Just when you thought Mike Tyson had fallen into obscurity he’s suddenly resurfaced with some strong allegations being thrown his way.
And what’s up with that tattoo?
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Everyone’s got go-to tracks for the summertime. Even pretty much brilliant Everyones like Dave Longstreth. This week’s NY Mag asks artists what songs would make their summer muxtape, and then NY Mag puts those songs together on a summer muxtape. They’ve already posted listen links to the RZA’s, Albert Hammond Jr.’s, and Free Kitten’s (buy the mag for the accompanying blurbs, looks like), but I was most intrigued by today’s Dirty Projectors playlist web-only bonus (guess he’s not fit to print?). This is because the Projectors’ catalog suggests that Dave’s a voracious, equal opportunity listener with a soft spot for the unexpected, and also that he’s a pretty witty guy. The glad fact of this exercise is that I’m right up and down: the playlist spans from Black Dice and Lucky Dragons to Jackie Wilson and Stevie Ray Vaughn, the supplementary quotage is clever and occasionally head-turning. [...]
There’s just something to be said for performing in your home state. The day after the release of their new full-length, Moon Is the New Earth, cocksure rock trio Rose Hill Drive — just an hour’s drive from their hometown of Boulder — took the stage yesterday (June 25) at Denver’s legendary independent record store, Twist and Shout, and felt right at home. And the relaxing sentiment spread throughout the store, with the band and crowd inter-mingling like a group of friends hanging out.
Rose Hill Drive have always been purveyors of ’70s-era rock’n’roll, but, with their new album, the trio’s sound arrives slightly more refined with dynamic and nuanced songs, and even a few acoustic numbers. And the band’s snappy 18-minute set represented the trio’s growth perfectly.
Strutting through a bevy of new tracks, the boys finally hit their peak with “Sneak Out,” a whiplash-inducing rocker, charged with tight guitar [...]
Every week, Hype Monitor wades through the most buzzed-about bands all across the Internet. This week: a few choice picks from some buzzworthy acts on the Hype Monitor.
The Band: J*Davey
The Buzz: LA electro/soul combo smoke up a sequencer and sigh over the resulting beats.
Listen If: You wish the new Erykah Badu record was longer, or you miss old, weird Prince.
Key Track: “Turn the Lights Out,” which delivers big streaks of synth and pulsing rhythms.
The Band: Dead Heart Bloom
The Buzz: Brainchild of singer/songwriter Boris Skalsky, DHB deliver giant-sized guitar noise topped with gianter-size religious cynicism.
Listen If: You think the National and American Music Club are upbeat.
Key Track: “Come Back,” a sublime combination of dour, druggy vocals and corkscrewing guitars. It couldn’t be easier to hear, either: the band is giving away their entire EP for free.
The Band: Chris Letcher
The Buzz: South African Singer/Songwriter crafts songs that sound like dawn: low and [...]
What? Prior to Raleigh, NC-based outfit Annuals‘ blaze upon the blogosphere with their kitchen-bangery polyrhythmics and Broken Social Scene-esque six-piece crescendos, guitarist Kenny Florence held the songwriter reins with a project called Sedona, in which he explored his penchant for jazz and ’70s prog. With a name change to Sunfold, and the entire Annuals lineup switching ranks to support him, Florence swaps the band’s trademark brooding, know-no-boundary explosions for controlled pop bursts. Sunfold’s first offering, the Wet Zoo EP, dropped in April, and the band’s debut full-length, Toy Tugboats, will arrive July 22 via their own Terpsikhore Records.
Who? With Sunfold, Annuals frontman Adam Baker takes a backseat, sticking to percussion and programming duties, while guitarist Kenny Florence commandeers main vocals, and all the oddities that make the record — lap steel, cello, hammered dulcimer, organ, and pedal steel. And the remaining Annuals members stick to what they know best, [...]
Albert Hammond Jr. - ¿Como Te Llama?
Guitarist for The Strokes, Albert Hammond Jr., has a new solo record coming out July 8 entitled ¿Como Te Llama?. A tour is on the horizon, but in the meantime he’s got a special “invite only” record release show coming up at the Mercury Lounge on July 1. In case you weren’t lucky enough to receive your own special invite to Tuesday night’s show, the good news is, I’m giving away two pairs of tickets to that intimate performance. In order to win, email me at contests@bumpershine.com and tell me the name of another musical “Hammond”. Winners will be picked at random and notified on Friday!
PS In case you don’t win the tickets to this show, don’t despair, you can also catch Albert opening for Regina Spektor at the McCarren Park Pool on August 15, 2008. All Albert Hammond Jr. tour dates after [...]
Not exactly the post title you want to be reading as you’re whiling away the final hours before hitting Hiro Ballroom for a night of nostalgia, we know. But you’re gonna want to hear this new song, and maybe these reactions to last night’s Exile redux show, so at least you are braced for it. Tonight’s the first of two sets here in the city, promising a full retelling of the album you’re getting sick of reading about. It’s part of a swing that’s taken Phair to San Fran’s Fillmore and, last night, closer to the heart of Guyville at the Vic in sweet home, Chicago. Jim DeRogatis was there. His review, titled “Phair enough: ‘Exile’ 15-year show a clunker” makes it seem like he wishes he wasn’t. It’s worth a read in full, but here’s the denouement:
In fact, as Phair made her way through the disc with her [...]
Though the bare-bones sound refused to reach past the first two rows, celebratory icing-covered cake traveled throughout Manhattan’s Beauty Bar last night (June 24) as Brooklyn indie rockers Love as Laughter treated fans to dessert following an unplugged performance of songs off their new set, Holy, which was cut short due to sound difficulties.
The soulful fivesome began their set with album gem “Baby Shambles,” letting subtle hand percussion and gentle guitar strumming give way to frontman Sam Jayne’s bluesy yelps. Tambourines and drums were added to the mix on the next song, the stiffly rhythmic “Peace,” during which Jayne’s lead guitar work was barely audible to fans crowded on the Beauty Bar’s dance floor.
More on SPIN.com:
>> Love as Laughter, ‘Holy’ (Glacial Pace)
>>Artist of the Day: Love as Laughter
“You guys all just want to eat cake, right?” Jayne joked. “Only like five people can hear us, so we’ll only play one [...]
**Who:** Indie-pop chanteuse Lykke Li, a worldly Swede whose infectious debut *Youth Novels* was buzzing long before its Stateside release in May.
**Sounds Like:** Dance music with a devilish wink. With production by Bjorn Yttling, *Youth Novels*’ sugary pop, biting lyrics and breathy vocals make heartbreak sound sweet. “I just do music, I don’t know where it comes from or what it is,” says Li, whose influences include Madonna, Velvet Underground, Bob Dylan and hip-hop, of her spontaneous blend. “It just is.”
**Vital Stats:**
• The daughter of “free-minded old hippies,” as she calls her parents, Li, 22, grew up between Stockholm, Sweden, and a mountaintop home in the South of Portugal where “You can grow weed in the backyard,” she recalls of her unconventional upbringing. “Maybe you’re not allowed to say that?”
What? With echoing acoustic guitars and gorgeous harmonies, it’s understandable that Los Angeles, CA’s the Watson Twins are occasionally tagged as a country act. However, identical twin sisters Chandra and Leigh Watson prove that genres are only skin deep on their debut LP, Fire Songs, out this week on Vanguard. The vocal melody on “How Am I to Be” sways and swaggers like a Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac gem, while “Sky Open Up” recalls Neil Young’s stark heartbreak as much as it does the Carter Family’s strumming meat and potatoes country.
More Watson Twins:>> Video: The Watson Twins, “How Am I to Be”
Who? Born and raised in Louisville, KY, the Watsons moved to California in the ’90s, where they began writing their own music and performing with local musicians. The Twins collaborated with Rilo Kiley siren Jenny Lewis on her 2006 solo debut, Rabbit Fur Coat, while also self-releasing their first EP, [...]