Zombies tune, “She’s Not There,” for True Blood’s Season 4 premiere episode.  Hear the Nick Cave and Neko Case cover here.

But while the psychedelic madness of Odessey and Oracle reigns supreme and the moody melody of “Time of the Season” is inarguably one of the best moments of 60s pop, The Zombies have much more to offer. Read the rest of this entry »

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Today would have been Buddy Holly’s 75th birthday, and the music industry hasn’t forgotten.  Instead, the second Buddy Holly tribute album released this year, Listen to Me: Buddy Holly, dropped yesterday, competing with June’s Rave On Buddy Holly with a far more demanding title and a whole new cast of stars.

These are very kind birthday presents, and a nice way to commemorate one of rock’s first icons, whose tunes are flexible enough to morph into many genres.  But the question remains: Which tribute wins?  Let the competition begin! Read the rest of this entry »

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Frusciante Rages Against Recycling in RHCP's "Can't Stop"

John Frusciante’s name is on the tip of every music critic’s tongue in the wake of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ latest release, I’m With You.  The band’s twelfth album has been given almost across-the-board lukewarm (or dead cold) reviews, and an increasing number of critics have been assigning the blame to the former guitarist’s absence.

Not even a founding member, Frusciante has left the Chili Peppers before, in 1992, amidst the angst of new fame post-Blood Sugar Sex Magik and a serious heroin habit.  But John Frusciante has been involved in all of the Chili Peppers’ most successful albums, including Californication, By the Way, and the band’s 2006 double album, Stadium Arcadium, in addition to Blood Sugar Sex Magik.  Missed not only for his fantastic guitar playing, Frusciante may have been one of the hardest working members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, as evidenced by his already prolific solo career. Read the rest of this entry »

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Culture critic Chuck Klosterman once wrote, “The most wretched people in the world are those who tell you they like every kind of music ‘except country.’”  I hate to count myself amongst the wretched, but I had almost given up on country music.  Lately, it seems the only thing coming out of the country camp borders on pop, not the air-guitar-worthy country-rock of legends like Lynyrd Skynyrd and Neil Young.

Fortunately, it seems I’m not the only one thirsting for more thick beats behind country music’s modern twang. Blitzen Trapper‘s new album, American Goldwing, puts the rock back into country’s roll, sounding out a solid release for the Portland hillbillies. Read the rest of this entry »

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She began as the Woman Behind the Curtain, the saucy lady on the scene.  A songwriter, a muse, possibly even a “super groupie,” Betty Davis was a familiar face to musicians from every genre in the late 60s and early 70s, lending her lyrics to The Commodores for their breakthrough demo, befriending Jimi Hendrix, and loving and inspiring Miles Davis during their brief, volatile marriage in 1968.

Betty’s gift for famous flings and friendships isn’t hard to figure out.  She cut a stunning silhouette with her stand-out afro and flair for funky fashion, a short-lived modeling career already under her belt by the time she sashayed onto the music scene.  But Betty wasn’t one to lean on anyone, and she definitely wasn’t your average groupie.  Betty always had her eyes on her own music career.  By the time she released her 1973 self-titled debut, Betty Davis, she had already taken control of her destiny, writing all of the songs, directing their arrangement, and self-producing the majority of her studio albums afterwards. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tell VH1 to go home.  We’ve got a real list of Movies that Rock, as defined by their impeccable compiled soundtracks.  Putting aside biopics like Ray or The Doors, documentaries like No Direction Home or Woodstock, album projects like The Wall, Tommy, or Purple Rain, and original soundtracks like Taxi Driver or Air’s work for The Virgin Suicides, this list focuses on “regular” narrative movies, comprised of fictional characters, that nevertheless went out of their way to secure soundtrack gold.

Before we get into it, I should also clarify that there are tons of great movies with fantastic soundtrack “moments” that are not included on this list.  Think Tom Cruise dancing in his skivvies to “Old Time Rock and Roll” in Risky Business or Christian Bale enthusiastically spilling Jared Leto’s blood to “Hip to Be Square” in American Psycho or even Ian Somerhalder getting frisky to “Faith” in Rules of Attraction.  Those songs are really only fun to listen to in the context of the clip, and the overall soundtracks falter. Read the rest of this entry »

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Hide your bottles, The Wine Thieves are crashing your party with their Hot Hor D’oeuvres EP, now available on YouTube.  Heavy on the confidence and slick in its production, Hot Hor D’oeuvres is sample-ridden stoner hip-hop interspersed with audio clips reminiscent of Wu-Tang’s 36 Chambers.  Its unusual layered beats sometimes sound like a chopped and screwed bongo player going crazy at a poetry reading, and each track draws your attention with its humor, flow, and unexpected sonic pairings.  With The Wine Thieves, it’s impossible to anticipate where the next three minutes will take you.

Producer/beat master Party.picasso and rapper Emcee Hype met at William Paterson University in 2003.  “There seemed to be an instant musical connection between the two of us,” Party.picasso told emcBlue in a recent interview.  “The minute we found out we both freestyled and had a love for hip-hop, that was the end of it.” Emcee Hype adds, “I don’t think we spoke in prose for years. Everything was a freestyled rhyme. Read the rest of this entry »

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Rachel Fuller is the long time, significant other, heterosexual life partner of Pete Townshend from the legendary rock band The Who.  Several years ago, she released an album that was not as well received, critically and commercially, as she had hoped and was looking for a way to connect to a wider audience.  Thus “In the Attic” was born. 

It started with a web cam in the home studio (always a risky proposition) with her and some folks talking about music and occasionally playing some tunes.  In 2006-2007 when The Who decided to tour again (Exactly how many farewell tours have they pulled off?), Rachel got the idea to take a traveling studio to the various festivals The Who played and invite other artists, who played the festivals, to come in and chat, perform a song or two and stream it over the miracle of the World Wide Web.  This worked well for the European leg of the tour and had gained quite a following.  As The Who made plans to tour North America, a new plan was needed as the logistics and expense of shipping and traveling in the studio were apparently prohibitive.  Read the rest of this entry »

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The camera pans across the unyielding desert.  Nothing stirs.  The wind barely blows as every grain of sand seems glued to the earth’s floor.  Majestic shapes of impossible rock rise above the landscape, cutting into the bleached sky with unimaginable silhouettes.  As the scene begins, the hint of a song kicks up, a song that could only exist here.  But what is it?

It may be the plaintive whistle of a classic Ennio Morricone tune or a thick, dark beat from The Doors, musicians who drew inspiration from and came to define the West.  Or it could be one of Spindrift’s scores.  Inspired by the likes of Morricone and Morrison, Spindrift has emerged from the LA scene as the psychedelic spaghetti western pioneers of the modern age, crafting soundtrack music that skews the rules of time, sending new pictures back into the desert depths of westerns gone by.  Their latest release, Classic Soundtracks Vol. 1, compiles the band’s best soundtrack work, a unique collection that celebrates Spindrift’s colorful collaborations.

I recently got the chance to chat with Kirpatrick Thomas, the man behind Spindrift’s sound and scoring, about Classic Soundtracks Vol. 1, the legend of the West, and the origins of Spindrift. Read the rest of this entry »

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Lykke Li, at first wash, is our generation’s Nico.  Both came to us from Europe (Sweden and Germany, respectively) with beautiful faces, cold stares, and unusual accents.  And both embody that same mystery, a cool air of unspoken depth and inner darkness.  Perhaps the greatest difference is that Lykke Li grew into her shadowy success.

She began as a light-hearted, light-footed Swedish pop singer, drawing attention with her stripped-down, kinda-techno, dance-happy single, “Little Bit,” off of 2008′s Youth Novels.  Now, Lykke Li’s translated her penchant for shoulder-shaking into the desperate, drunk and defiant dancing of this year’s “Sadness is A Blessing,” adding tension, subtracting softness, and reaching for a mystical, tribal essence in her latest release, Wounded Rhymes. Read the rest of this entry »

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Hair Rocket's Punishment Cookie and The Great Afternoon's Self-Titled EP

Now on consignment at the Princeton Record Exchange are two exciting new projects from local bands, Hair Rocket and The Great Afternoon.  Hair Rocket, from Lumberville, Pennsylvania, recently released their first full-length album, the upbeat, edgy Punishment Cookie, and Lambertville’s The Great Afternoon just released their first official, and extremely folksy, self-titled EP.

First, let’s start off with Hair Rocket, whose Punishment Cookie is surprisingly rewarding.  Pop-punk in the best possible way, Hair Rocket shoot through their first full-length with a witty, high-energy, yet irreverent sound, playing rough and fast while managing to pull off the polish. Read the rest of this entry »

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