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26 Sep 2009 16:16

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Music: Lotsa great music’s come out latetly. Our Saturday Mixtape is on it.

  • 1. We admit that we’ve been quite excited about Monsters of Folk, mostly because of our boy M. Ward. (Nothing against Conor Oberst, but he seems to have lost his edge lately.) The leadoff track, “Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F.),” certainly doesn’t scream folk, but there’s certainly a lot more going on here than an indie equivalent of the Traveling Wilburys.
    2. What if you took the most experimental part of Bon Iver’s “For Emma, Forever Ago” and built a whole album around it? You’d have Volcano Choir‘s “Unmap,” which features frontman Justin Vernon with Milwaukee’s Collection of Colonies of Bees, proving that he’s not the only interesting musician currently coming out of Wisconsin.
    3. Lots to love here. The Big Pink’s “A Brief History of Love” has at least one killer chorus in the form of “Dominos,” which gives a nice sheen to their best shoegaze intentions.
    4. Rain Machine, a.k.a. TV on the Radio’s Kyp Malone, had one of the year’s most-highly-anticipated releases. The album itself isn’t nearly as amazing as the billing, but the vocal theatrics of the otherwise-simple “New Last Name” certainly live up to the pedigree.
    5. On “Higher than the Stars,” The Pains of Being Pure at Heart seem to be ready to cut back the massive amounts of guitar distortion that defined their earlier releases. Even without it – relying more on a cheery synth instead – the formula still works.source

06 Mar 2009 13:44

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Music: Pitchfork Fest 2009: Getting us worked up already

  • The bands so far: Some of the bands already on board for the July 17-19 fest – which has only been partly announced – are killer. The first night is full of classic indie rockers like Built to Spill and Yo La Tengo. Day two boasts more recent indie faves like our current musical crush The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. And day three already boasts The Walkmen and Grizzly Bear. Sounds amazing. source
  • The bands so far: Some of the bands already on board for the July 17-19 fest – which has only been partly announced – are killer. The first night is full of classic indie rockers like Built to Spill and Yo La Tengo. Day two boasts more recent indie faves like our current musical crush The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. And day three already boasts The Walkmen and Grizzly Bear. Sounds amazing.
  • A cool new idea: The last few years of the fest have featured All Tomorrow’s Parties-sponsored shows featuring such luminaries as Public Enemy playing their greatest albums in full. But this year, they’ll allow fans to vote for what the bands play in their setlists. Want to hear Yo La Tengo play nothing but stuff from “I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One”? Or more recent stuff? Your vote counts! source

14 Feb 2009 20:12

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Music: Our latest musical crush: The Pains of Being Pure At Heart

  • About the band This NYC band pulls off this neat little trick – initially, they start off heavy and crushing, with noise and feedback bouncing everywhere like the Jesus & Mary Chain, but it slowly becomes obvious that they’re the really the next generation of C86 jangle-pop – which never was all that popular except for people big into Sarah Records acts like Heavenly. Which, strangely enough, we are! source
  • About the band This NYC band pulls off this neat little trick – initially, they start off heavy and crushing, with noise and feedback bouncing everywhere like the Jesus & Mary Chain, but it slowly becomes obvious that they’re the really the next generation of C86 jangle-pop – which never was all that popular except for people big into Sarah Records acts like Heavenly. Which, strangely enough, we are!
  • Where to start The band’s self-titled debut, on the fitting Slumberland Records, is the real twee-pop deal. Worth listening to in particular are the loud-to-lilting “Come Saturday,” and “Stay Alive,” with the most jangly guitars you’ve heard since Toad The Wet Sprocket was still popular. In six months, Belle and Sebastian fans are going to claim that they have a new favorite band. Just you wait. source