The Weepies - Say I Am You
Sweet, glistening singer/songwriter pop for lovebirds in flight read more
Regina Spektor - Begin to Hope
Spunky songwriter and former Strokes protégé mixes classical training with downtown aplomb read more
Allen Toussaint - Reissues
Love, Life, and Faith - 4 stars
Southern Nights - 3.5 stars
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100 Greatest: Paste's 100 Best Living Songwriters #51-60
60»JIMMY WEBB “By the time I get to Phoenix she’ll be risin’ / She’ll find the note that I left hangin’ on her door / And she will laugh to read the part that says I’m leavin’ / ’Cause I left that girl too many times before” You can always tell a Jimmy Webb song—it doesn’t matter who happens to be singing it or how it was arranged or produced, though he’s been fortunate enough on these counts. There’s a strangeness lurking in the center of his perfect songs—usually a specific, peculiar image that might seem arbitrary at first, but... read more
Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders
Foo Fighters' Taylor Hawkins drums up laid-back California rock read more
Sufjan Stevens Announces Tour Dates With My Brightest Diamond
Indie folkster Sufjan Stevens will be trading in his cheerleading uniform for a suit and tie this fall on his first tour in over a year. Stevens, whose last tour featured dance routines with his band of Illinoisemakers, will be appearing with a talented group of musicians including a small string ensemble and brass section, opting for sophistication over spectacle. Stevens will perform familiar tracks from Seven Swans, Michigan and Illinois as well as five to six new songs. The tour will bring Stevens and his players to some of the country’s most historic venues, including a September 20 performance... read more
The Lemonheads To Release First Album In Ten Years
Legendary Boston rockers The Lemonheads have announced a September 26 release date for the newly re-formed group’s first album in nearly ten years. Following the success of their 1996 release Car Button Cloth, frontman Evan Dando took a break from The Lemonheads to focus on his solo career, releasing Baby I’m Bored in 2003. Their new self-titled disc, to be released by Vagrant Records, is co-produced by Dando and drummer Bill Stevenson (Descendents, Black Flag). The duo will be joined by bass player Karl Alvarez (Descendents) and guest musicians Garth Hudson (The Band) and J. Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.) on select... read more
NPR Highlights Paste's 100 Best Living Songwriters
On a recent edition of NPR’s All Songs Considered, host Bob Boilen leads a discussion about the songs that move us and the people who write them. With a panel of guests including Bill Wyman, who serves as arts editor for NPR news, songwriter Mary Gauthier and Paste editor Josh Jackson, the show examines Paste’s recent list of the 100 Best Living Songwriters. In addition to interviews, the broadcast features music from The Beatles, Sufjan Stevens, Gauthier and Bob Dylan, who is No. 1 on Paste's list. To listen, click here, and for more discussion of songwriting and Paste’s 100... read more
eMusic Adds Unreleased Sun Records Material
The curators at eMusic have a message for fans of classic country, rock and R&B: Here comes the Sun. The online music store recently added a number of previously unreleased Sun Records tracks to its roster of more than 1.5 million songs. The 19 rarities from country star Charlie Rich, saxophonist Bill Justis and pianist Rosco Gordon will join eMusic’s already wide selection of music from other Sun Records artists, including Howlin’ Wolf and Johnny Cash. These tracks have been grouped into sets of varying lengths and are available exclusively through eMusic. For more information and downloads, visit emusic.com. ... read more
Musicfest NW Line-up Announced
In its sixth year as a non-profit fundraising event, Musicfest NW recently announced that its upcoming festival line-up—which will be held at various venues on Sept. 7-9 in Portland, OR—is set to include such acts as The Dandy Warhols, Phantom Planet, Stephen Malkmus and The Black Keys. The proceeds of the events are expected to contribute to the Rock and Roll Camp for Girls, as well as The Oregon Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, who will accept the donations to increase funding for music education in high schools. For more information on the festival line-up, tickets, and venues, click... read more
Smith To Attend Clerks II Premiere in Austin
The much-anticipated return of Dante Hicks and Randal Graves to the big screen might be upstaged at the Clerks II premiere in Austin, Texas, by its filmmaker, Kevin Smith. The audience at the premiere will be privy to a Q&A session after the Austin Film Society screening on July 13. Smith, who will reprise his role as Silent Bob in the film, checks back in after ten years with Hicks and Graves, our favorite slacker mall clerks. Though the pair has moved from the mini-mall world they inhabited in 1994's Clerks to the fast-food restaurant industry, they are still pulling... read more
Tom Waits Hits the Road
Tom Waits is set to perform a string of live dates during the month of August. The legendary, secluded artist will tour eight cities throughout the South and Midwest, kicking off the tour in Atlanta on the first of the month. Waits, whose last live performance was in 2004, has chosen to travel to the cities he hasn’t performed in since the '70s. "We need to go to Tennessee to pick up some fireworks, and someone owes me money in Kentucky," says Waits about why he’s chosen this particular time and route to tour. Judging by sales from his past... read more
Help Name This Band: Herring, Rodgers and Sipe
Jimmy Herring (Allman Brothers/The Dead/Aquarium Rescue Unit), Bobby Lee Rodgers (The CodeTalkers) and Jeff Sipe (Aquarium Rescue Unit/Hellborg, Lane and Sipe/Leftover Salmon) will join forces to perform a string of tour dates in August. The new collaboration — currently bearing the band name of Herring, Rodgers, and Sipe with Neal Fountain and Mark van Allen — is in desperate need of a new title, and is relying on the public to create one. Anyone interested in suggesting a band name can log on to the band's website to submit ideas. The person whose idea is chosen... read more
Patty Griffin To Headline Americana Folk Festival
Singer-songwriter Patty Griffin is set to headline the third annual Americana Folk Festival, which will take place Oct. 21 at Montgomery Bell State Park in Dickson, Tenn. Sponsored by Kaleidoscope Media and Nashville Scene, the one-day event will bring in more than 30 bluegrass, Americana, folk and jazz acts, including Mindy Smith, The Avett Brothers and Kate York. The festival will also include an art village featuring rural artists. Tickets for the festival go on sale Aug. 15. For more information, click here. ... read more
Dave Matthews Band Cleans Up Its Act
Dave Matthews Band’s latest project is a breath of fresh air — literally. Through two privately owned energy companies called NativeEnergy and Clean Air-Cool Planet, the band will counteract the 18,000 tons of carbon dioxide it has emitted through various aspects of touring over the past 15 years. These companies fund clean energy projects that counteract the effects of pollution. NativeEnergy and Dave Matthews Band first teamed up four years ago through One Sweet Whirled, a campaign aimed at stopping global warming. The band compensated for 2,175 tons of carbon dioxide generated from its 2004 tour. For more information, about... read more
The Who Rocks For A Cause
Hard Rock International is set to make rock history at the Hyde Park Calling concert on Sunday, July 2. For the first time, legendary rock band The Who will allow their entire live set to be broadcast as a 99-cent pay-per-view download to benefit various causes supported by Pete Townshend’s Double O charity, including the Teenage Cancer Trust, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, and the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation for underprivileged children. Hard Rock Café will be broadcasting the concert at its locations in New York, Chicago, Orlando, Hollywood, Rome, Barcelona and Paris. Viewers will be able... read more
Corinne Bailey Rae On Leno June 28 To Launch New Album And Tour
British import Corinne Bailey Rae is set to appear on Late Night with Jay Leno on Wednesday, June 28 to promote her new album, a self-titled release that debuted at #17 on the Billboard 200. With her appearance on Leno, Bailey Rae continues a string of appearances on other national television shows which will lead into her first U.S. tour starting on July 24. With much critical acclaim already to her credit, Bailey Rae debuted at #1 on the U.K. album chart, the first British female to do so with an album of original songs. Bailey Rae's confirmed U.S. tour... read more
NBC Partners With YouTube
Six months since it threatened the video-sharing site YouTube with a lawsuit over copyright infringement, NBC has recently reversed its course of action and announced a deal to become the first major network to partner with the up-and-coming website to create an official “NBC Channel,” specifically designed to show promotional clips of television shows. While new NBC content will be uploaded on a weekly basis, to kick-start this new merging the network will host a competition inviting YouTube users to submit their own 20-second spots for “The Office” wherein the winning submissions will be aired during an episode of the... read more
Sleater-Kinney Calls It Quits
Portland rock trio Sleater-Kinney has thrown in the towel. The band has posted the following message on its website: “After eleven years as a band, Sleater-Kinney have decided to go on indefinite hiatus. The upcoming summer shows will be our last. As of now, there are no plans for future tours or recordings. We feel lucky to have had the support of many wonderful people over the years. We want to thank everyone who has worked with us, written kind words about us, performed with us, and inspired us. But mostly we want to extend our gratitude to our amazing... read more
Macon Greyson - Translate
In the five years of Macon Greyson’s existence, it’s gone from “Best Bar Band In Three Counties” to “Texas Music Stalwart With Winsome Son Volt Fixation,” and now, with Translate, the band makes a serious run at becoming “Best Rock Outfit You've Never Heard Of.” The wisdom of Petty seems to have settled in on these boys with a vengeance: make the hooks catchy, the lyrics smart and plug the guitar straight into the amp. The result of this epiphany is some of the most vital, urgent and direct rock since Wilco abandoned their Gram worship for greener, abstract pastures... read more
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