Nouvelle Vague Stay Smooth
Led by Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux, French collective Nouvelle Vague have weirdly reiterated pop and rock classics through genre filters, hot chanteuses and all-star cameos. On their latest effort, […]
music that matters
Trip Out to 2009’s Best Unheard Music
From Trans Am’s revved jams to chilled hypnotics by Swervedriver’s Adam Franklin, there’s plenty of unfairly unheard music from 2009. Wrap your ears around a head-trip’s worth in the streams […]
Metromixed! Built to Spill, Rakim, Dinosaur Jr., Gift of Gab, The Bravery
I finally wrangled some more of my musical content from 2009. Here are four of my Metromix reviews involving the smoothest rappers alive, a guitar army, and a dark dance-pop […]
Best Music of the Millennium (So Far)
What’s crazy is that few saw it coming.
The Heavy Merges Power Soul, Hip-Hop
[Remy Schneider, Morphizm] The Heavy, The House That Dirt Built First listen Sentence Fragment: Garage-funktronic swing sung by a testosterone-injected Nina Simone. Further Analysis: The House That Dirt Built morphs […]
Give Thanks For Colbert, Superman, Batman
Stephen Colbert’s nightly merge of news, hilarity, social commentary, wit and shameless plugs for everything from his painting in the Smithsonian to his marketable man-seed have fully turned the pop-culture’s self-obsessed mirror upon itself.
The Prisoner: An All-Star Appreciation
Its revolutionary mix of geopolitics, sci-fi and psychedelia has influenced not just television, but also music, comics, film and more.
Pixies Surrealize Doolittle’s Anniversary Tour
The greatest band of the ’80s and ’90s is back to rep its crossover knockout with a full-album tour, including B-sides.
Devo Returns, This Time With Rugs!
“De-evolution seems even more a part of our daily reality than ever. There is more misinformation, humans have overrun the planet, and it is not nuclear bombs we must fear, but the human mind. Or lack of it.”
The Prisoner Inspires Dhani Harrison’s TheNewNo2 Experiment
“It’s kind of like opening up a massive can of worms.”
The Happy Hollows Cast Spells On Me
Led by unhinged front woman Sarah Neghadari, Los Angeles power trio The Happy Hollows make deranged art-rock with one foot in alternative music’s past and another in the YouTube future. […]
Difference Engine Reboots, Recomputes
“A friend suggested the William Gibson and Bruce Sterling book title for our band name, and we immediately took to it, since it encompassed our sound, which is a blend of human and machine.”
Mike Watt’s Spooky Sunrise
Mike Watt, kickass bassist for everyone from The Minutemen to The Stooges to his own various bands like The Secondmen and Dos, sends out evocative photos to his list of […]
The Black Keys’ Drummer Creates Band Called Drummer With Drummer Pals
One of the most fun interviews I’ve conducted recently was with a hung-over Patrick Carney, drummer for The Black Keys and architect of the new band called …Drummer!
Q-Tip Resurrects Kamaal the Abstract
A Tribe Called Quest architect Q-Tip created a hypnotic solo album that stretched hip-hop’s envelope years ago. So why did it just drop today? File this one under “Lessons the […]
To-Do List For All Tomorrow’s Parties
Named for the famous Velvet Underground song and founded by Barry Hogan, All Tomorrow’s Parties has defiantly offered bleeding-edge music, comedy and more since its inception.
Five On Five With The Beatles Rock Band
What, no Strawberry Fields Forever? Are you kidding?
These United States Rock The Folk Out
If you’re using the United States in your band name, you better have reach. Good thing Jesse Elliott and his merry crew of 21st-century folk rockers have plenty. In the […]
They Might Be Giants Blinds With Science
The two Johns of They Might Be Giants have been captivating my mind and spine for over 25 years now. Lately, they’ve been hooking kid brains with several smart but […]
Resurgent Autolux Shreds Sonic Envelope
My new favorite band is back at last. Which is stellar, considering its criminally underrated debut Future Perfect dropped in 2004 and tied Sleater-Kinney’s deafening The Woods for album of […]
Kim Deal Embraces The Breeders’ Fate
I caught up with the Deals to talk about Bob Marley, Jessica Simpson, the digital-analog divide, and the end of the music industry as we know it.
McCartney to Israel: Give Peace a Chance
“I’m bringing a message of peace, and I Think that’s what the region needs.”
Mew Makes Music For Mindfuckers
Sometimes you hit the home run, and sometimes you don’t. Denmark’s Mew hit it out of the park on its last album, a concept head-trip called And the Glass Handed […]
Metric’s Emily Haines Ponders Earth’s Erotic Apocalypse
One of my favorite bands in the world is Canada’s Metric, which is led by the irrepressible Emily Haines. She’s smart and sexy with a gift for poetry and philosophy. […]
Girl In A Coma: It’s Serious
Man, I’ve got many interviews in the bag that I’ve yet to float on Morphizm. This was a cool one, with a Texas trio of growing power, who happen to […]