You know who ends up getting a lot of Flier of the Week love? Local industrial bands. But, really, as much as I'd like to spread the attention around, I have to share fliers like this. This flier for 30 Fathom Grave's show at The Ruby Room is pretty great. It kind of reminds me of the cover of Metallica's Load (which we lame, admittedly) but also Fight Club. So who are these guys? Well, they're from Phoenix and have a NIN-y sound that's a little lighter on the percussion than many contemporary i
By Randall RobertsAny knucklehead with DSL and a laptop can now make an electronic track. With a half hour of clicking and fiddling, you can sample enough cheesy beats and mashups to clog arteries from here to Berlin. Simple dropdown mouse maneuvers can transform electro tracks into progressive house tracks (from dry and synthetic to wet and gushy), rhythm tracks can be tempo-tweaked with an upward toggle to change a Timbaland beat into a Chromeo one. Add some T-Pain-esque pitch-correction vocal
By Annie ZaleskiPop music often gets a bad rap for being disposable or vapid, and in many cases that's true. (Katy Perry, Danity Kane and the Pussycat Dolls, step right up!) But every year, a few irresistible bits of innovative ear candy rocket up the charts and seep into our subconscious. The following ten singles saturated the Top 40 -- or what passes for hit-oriented radio in this topsy-turvy musical climate -- while proving that accessibility doesn't necessarily preclude creativity.
CHRIS
Pazz and Jop, the annual Village Voice poll of music critics, is out. Conducted since 1971, the poll is the original metacritic, aggregating music writer's annual best of lists in to one mega list. Unsurprisingly, TV on the Radio won the number one spot, as it did in all the major music magazines, while M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" was named song of the year.A few thoughts...
No, you weirdo, she's actually pregnantFor those of you who tuned into the 51st annual Grammy Awards Sunday night, you were most likely treated to a lamely named performance of the "Rap Pack:" Jay-Z, Kanye West, T.I., and Lil' Wayne. The four artists gave a dapper performance, no doubt flustering audiences of 40-year-olds in the Midwest who have no clue who any of the performers were. It didn't help that Sri Lankan rapper/activist/Day-Glo fabric champion M.I.A. joined the men on stag
That is some pretty awesome album art for a pretty average albumAs we come right smack into another Tuesday rife with new releases, I will choose to focus my energies on one particular release, N.A.S.A.'s The Spirit of Apollo. N.A.S.A. (North America/South America) is the collaboration between DJ Zegon (Ze Gonzales) and Squeak E. Clean (Sam Spiegel). Apollo has been hotly anticipated, due to its rather unique lineup of guest vocals. The album features the vocals of M.I.A., Lykke Li, Kanye West (
Guns Don't Kill People...Lazers Do First and foremost, don't be fooled by the fact that DJs Diplo and Switch are the brains behind Major Lazer. Also, don't get caught up in the fact that Santigold is on the lead single, "Hold The Line." Major Lazer's Guns Don't Kill People...Lazers Do is 100% a reggae album. Sure, it features beats arranged by Diplo and Switch, but it also features a plethora of reggae vocals throughout the entire album -- even featuring some unmistakable reggae beats. That
