Review: Russian Circles – EP (or) tortious interference abounds
Russian Circles are an instrumental rock band from Chicago, and while that is not the most unique way to describe the band, it (at least) puts you in the ballpark. Not exactly hardcore and not quite metal, the music is at times heavy and technical, but it also swings. The band is capable of switching (Read more…)
Review: Editors – The Back Room (or) first and most common component
In response to a number of comments (mostly mean and nasty ones) as well as my own desire for a better file host, I’ve broken down and (despite the problems people seem to be having) joined the masses that are using EZ Archive. I’d imagine that if you like like Interpol or Joy Division you (Read more…)
Pretty in pink
I’m always on the lookout for great kids music for my beautiful 4 month old daughter Hailey (pictured above). Lucky for me Kevin from So Much Silence recently posted about a cool new blog called (Sm)All Ages that features a boatload of kid-friendly music. Definitely worth repeat visits. A while back Eric from Theme Park (Read more…)
Review: Division Day – Beartrap Island (or) spit up shoestrings and insects
A few weeks ago I got some music from California’s Division Day in my mailbox, and I’ve been digesting the music since then trying to figure out exactly what I’m going to say. The band plays great breezy piano-based pop. Is that enough info? No? Ok. So I first popped their EP The Mean Way (Read more…)
Review: Sounds Like Fall – The Wolf Is At The Door (or) the skyline breaking apart
I’ve been listening to the latest album from Ames, Iowa’s Sounds Like Fall a lot lately. The Wolf Is At The Door is full of the soft introspective Americana that is a little country and a little folk. The instrumentation is often sparse (containing just strummed acoustic guitar and voice) but is perfectly augmented with (Read more…)
Shrapnel in my back pocket
Because The Streets have a new album called The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living coming out in April (and also found their new single via the blogs) I listened to A Grand Don’t Come For Free again today and loved every single second of it. Mike Skinner’s disaffected everyman rapping fits perfectly with (Read more…)
An incomplete history of Chicago punk rock (vol. 3)
“Chicago’s The Lawrence Arms are a gritty but clever punk rock trio that trace their beginnings back to 1999. These three punks/hunks/drunks blend East Bay punk with an intelligent and introspective Midwest sound. Take those musical influences and add a heap of bad television, some leftist literature, and exactly three cases of the cheapest most (Read more…)
Review: Wolfmother – Wolfmother (or) party time at the king’s castle
Wolfmother is from Sydney, Australia and I’ve been hearing their name a lot lately. Evidently there is an enormous amount of hype surrounding their self-titled debut full-length that is scheduled to be released in the US on May 2nd. Their Dimensions EP was released last month and serves as a good introduction to their monstrous (Read more…)
50 cent meets freddie mercury
You all probably jumped all over this when it first came out last fall, but I’m not sure if any other music blogs have posted this yet so here goes. My brother emailed me this afternoon and said, “Check this shit out. It’s pretty funny, and sometimes good.” Agreed. He was referring to the Q-Unit (Read more…)
