May 2009
21 posts
7 tags
Independent Music Discoveries, Issue #10
Another round of fab independent musicians in this continuing series, with 3 of them being from New York this time around…suggest your favourites in the comments! The Royal Chains - Pop / Rock - New York, USA The Royal Chains are a 3-piece group (Adam Roddick: singer/guitarist, Dan Lawley: bassist, and Mike Stefanov: drummer) based in New York that combine the best of tuneful pop of days...
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Album Review Double-Header: Phoenix vs. Grizzly...
….VS…. Two of the year’s most hyped-up albums, Phoenix’s Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix and Grizzly Bear’s Veckatimest, were recently released; what better way to highlight them both than by pitting them against each other, though the extent of their musical similarity might just go as far as their currently hipster-approved stance. Here we go! Phoenix - Wolfgang...
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Kasabian - The West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum
Despite my affection for “Club Foot” and interest in what the rest of their music was like, at the time, I was forced to avoid Kasabian’s self-titled debut album in 2004 because of that irksome Copy Control nonsense. Fast-forward to 2009, Copy Control has long dissolved, and I have obtained Kasabian, their second release Empire (2006), and have just heard The West Ryder Pauper...
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Happy Birthday, Bob Dylan!
[Photo credit: F. Antolín Hernandez/Stoned69, licensed via Creative Commons] Today, Bob Dylan (b. Robert Allen Zimmerman, 5/24/1941), the famed American singer-songwriter, turns 68! What am I doing in honor of Bobbie D’s birthday? Well…I’m reading Behind the Shades Revisited, by Clinton Heylin: I bought this book sometime last year, though it has been sitting up on my shelf...
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Starter Guide: Post-Punk
Post-Punk, frequently associated with ‘gloomy’ late 70’s/early 80’s acts, can often actually be split into two varieties there’s the jangly, guitar-oriented kind (Television, the Feelies), and the dark, bass-driven kind (Joy Division, Bauhaus). After coming to the realization that an enormous portion of my music library contained artists considered post-punk and,...
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Independent Music Discoveries: Issue #9
Another installment of our continuing series- more independent artist recommendations for you, but first, updates on a couple of our previously-featured musicians! —- *UPDATES!* Patrick Davy - Alternative Rock - Michigan, USA Originally featured in Issue #4 of Independent Music Discoveries, I have now heard his new album Where it Began in full (you can stream much of it on his official site;...
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Jarvis Cocker - Further Complications
The year 2009 has had magical powers in triggering a huge number of artists I enjoy, or have so much as thought about listening to, to put out new releases. Upon landing on the main page of AMG last night, to my surprise, here I see the new album from former Pulp front-man Jarvis Cocker, Further Complications, just released! To think that this one might have slipped past me is alarming, but now I...
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Free Beastie Boys 33 1/3 Series Audiobook on...
On the heels of February’s Paul’s Boutique 20th anniversary remastering and re-issue and announcement of the Beasties working on Tadlock’s Glasses, Dan LeRoy’s book on the Beastie Boys’ 1989 album Paul’s Boutique (part of the excellent 33 1/3 series on legendary albums) is now available to download and stream as a free audio book on Audible! A complete...
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Announcements!
A briefing on what’s been happening in the A Future in Noise world as of late…: Next week, starting 5/25, we’ll kick off our Favourite Albums Ever series, with a selection from the 4 AFIN team-mates each day, including the first post from new contributor Fulmar Austen aka Andy from Dainty Records! These are albums near and dear to our hearts- we hope you enjoy hearing our...
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Independent Music Discoveries: Issue #8
Another installment in our weekly Independent Music Discoveries series- share your favourite independent musicians in the comments. Thanks to readers Andrea, John P., and fellow blogger/musician Marcel for this week’s suggestions! Black Nite Crash - Alternative / Shoegaze - Washington, USA Spotting Spacemen 3, the Church, and Screen Vinyl image in Black Nite Crash’s top friends on...
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Under the Radar Albums 2009
Shining the spot-light on three albums and two EPs from 2009 that everyone should be listening to and talking about: William Basinski - 92982 Known best for his awe-inspiring Disintegration Loops (2002, and followed by parts II, III, and IV in 2003), William Basinski is a classically-trained American composer who deals in loops and experimentation. 92982 (see Cokemachineglow’s excellent...
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Wilco - Wilco (The Album)
I must admit…Wilco, up to this point, had been a band I simply wasn’t able to get into. Yes, I’d heard Being There and Summerteeth. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, too, and bits and bobs from their other albums. Some element of this music just wouldn’t sink in, much in the way that prog and post-rock have proven confounding. Luckily, I decided to give this band another chance to...
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Artist Feature: Susumu Yokota
Susumu Yokota (横田進) is a Japanese electronic artist with 30+ releases behind him yet; his first full-length album Acid Mt. Fuji was released in 1994, and most recently Mother in 2009. Enjoyed by the likes of Brian Eno, Thom Yorke, Bjork, and Philip Glass, Yokota’s music has gone from shifting with the times (early albums being ambient-techno akin to the work of Aphex Twin, shifting towards...
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15 Brilliant Out-of-Print Albums
The 2000s have seen a host of wonderful re-issues; the Japan discography,Tom Verlaine’s Dreamtime, Danielle Dax’s Dark Adapted Eye, the Wipers Box Set, for instance. Even still, there are many more critically important albums and hidden gems that could certainly stand to be re-released. Many of these I hadn’t realized were out-of-print until I began poking around Amazon/Amazon UK...
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Independent Music Discoveries: Issue #7
Another round of fantastic independent artists- recommend your favs in the comments, and check out previous posts in the Independent Music Discoveries series here! Chris Rehm - Folk / Pop / Electronica - Texas, USA Chris Rehm (of Caddywhompus) has just put out a solo album, awash in rain and ambient textures, it is a peaceful, stunning work, and very different from the recently released...
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Deerhunter - Rainwater Cassette Exchange
Rainwater Cassette Exchange (to be released digitally 5/18 and on CD and vinyl 6/8- UPDATE: now on cassette, too!) is the latest offering from Deerhunter. Immediately apparent from title track and promo mp3 “Rainwater Cassette Exchange” is some inspiration drawn from contemporaries Animal Collective (front-man Bradford Cox, incidentally, spoke of this in a Pitchfork interview),...
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Momma's Mix-Tapes!
The mix-tapes that my mom made, especially for the purpose of traveling in the car, are an important part of my youth- these are some of the songs that stand out the most in my memory and many of which have remained strong favourites through the years and shaped my own taste in music. I’ve included the track listings for some of these tapes below (all were made 80’s-90’s), and...
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Happy Birthday, Ian McCulloch!
(Photo Credit: Andrew Catlin) Today, Ian McCulloch (front-man for Echo & the Bunnymen) turns 50. After the brief existence of the Crucial Three in 1977, with Julian Cope (who would go on to form the Teardrop Explodes) and Pete Wylie (Wah!), McCulloch formed Echo & the Bunnymen in 1978 with Will Sergeant (guitar), Les Pattinson (bass), and, originally, a drum machine. Drummer Pete de...
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Heads We Dance Ft. Little Boots - New B-Side, Free...
Electro party-starters Heads We Dance, set to release their debut album Love Technology on 6/1, collaborated with neo-disco-pop sensation Little Boots on the B-side to their single “When the Sirens Sound” (due 5/18), and have made it available for free download; get it now! Download “Work It Out” - Heads We Dance Ft. Little Boots Pre-order Heads We Dance - Love Technology...
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Manic Street Preachers - Journal For Plague Lovers
It’s impossible to listen to or discuss the new Manic Street Preachers album, Journal For Plague Lovers (set for release on 5/18), without placing it in the context of the band’s history: their confrontational, politically-charged style of music, after a couple of EPs and 1992 debut album Generation Terrorists , offered a stark contrast to the early-90’s British shoegaze scene....
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Independent Music Discoveries: Issue #6
Another fabulous installment in the ongoing series- recommend your favourite indie artists in the comments! Ladybear - Rock / Alternative / Indie - Twickenham / London, UK Ladybear are an up-and-coming three-piece British group comprised of Amy Nicholls, Louis Matthews, and John Martin, whose latest demo was produced by Amy’s brother Morgan Nicholls (known for performing with the Streets,...