Canal Plus‘ and IFC Films‘ new five-hour epic about the international terrorist-revolutionary commonly known as “Carlos the Jackal,” Carlos, remedies everything that’s wrong with American studios’ action movies…
Goldspot’s And The Elephant Is Dancing is one of those albums to always keep nearby to call on for good times or for comfort on those crappy days when everything seems to be falling apart. Siddhartha Khosla’s clear, sweet voice, a broad vocal range…
Deastro creator Randolph Chabot started recording songs in his parents’ basement in Detroit when he was in high school — the usual story of an optimistic young musician. The music he made in those formative years isn’t quite usual, though…
For my money, the true talent of Ketch Harbour Wolves lies in the way the band’s able to ride a fine, fine line between swooning, majestic, synth-tinged, Britpop-influenced romanticism and rough-hewn, rural-sounding, half-jangly rootsy indie-rock, evoking both at once…
This compilation of the well established techno gang, teaches us that loops and simple 4-x-4 kicks never go out of style, and that’s what this record has…style. It’s probably very unlikely that this duo is popular outside of Germany, especially in the United States…
I saw The Chinese Stars — formed out of the ashes of Arab on Radar in 2003 — play about five year ago at Mary Jane’s Fat Cat, with The Mean Reds and The Blood Brothers. I remember them being a loud and heavy dance-punk band, and their third studio album, Heaven on Speed Dial…
On the Bootleg EP, Funeral Party is a curious mix of warble and gossip from the likes of NME; its fans consist of a wide range of kids who listen to their music because it’s the latest, because it’s “new and original”…
After listening to “dog”, the second full-length from listenlisten, several times now, I think I’m starting to understand. I was surprised at first, because after 2009’s Hymns From Rhodesia, I was expecting something, well, something a bit more grand, really…
In September, Ghostland Observatory successfully piqued the interest of fans with the free release of the spoken-word track, “Codename: Rondo,” for their new album. With keyboard player Thomas Turner’s dark and funky beats backing a strange and sexual-innuendo-filled monologue by singer Aaron Behrens…
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not into rap music, per se. I mean, I’ll always support Lil Wayne, because he came from that same little hell town of New Orleans that I came from, and then he went on to become a mega-superstar…
If you have ever been to the palatial worldwide headquarters of Space City Rock, you know of the plethora of CDs that litter the mail room. With so many to choose from, it can be tough to decide on which ones to listen to. Being the metal guru that I am, any cover that has a dragon…
Wow. As simple as that. “Wow” is all I can say about Old Pride, the latest CD from Pianos Become The Teeth. In their press kit, they’re referred to as “screamo,” whatever the Hell that is, but they remind me of a metalcore band…
Henry Diltz shot the photo for The Doors’ Morrison Hotel album cover. He tells a great story about that photograph in the liner notes to his DVD Legends of The Canyon, detailing life in the Los Angeles music scene in the late 1960s…
I guess it’s kind of redundant to say that some pretty great bands come out of Austin; hard rock progressive bank Knights are no exception. On their EP Age of Revolution…
First things first: no, this isn’t the next “real” Linus Pauling Quartet full-length. Per the LP4 guys, that’ll be the Bag of Hammers double-LP(!), which’ll be out sometime next year. So, what the hell is Horns of Ammon, then? Well, it’s a mixed pile of odds ‘n ends…
There’s an intriguing British-ness to most of Regular Dreams, the debut full-length by The Fox Derby, a kind of cool, distant, almost New Wave-ish feel to the bulk of the songs that’s amplified by the intricate, often baroque arrangements…
What is it that makes Tax the Wolf a man among boys, yet still so youthfully refreshing? They’ve been compared to early Radiohead and Mars Volta. They’ve been called progressive, indie, and all manner in between, but you know what I say to that?
The first time I heard about Helstar was in the pages of Hit Parader. The magazine had a feature on new bands, with Houston’s own Helstar there, and the first words mentioned were “Jose Elliot Chupa Los Huevos”…
It’s refreshing when a rock band isn’t afraid to mellow it out, groove a bit, and be emotional. I had heard of Another Run, and before I had a chance to listen to their music, I had this image of them in my head…
With the release of their debut full-length album, Sing Into My Mouth, in 2007, Gospel Gossip put themselves on the list of young bands to watch out for. The three-piece band from Northfield, Minneapolis, recorded Dreamland, a lengthy 6-song EP, two years later…
I can’t say whether it’s the song/album titles or the fact that I’ve been reading far too much about the battle of Thermopylae lately, but when I listen to Co-Pilot’s The Course of Empire, I find myself consistently thinking about war — about some long-ago clash between two rival armies…
With the explosion of social media and the mainstreaming of virtual relationships, it was inevitable — and maybe even necessary — that someone was going to try and document (in fiction or non-) what that explosion’s actually like and how it affects us as human beings…
Hey, Houston — we’ve got another Seattle pop-rock/grunge/punk band, only they’re striving for a more formidable approach and tackling issues of drunkenness, cop cars, last call, and party-crashers. Definitely “keen observations of human behavior,” you know…
It’s a little weird, but with all of the backwards-pointing, ’60s/’70s-loving bands I’ve been hearing lately, from The Dutchess & The Duke to Wolfmother, have forced me to at least attempt to re-learn as much as I can about the music of those two long-past decades…
Now, this is what vinyl’s really meant for, as far as I’m concerned: two sides of badass, heavy, bang-your-head rock on one solid slab of wax. Of course, in this case each side’s by a particular band, but since the bands in question are both heavy and raw…
Well, you have to hand it to the Red Rocker: he refuses to let Father Time slow him down. He recently headlined the festival circuit, then got together with former Van Halen bandmate Michael Anthony, guitar whiz Joe Satriani, and Red Hot drummer Chad Smith and released the excellent Chickenfoot CD…
I really liked this one. At first, when I heard this, it reminded me of Local Natives; kinda your singer/songwriter style. I can imagine myself seeing these guys live and bopping along with all the cool kids singing along to “The Story I Heard”…
Up until a few years ago, I was turned off by the recent slew of indie-rock heroes. The Bon Ivers, Beiruts, and Vampire Weekends were a little too ethereal and a little too dainty for my taste. They seemed to lack the creativity and, frankly, the balls to do anything interesting. I wanted my mind blown with incomprehensible, abrasive instrumentation and dark, obtuse lyrics…
Stereo Alligator’s self-titled EP is a pretty cool offering from a 1980s-esque electronic duo. They sound like Interpol or She Wants Revenge, but with less monotonous vocals and, honestly, more interesting music, too. They have so many different synthesizer parts laced into one another that it takes a pretty powerful voice just to be heard from over them…
Although Lungs of a Giant aren’t new on the indie rock scene, their new album Headfirst Handshakes sounds like a first effort, and that’s not so great…
Children are creepy. That’s the main thing to keep in mind while watching Let Me In, the English-language remake of Tomas Alfredson‘s fantastic vampire film Let the Right One In…
We’re probably going to be writing about Facebook forever. For the next generation, at least. It has become the symbol of 21st century interpersonal communication and the first generation to grow up fully in the information age. And that means, fairly or not, it’s also the symbol of everything that’s wrong with modern interpersonal communication, as well…
In 1968 Andy Mann was one of the only people in New York City with a video camera. He carried it every where he went, and he was treated like a god, an anchorman, or something in between…
You know it’s a good day to be a metalhead when there’s a new Slayer CD out. World Painted Blood is the latest offering from the “troo” kings of metal; Slayer’s a band that has managed to stay true to what they’ve done since day one…
Above lyric could not be more accurate. Hip-hop is like a beautiful cut of meat — in the right hands and with proper preparation, it will sizzle, marinate; look and taste great. Some chefs drown their steaks in competing flavors, use too much heat, or distribute it unevenly…
It doesn’t require refined taste or extensive background information to enjoy The Longed-For Season, the debut EP by When the Clouds. But this easy-to-like ambient music is more than just pretty sounds — it also holds up to an analytical listen…
At first blush, Street Sweeper Social Club sounds like, well, like Rage Against the Machine. And honestly, with Tom Morello’s signature block-y, sharp-edged guitars and riffs sharing the stage, how could it not at least resemble RATM?…
Metal stalwarts Iron Maiden have returned with the release on The Final Frontier. While most bands of their stature and age are content with releasing Best Ofs and taking the easy payday with summer concerts, these guys have cranked out another stellar collection…
It’s about damn time. I’ve been a fan of Bright Men of Learning and its various predecessor bands over the years, from frontman Marshall Preddy’s early Wholesome Rollers project on through the evolving lineups of Telluride, Chasmatic, and the current band, digging ’em live the whole time…
Salt Lake City natives — now Los Angeles residents — Kid Theodore are a band you may not have heard of yet, but one that you definitely should try to get to know. The band’s sophomore release, Hello Rainey (a follow-up to their debut, seven-song EP Goodnight…Goodnight)…
