Funny coincidence: Slumberland Records has announced the forthcoming release of a Black Tambourine anthology, which wouldn’t mean much to Listen, Dammit, except that we’ve been listening the past few weeks to a lot of Black Tambourine.
The Washington D.C. band, a side project for members of Whorl and Velocity Girl, only lasted for two years between [...]
January 29, 2010 at 8:30 am | Share |
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It’s too bad that “The Fast and the Furious” was the name of a crummy movie about the harrowing drama of dirtbag street-car races, because it’s a perfect description for the music of Gangcharger.
The Denver band formed a year ago to play noisy, lacerating rock with ferocious intensity, drawing plenty of notice and earning spots [...]
January 28, 2010 at 11:29 am | Share |
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It seems like Scout Niblett is one of those low-profile indie singers who’s just always been around. So it’s a surprise to learn that her new album, “The Calcination of Scout Niblett” (Drag City) is only her fifth long-player.
Recorded with the influential indie-rock producer Steve Albini, the album is a typically minimal outing, with spare [...]
January 27, 2010 at 11:34 am | Share |
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As previously reported, the Drive-By Truckers release a new album, “The Big To-Do,” March 16. It’s a great record: loud, lean and ballsy as hell.
“This Fucking Job” proves our point: The first song the band has made available from the album is classic Truckers, with fierce guitars and pointed lyrics. It’s a ready-made anthem for [...]
January 26, 2010 at 12:15 pm | Share |
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We’re only falling into their trap, but Paste magazine’s list this morning of the 8 greatest songs by the Hold Steady was wrong enough that we here at Listen, Dammit, can’t help but weigh in.
Their heart was in the right place: Paste’s list served as a fond farewell to keyboard player Franz Nicolay, who has [...]
January 26, 2010 at 9:49 am | Share |
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The first album by Retribution Gospel Choir came together in a hurry in 2008, but Alan Sparhawk’s Low side project took its time honing songs for the follow-up.
“The first record was pretty early in the band and we were still trying to figure out what was going on,” he tells Listen, Dammit. “This time we [...]
January 26, 2010 at 8:30 am | Share |
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Let’s hear it for the one-off single. Singer and songwriter Justin Townes Earle just recorded one with tourmate Dawn Landes (who just released a new album, “Sweet Heart Rodeo,” last week in the U.S.). The tune is a beauty: the duo does a jaunty version of “Do I Ever Cross Your Mind,” putting a fresh [...]
January 25, 2010 at 12:11 pm | Share |
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By 1990 Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty had accumulated impressive resumés.
Drummond had been a member of the Liverpool punk band Big in Japan whose other members included Holly Johnson of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Ian Broudie of The Lightning Seeds and Budgie of Siouxie and the Banshees and The Creatures. After Big in Japan [...]
January 25, 2010 at 10:07 am | Share |
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Baltimore duo Beach House was mostly unknown before releasing its second album in 2008. That record, “Devotion,” got the band noticed in hipster circles, with Pitchfork raving about it in typically overwrought fashion. Even Rolling Stone gave it a positive notice. And it was a good album.
Their latest is a great album. “Teen Dream,” their [...]
January 22, 2010 at 8:30 am | Share |
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Dark, dark, dark: brooding Los Angeles band the Delta Mirror has an affinity for broken things on its forthcoming album, “Machines That Listen,” due March 16 on Lefse Records (home of Neon Indian and Phaseone).
Each track on the band’s 9-song full-length debut takes place in a different room in a hospital, and there’s a corresponding [...]
January 21, 2010 at 11:41 am | Share |
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