Echo & the Bunnymen’s self-inflicted wounds

August 31st, 2007

Alan McGee postulates in the Guardian why Echo & the Bunnymen are ever the bridesmaids of rock. I think he nails it pretty well. After the orchestral majesty of Ocean Rain, the band simply dried up creatively. It really took three years to follow-up that masterpiece with an utterly deflated, self-titled throwaway? Even still, “Lips […]

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Re-syncing Kid A

August 31st, 2007

Personally, I think all this syncing up Dark Side of the Moon with The Wizard of Oz stuff is utter nonsense, but asses of Dungeons and Dragons clowns with way too much spare time are into that sort of thing, so here’s another one for you: Supposedly, if you play two copies of Radiohead’s Kid A seventeen […]

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REVIEW: Rilo Kiley, Under the Blacklight, Warner Bros.

August 31st, 2007

Rilo Kiley makes no bones about its commercial aspirations on Under the Blacklight, its fourth record and major label debut for Warner Bros. Since 2004’s More Adventurous, lead singer Jenny Lewis has catapulted to quasi-stardom as the indie it girl, showing up on everything from Bright Eyes to Postal Service records. After years of indie […]

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Tags: album-review

REVIEW: M.I.A., Kala, XL

August 31st, 2007

M.I.A. bursts out of the gate on her second album with both guns blazing. She’s not kidding around at all. Everything about Kala is confrontational. From the patronizing political self-righteousness to the relentless flurry of abrasive beats to the jagged rapping, Kala takes everything that was provoking about her exotic debut, Arular, and intensifies it […]

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RETRO: Bowie and Nomi sell it on SNL

August 31st, 2007

Over the years, Lorne Michaels’s little-show-that-could (always-be-funnier) has given us plenty of moments musicaux to talk about while the collection plates make their rounds the next morning at church. From The Replacements’ drunken, f-bomb laden rendition of “Bastards of Young,” to Fear’s Halloween free-for-all, to DJ Muggs of Cypress Hill lightin’ up the ganja during […]

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The story behind Ian Curtis’ inevitable suicide

August 30th, 2007

The Guardian delves into the reality beneath Anton Corbijn’s Control, speaking with all three surviving members of Joy Division, as they react to the film with both heartbreak and regret. Bassist Peter Hook: “But Anton’s film is more chilling. Towards the end, it felt like someone had ripped out my heart and was stamping on […]

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The Black Lips rock the Middle East, avoiding car swarms, dubbas

August 30th, 2007

To show its even-handed political mindset, Atlanta, Georgia’s The Black Lips recently visited both Israel and Palestine to distract the suicide bombers and the itchy trigger fingers with a handful of rock shows because what the Middle East needs more than anything right now is a good on-stage golden shower. The band’s new record for […]

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