While this compilation of shuttered record store photos is kind of depressing, it’s also a wake-up call, providing some extra inspiration to buy some wax at our local indie outlet on this Saturday’s fourth annual Record Store Day. Maybe you’re one of the people who’s going to camp outside of New York’s Other Music to nab Big Star’s special-edition Third reissue (get one for us too, mmkay?), or perhaps you’re just hoping to lock eyes with Regina Spektor during her in-store performance. RSD has done a bang-up job of assembling this list of special Record Store Day releases, but we’re live-out-loud kinda kids, so without further ado, here’s a roundup of the best in-store shows and shenanigans planned for this year. Find out what’s going on in your neck of the woods after the jump. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, Ozzy Osbourne is the official ambassador of Record Store Day 2011. Free bats for everyone?
Read More »
If there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s that “Americana” music is constantly evolving, and who better to school us than Kurt Vile? The Philadelphia native took his place in the canon with 2009′s Childish Prodigy, a yawning, steely set of ballads and ambient buzz, tinged with shimmering, shameless exercises in guitar acrobatics. Today, Smoke Ring for My Halo drops on Matador, delving even deeper into contemporary, urban folktales. There’s even a harp! If you’re in New York, you can catch Kurt Vile at one of no fewer than three in-store performances: Academy Records in Brooklyn (5pm, with Bill Nace and Thurston Moore), and in Manhattan at Generation Records (7pm) or Other Music (9pm).
Without further ado, we give you Kurt Vile’s Americana video playlist, accompanied by his take on each of the songs he selected. True story: after whipping up this mix for us, he confessed he’ll be making a tape of it for the road. We just might do the same.
Read More »
James Murphy, we love you, but your announcement of LCD Soundsystem’s final show is bringing us down. Appealing to our hearts and dancing shoes alike is no easy task, but luckily, robots and their organic counterparts seem to be getting along better than ever these days. We’ve assembled a list of the lushest, most infectious electronic pop purveyors for your consideration, and even if you don’t fall in love overnight, it’ll be therapeutic to try. We promise.
Read More »
Real Estate inspired us to mix Budweiser with Sprite and embrace Hawaiian print last summer. But more recently, frontman Matthew Mondanile quietly slipped in through the vulnerable cracks of our childlike subconscious, instantly winning us over with the lo-fi comfort rock of Ducktails, whose new album, Ducktails III: Arcade Dynamics, dropped on Woodsist this week.
In fact, plenty of indie rock royalty have lower-profile side projects hiding up their sleeves that are every bit as brilliant as their better-known, blogosphere-friendly bands. After the jump, we introduce you ten more such acts that should be on your radar.
Read More »
The flurry of band reunions reached amazing(ly terrifying) new heights when the recently reformed Backstreet Boys and New Kids on the Block announced a boy band supergroup tour at last week’s American Music Awards, much to the delight of every teenybopper between the ages of 20 and 40. Justin Timberlake and Mark Wahlberg must be feeling pretty smug right about now, but we think this is a great opportunity to relive the heyday of ’90s pop stars. Since their strangest and funniest moments often came not on MTV but on the talk shows where they connected with the stay-at-home moms of Middle America, we’ve compiled 10 of our favorite moments from when Oprah and Ricki met TLC and Britney.
Read More »
While the Sleater-Kinney-shaped hole in our hearts remains gaping, some serious consolation can be found in Corin Tucker’s debut solo album, 1,000 Years. The riot grrrl-turned-righteous mama blends her fierce wail and earth-shattering guitar licks with softer touches of strings and acoustic guitar on her “middle-aged mom record,” an album that she admits is “not a record that a young person would write.” In fact, Tucker’s nine-year-old son and two-year-old daughter come first, traveling with their mom on short tours in support of the record.
As 1,000 Years proves — in tracks like the hard, fast “Doubt” — being a mom doesn’t stop the rock. In fact, lots of ladies have mastered the art of rocking and rearing. After the jump, we celebrate Tucker’s return to music with our list of the toughest rock ‘n roll moms, who balance the two roles without missing a beat.
Read More »
If you ever wore a felt-tip pen around your neck, wished the letter magnets on your refrigerator would rearrange themselves, or longed to bust the corner bodega for selling bogus videotapes, then surely you were a fan of PBS’s early ’90s series Ghostwriter. For those who missed out, Ghostwriter was an educational TV show about a group of multicultural middle school kids who solved mysteries with the aid of a friendly ghost (who had a penchant for words), set against the vaguely gritty backdrop of Fort Greene, Brooklyn. What wasn’t so obvious to us back then was the impressive array of celebrity cameos peppered throughout the series — such as a Samuel L. Jackson playing Ghostwriter Team member Jamal Jenkins’ father. Word! Check out the surprising array of stars featured in Ghostwriter episodes below.
Read More »
Cowboys have certainly gotten their due in movies and pulp fiction over the years, but what about the cowgirl? As early as the 19th century, pioneering women learned their way around a lasso and horse on the American frontier. Holly George-Warren’s new picture book, The Cowgirl Way: Hats Off to America’s Women of the West, follows the evolution of the cowgirl through the years and is chock-full of little-known facts and rare photos. Check out our interview with George-Warren and a slideshow of incredible cowgirl shots from the book after the jump.
Read More »
Summer’s winding down, and with it, the deluge of dreamy surf-rock bands (read: laptops), none of which are particularly offending, but be honest: the chillwave epidemic is definitely a case of too much of a moderately good thing. So, dear readers, let us remind you of, and in some cases, introduce you to a set of bands and artists who don’t default to water-themed monikers, fuzzy samples and lethargic vocals. This is the music that’s going to save 2010 from chillwave’s distorted clutches.
Read More »
Last week we caught a sneak preview of Ivory Tower, an “existential sports comedy” about brothers Hershell (singer/songwriter Jason “Chilly Gonzales” Beck) and Thadeus (DJ/producer”Tiga” James Sontag) fighting over both the title of competitive chess champion and a woman named Marsha, played by Merrill Beth Nisker, a.k.a. Peaches. Hershell’s affinity for “jazz chess,” in which you play against yourself and there are no winners, directly contrasts with Thadeus’s flamboyant and razor-sharp competitive spirit.
Read More »
