Joe Jackson: 10 Things You May Not Have Known
In retrospect, Jackson’s bratty, nasal bark—which caught the public’s ear via his breakthrough Look Sharp! single, “Is She Really Going Out With Him?”—was certainly an unusual style, but one that perfectly embodied the jarring, iconoclastic punk/New Wave movement. read more
Catching Up With Zulu Winter
After releasing its first single last November, Zulu Winter has quickly gathered attention throughout Britain with its indie pop-rock sound. The five-piece band’s debut album, Language, exhibits a maturity that can take bands years to achieve. read more
Positive Contact: Dan the Automator Meets Dogfish Head Ale
Beer and music have gone together since those ancient Mesopotamians first learned that consuming fermented sugars tended to cause them to burst into song. One brewery is doing what it can to reconnect those two wonderful gifts. read more
Vegan Black Metal Chef: Heavenly Seitan
Brian Manowitz, a 31-year-old Jewish kid from Orlando, Fla., with a wicked sense of wields his cooking utensils more like a mystical knife—probably because he really uses a mystical knife. And studded bowls. And cutting boards emblazoned with pentagrams. read more
Catching Up With Hot Chip
Reading through the itinerary for Hot Chip’s ongoing international expedition is more exhausting than keeping track of the instruments employed by the English dance pop five-piece, but only slightly. read more
Catching Up With Steve Aoki
In a very short period of time, Steve Aoki has become not only a successful electronic artist and DJ, he’s also become quite an entrepreneur. Aoki owns the record label Dim Mak, which has released albums from Battles, Bloc Party and MSTRKRFT, amongst other. He’s also released his own clothing lines, restaurants, headphone brands, management companies, magazines and has now working on a new ad campaign with Pucker Vodka that includes a new remix of his track “Ladi Dadi”. Aoki talked with us about his first studio album Wonderland, his hardcore punk background and about his motivations to become a DJ professionally. read more
Catching Up With Nada Surf's Ira Elliot
Last January, Nada Surf released their latest collection of songs, The Stars are Indifferent to Astronomy. The album was a departure for the band’s basic, power-trio lineup and saw the group pushing their songwriting forward with layered, thoughtful cuts like “Teenage Dreams,” “Waiting for Something” and the album’s hard-hitting opener, Clear Eye Clouded Mind. After already completing their first leg of touring behind the album, we caught up with drummer Ira Elliot to discuss the band’s upcoming appearances.... read more
Perfume Genius: The Best of What's Next
For Put Your Back N 2 It, Perfume Genius made his way into a proper studio for the first time, working with producer Drew Morgan to craft a sparse, yet carefully arranged record emphasizing his voice and storytelling. read more
Catching Up With The Men
“Rockers” is an easy descriptor to throw in front of any band with drums and a guitar, but it would be hard to find a group for which the term is actually more appropriate than The Men. The Brooklyn four-piece hold nothing back, both on record and on stage, and over the past few years their heavy, guitar-shredding brand of rock has won the praise of critics and fans alike.... read more
Grace Potter: The Courage To Disappear
Raised in an artistic family enclave called Potterville, Grace Potter has always marched to her own rhythm. Even when she was playing local jam-band-ish barn concerts at 17, the then-flannel-shirted-and-cowboy-booted blonde had no designs on stardom, or its attendant glitzy imagery. read more
These United States: Life, Death and These United States
The first time you meet Jesse Elliott, he’ll greet you like an old friend: right hand swooping out for a shake, smile bursting out from his beard, grey-green eyes wide with exuberance. read more
Catching Up With Rhett Miller
Rhett Miller is most commonly known as the frontman for the veteran alt-country group Old 97’s, but over the past ten years he has also had a successful career as a solo artist. His first solo release Mythologies came in 1989, when he was only 19 years old, wore glasses and sported a Bowie-esque British accent. After achieving widespread success with Old 97’s in the ‘90s, Miller released his second solo album, The Instigator, in 2002. Since then, he’s recorded three additional solo albums, the last of which, The Dreamer, was released on June 5 by his own Maximum Sunshine... read more
The BoDeans
Wherever you are when you’re reading this, chances are pretty good that at some point in the next 30 days, a concert venue within driving distance of where you’re sitting will play host to an act clinging to the lowest creative rungs of the nostalgia circuit. Whether it’s an aging AOR legend schlepping its platinum catalog with a package tour and a set list that hasn’t changed in 20 years or a one-hit wonder playing the reunion card a little too soon, it seems like there’s always more room on theater marquees and casino billboards for one more band with... read more
Catching Up With Wintersleep
Canadian rockers Wintersleep have produced five solid albums in over a decade as a band. Their biggest hit, "Weighty Ghost" hit in 2007, but the quintet is back with Hello Hum which includes some of the catchiest songs they've ever written. read more
Catching Up With Bishop Morocco's James Sayce
Toronto natives James Sayce and Jake Fairley have been Bishop Morocco since they recorded their self-titled debut in 2008. Though influenced by the likes of Joy Division and The Cure, the duo have created their own sound in an unlikely fashion. It involved recording the first album in an apartment in the Netherlands, and the second EP in a guest bedroom in Toronto. Though their recording means might be humble, it’s not always easy, considering they live on different continents. The effort of traveling back and forth over the Atlantic to make it happen is a reflection of Bishop Morocco’s... read more
Catching Up With Alejandro Escovedo
Texas singer/songwriter Alejandro Escovedo is a rock ‘n’ roll musician, plain and simple. The San Antonio native has dabbled in a number of different musical styles over the course of his career—from his time with the San Francisco punk band The Nuns in the ’70s, to his illustrious solo career—but, as Escovedo notes, it all comes back to wanting to make rock records. His latest album, Big Station, was released last Tuesday and might be the best example of Escovedo returning to his roots. It’s his third album working with both writing partner Chuck Prophet and producer Tony Visconti... read more
Metric
In a letter to fans, family and friends, Metric frontwoman Emily Haines described Synthetica, the band's fifth studio LP, out today on Metric Music International, as the culmination of the band's more than 10 years together, coming forth in the sound they had always hoped to realize. read more
Hit So Hard: Hole Drummer's Rock Doc
P. David Ebersole’s documentary Hit So Hard, available on DVD this week, tells the unlikely story of Patty Schemel, drummer for Hole, close friend of Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, and famously the first person Kurt wanted as the drummer for Nirvana (he settled for Dave Grohl, which worked out okay). read more
Catching Up With Of Montreal's Kevin Barnes
Of Montreal released their 11th studio album Paralytic Stalks earlier this year, and yesterday marked the start of the second leg of their North American tour. The new album exemplifies the band’s well-established knack for creating psychedelic pop music with a unique twist.... read more
Catching Up With Crocodiles
San Diego rockers Crocodiles released their third full-length album, Endless Flowers, last Tuesday. The band’s first two records, 2009’s Summer of Hate and 2010’s Sleep Forever, were characterized by psychedelic fuzz, disaffected lyrics and the droning vocals of Brandon Welchez. Though Endless Flowers doesn’t let up in these departments, it is a more lush and diverse record, partly due to the fact that for the first time, Welchez and fellow songwriter Charles Rowell brought their full touring band into the studio. The new album, which Welchez and Rowell self-produced, was also recorded in artist-friendly Berlin, making it their most free-flowing... read more
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