I think it would be fair to say that the majority of all art concerns itself with love on one level or another. Love means so many different things to so many different people that I, for one, don't relate to the sentiment that Hallmark and Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and other corporate entities connect »»
As I have written previously, rap music was very important to me in my formative, as it was for those contributing to this feature. Growing up in a musical family, rap was "my" music, a love I had cultivated on my own and fostered for most of my life. In these last few years, I don't listen to the c »»
Folk has a long, tradition in the United States. It is the backbone of American music, with its branches leading to the growth of blues, country, Americana, and the singer/songwriter movement. While folk has been around for centuries, the essence of the aft form (a guitar and a voice) combines itsel »»
I first off want to apologize for missing my last scheduled column. The beginning of the school year and the workload caught me off guard and I had to postponed this column. In fact, I was so swamped that I had to shorten this column, which I intended to be a two part look at the progression of nois »»
The Cloud Room - The Cloud Room The Cloud Room have been plugging along for several years now in various lineups. Shoring up a definitive unit (Benjamin Nugent, Jason Pharr, Jon Petrow, and J), they recorded a demo and got some heavy buzz around them. Their somewhat ubiquitous single, "Hey now n »»
Official website: http://www.americanmary.com/ The National have been plugging away for years, playing all ends of these vast United States peddling their signature brand of plaintive indie rock. Alligator, their fourth album and first for Beggar's Banquet, isn't a grand departure but stands out am »»
The wildfire success of Funeral, The Arcade Fire's debut full length, is a shining example of how the internet, in all of its file-trading, "piracy funds terrorism" glory, can actually benefit a band and put money in its pocket. The word-of-blog press campaign that ensued upon its release resulted i »»
Xiu Xiu, the musical embodiment of Jamie Stewart and his close circle of friends (notably, producer Cory McCulloch), are one of the most consistent bands of the last fifteen years. That consistency isn't just in quantity (they have released an album every year since their 2002 debut Knife Play, as w »»
When writing about an album that has a publicized concept or noted back story, music critics jump at the opportunity to rehash the same tired anecdotes and obvious information (Brian Wilson's release of Smile last year being the worst example). So, to get them out of the way (and to insure this revi »»
The New York (and online) music press, myself included, have been getting in a lather about a quintet of normal looking lads making some really special music. Along the way, they have made some pretty influential fans (notably David Bowie) and anticipation had been building for their debut since the »»
One of the more enjoyable aspects of music is when a group of inventive minds decide to mix styles. This cross-pollination of genres can be a risky gamble, and more often than not creates a sub-par result. But the spirit to create is there, and that is what is crucial to great art. Today we are goin »»
It is a little insulting to System of a Down to be lumped in with the nu-metal craze of the late '90s. They were so much more versatile, aware, and progressive than anything those bands were trying to accomplish. The only benefit to such generalizing was that they got on the radio and they more than »»
This week I decided to do something a little different. While doing research on my topic, which was to be about the rise of Loud Records in the early '90s to help reestablish the East Coast as dominant force in hip-hop, I was overwhelmed with nostalgia. Listening to the records of the time, digging »»
At the turn of the century, the wave of bands that defined good music was of an interesting pedigree. American born and bred, they made their way across the Atlantic because the rigid structure of the music industry didn't give them a chance. Once in Europe, they made a big enough name for themselve »»
The Great Electroclash Swindle. This week we are going to look at one of the fastest rising and quickest dying trends in recent music history. Forming in the tres chic NY club scene around the time that NYC was musically fashionable again, Electroclash came and went in the blink of an eye. A look »»
I am surprised in our very cynical indie world that there isn't more being made of the transparent cycle to break UK acts in the states. The point of the cycle is creating a buzz and maintaining it as long as possible (at least until radio picks up a single or two). The cycle begins in late Decembe »»
Sigur Ros’ Official Website The Inside Pulse: Sigur Ros’ Agaetis Byrjun opened the doors of post-rock to the masses, introducing elegant, ethereally tinged rock that perfectly characterized themselves and the country they call home, Iceland. 2003’ »»
Link: Bloc Party The Inside Pulse: I don't like remix albums. Perhaps it is my cynical nature that views them as nothing more than a cash-in, one more notch on a seven record contract. I don't feel the same way about live records, which are essentially the same thing. That is because there are ple »»
Link: Engineers - Engineers The Inside Pulse: One of the more underrepresented genre's in the indie mainstream these last few years has been shoegazer/dream pop, or some combination of the two. Despite a critically rich pedigree of amazing albums, from Loveless to This is our Music, there just ha »»
Today's column was originally going to be about the Elephant 6 collective. But as I was writing, I noticed an inordinate amount of time and space given to one particular group, namely one specific album from said group. Then an event occurred last week that confined to me that I shift focus. While t »»
Radiohead is the greatest band of our generation. When they decide to call it a day, they will reside in the exclusive pantheon of artists that were able to make music on their own terms and still amass a large fan base. Their influence on the future progression of the art can't be measured, which i »»
At the height of the Brit-pop explosion and subsequent exportation to the States ('95-'97), there was a renewed interest in all things English among the musical press. People couldn't enough of those crazy Gallagher brothers, or their feud with Blur. Bubbling underneath the '60s influenced sounds of »»
At The Drive-In are just as famous for what they were supposed to accomplish as they are for what they did. They were supposed to make commercial radio great again. They were supposed to be the next Nirvana. They were supposed to be spokesmen for the next generation. But they didn't achieve any of »»
First off, let me apologize for the late column. I have been on vacation these last two weeks and I haven't really done much of anything productive. Secondly, I would like to shift gears today and discuss something a little different than the norm. I was working on a column about trip-hop but then t »»
With the introduction of electricity to the guitar by Adolph Rickenbacker in 1931, the modernization of music began. Later came the distortion pedal, and rock n' roll has never been the same since. Near the end of the '60s, innovation in production and engineering techniques led to an outgrowth of »»
God, kill the Rolling Stones. Some bands are just better off never existing, not because of their own musical output but rather for the countless acts they've "inspired" to create inferior facsimiles thereof. The Stones catalogue (which runs the gamut from amazing to apathetic) has been responsible »»
Side projects are an interesting sort. The people involved never want to refer to their bands as such (especially those members that aren't in more successful outfits), side projects allude to hobbies, passing fancies for artists with too much free time, on the order of actor's bands such as Dogstar »»
At the turn of the century, the wave of bands that defined good music was of an interesting pedigree. American born and bred, they made their way across the Atlantic because the rigid structure of the music industry didn't give them a chance. Once in Europe, they made a big enough name for themselve »»
Today we are going to look at post-punk. It\'s a genre of music that has been in vogue for a couple of years now, and is only now beginning to lose cache among the music intelligentsia. A survey through the latest Spin or CMJ will find any number of bands that have heavy post-punk influences, from F »»
We have a desire for our favorite artists to "progress," a quasi evolution that can't really be quantified or explained. Because as fans we have donated our time and money (and hard drive space), we expect a payoff of sorts for all of the diligence This of course is offset by fact that most bands be »»
