Oh August… the sun is merciless, the nights enticing, and the diffuse melancholy of another summer passing (“NO, DON’T SAY THAT!”) wraps itself around all the fun you can wring out of the weeks before September. Sounds like perfect weather for La Luz, a Seattle quartet who mines a tasty vein of surf rock with girl-group […]
There are certain songs that can be slightly unnerving to listen to while on the streets of New York City because they lull me with such trance-like beauty that I’m bound to either be run over by a truck while jaywalking across the street or miss my stop on the subway to work. I know […]
Established in 2001, the Late Night Tales series invites musicians who might be best-described as “classy motherfuckers” to dive deep into their sonic collections and take listeners on a journey through the wee hours of the morning. When the outfit tapped Berlin-based pianist/composer/producer Nils Frahm for a contribution, what they got was less a compilation […]
Recommended activities while listening to Small Black’s new single “Boys Life” include: • Staring out the window from a train in the rain; • Driving through a wintry landscape, preferably through the neighborhood where your old crush used to live; • Gazing at the distant people below as your plane departs or lands; • Standing […]
Slim Twig‘s new album Thank You For Stickin’ With Twig makes me feel dirty. It has a dangerous sort of sexiness to it that manages to be menacing and exhilarating at the same time. While Mr. Twig has been making artistic and unusual records now for 10 years, this one feels most like a cohesive rock album than anything I’ve encountered from him. It’s still challenging […]
Alicia Bognanno is the singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer and engineer for a Nashville-based rock band called Bully, and she is a badass. Bognanno went to school to learn audio engineering and then interned with Steve Albini and taught herself to play guitar. Bully feels a lot like some 90s rock artists I liked – The Breeders, Liz Phair and […]
“It’s an old song, revisited. It had been written three years prior, from a place where a sense of belonging was being constantly chased.” That’s how Little May, the Sydney, Australia-based trio of Annie Hamilton, Liz Drummond, and Hannah Field describe their new release, “Home.” It makes sense, considering the runaway success they’ve had touring […]
The crashing intro here states the issue plainly: The Dears are back, m—-rf–kers! No one ever created such a blend of mid-period Roxy Music, 90s Britpop razzle-dazzle, and French pop flair with as much skill and panache as these two-decade veterans of Montreal’s indie-rock scene. As the group filled ever longer gaps between album with […]
Two guys walk into a stadium. One’s carrying a bass guitar, the other a pair of drumsticks. This ain’t no joke with a punchline waiting in the wings, unless you consider the fact that two guys tucked away in the corner of the CitiField stadium stage can make as much bombastically awesome rock [BAR] happen […]
Some mystical, mind-altering music arrives via the enchanting voice and groove of Deradoorian. Former bassist and vocalist for Dirty Projectors, the Brooklyn group who concocts a similarly heady brew, Alice Deradoorian previews her forthcoming debut solo album with “Beautiful Woman,” an absolutely stunner. I’ll confess, I really can’t distinguish your East Indian drone from your […]