Finally some solid news coming out of the Strokes camp. After releasing the Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas’ solo album Phrazes for The Young in 2009, the band has converged again in New York to officially record their fourth album. Officially, the recordings began on the first day of February at Avatar Studios. More »
Last December, The Flaming Lips released a covers album. And it’s not just any covers album where the band records their own interpretations of different songs. This time, The Flaming Lips actually covered a full album from another artist — namely, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of The Moon. The band covered it track by track, which is kinda cool. Though I’m not surprised. When it comes to The Flaming Lips, you should expect the unexpected — just look at their album Zaireeka. More »
Sigur Ros is definitely one of the most unique bands on the planet. Each album they have released is a masterpiece and, in my opinion, a work of art. Their music is something that affects you in the most fundamental levels. I challenge anyone not to feel anything when they hear Glosoli. More »
Some people try to be witty when they say that such-and-such noun or adjective is their middle name, but in the case of Babyshambles frontman and ex-Libertine Pete Doherty, he can say “trouble” is his middle name and no one will find it cheeky. In fact, they’ll probably nod their heads in a knowing way and mutter “too true.” More »
The guys from Grizzly Bear must be so happy right now. They are being name-checked by every Tom, Dick and Harriett who wants to sound cool and current. Heck, even Jay-Z has been mentioning them so he won’t look like an old geezer.
But unlike some of the more recent indie breakthrough success stories, Grizzly Bear can actually be found doing work in more mainstream environments. For example, in the movies. More »
In my geek perspective, I’ve always thought of music collaborations between artists as similar to the crossover team-ups of comic book heroes. And in a way it does feel the same. A successful collaboration between artists is uplifting and, dare I say, gives off a vibe of something legendary happening. We’ve seen that in the now-mythical collaboration between Aerosmith and Run DMC or Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye. Of course, there are also collaborations that make you go “hmm.”
One such collaboration would be the pairing of Lady Gaga – the current queen of weird – and indiesynth darlings Passion Pit. The collaboration between the two happened with the Passion Pit remixing Lady Gaga’s new single Telephone. Yes, the same Telephone single that also features Beyonce. And no, this is not some bootleg or unauthorized remix. This is an OFFICIAL remix. Talk about a genre-blurring collaboration!
Either Lady Gaga’s got really cool music taste, or The Passion Pit guys sees something in Gaga that I don’t (aside from the theatrical strangeness of course). I do admit that Lady Gaga’s songs are infectious (I sometimes find myself just suddenly singing “p-p-p-poker face, p-p-poker face”) so there really must be some kind of mutual admiration thing going on here.
Let’s face it. The music business can be such a brutal mistress. To use my imaginary wife Heidi Klum’s catchphrase, “One day you’re in, the next day you’re out.” A lot of wonderful bands are now out of work because they are not selling millions and earning a lot from touring. And these are artists that are truly talented, not like the hacks that are dominating the airwaves right now. Yes, I’m looking at you Fall Out Boy. More »
Ok Go caught the attention of listeners and netizens with their video Here It Goes Again. The music video, which featured the band performing a choreographed routine using treadmill machines, was an instant hit among viewers and became a huge viral hit when it was released in 2006. But what will you do if the very thing that made you famous is now being restricted? More »
If you’re a rock documentary freak like me then you’ll be eagerly anticipating watching two new documentaries revolving around two intriguing artists. More »
A friend of mine who, like me, is a huge M.I.A. fan informed me more than a year ago that M.I.A. announced in one concert that she is retiring from the music business. Of course, it was news that shocked and disappointed us. M.I.A. is one of those artists that brought something fresh and exciting to music and for her to retire with just two albums under her belt was such a tragedy. I refused to accept the news, however, and thought to myself that either M.I.A. may just have said it as a spur of the moment outburst and will come to rethink her decision soon enough.
And it looks like she did. More »
