Of Note
In 2007, the pop-music writers at MTV thought Yeasayer was a great band. They couldn’t say enough good things about them, and they thought that the band had gotten lost and went unnoticed amidst all …
This story may be familiar to you: A few years ago, after some health problems and the breakups of both his band and his relationship, Justin Vernon spent a winter holed up in a cabin …
Last week, I was putting together a playlist of post-’60s psychedelic songs from the likes of Apples in Stereo, Kelley Stoltz, Young Prisms, and the Lumerians. I wanted droning, distorted organ sounds, primitive drums and …
Are the majority of country-western songs built on heartache and misery? “I would say it drives a lot of the genre, for sure,” says Bob Ryan. “Just like blues. A lot of times you get …
“Say Shh...,” by Atmosphere, is a hip-hop anti-anthem: Instead of going the traditional route and boasting about the mean streets where he grew up, MC Slug raps about how his home, Minneapolis, is a good …
The blues-man’s stock-in-trade: endless metaphors for infidelity. “I got a feeling you’re eating out now, baby,” sings five-time Grammy winner Robert Cray, “and someone else is doing the fryin’.” But when Cray sings, it’s not …
The concept was simple: Brothers Zac and Ethan Holtzman wanted to find a Cambodian singer and relive ’60s Cambodian pop. Things clicked into place when Chhom Nimol, a singer working a Cambodian lounge in Long …
TV on the Radio is one of the most important bands of the past ten years, and, until recently, their music wouldn’t let you forget it. Too often, in the past, the band sounded ponderous. …
“We lived in San Diego all of ’97,” says Whit Smith by phone from Delaware. As guitarist, Smith is one-third of the country-swing/hot-jazz group Hot Club of Cowtown. “We arrived New Year’s Day, 1997, and …
When fans try to explain Spacemen 3 to the uninitiated, they inevitably refer to the title of one of the many compilations of the band’s outtakes, Taking Drugs to Make Music to Take Drugs To. …
Yuck is an exciting young London band whose songs often set distorted electric-guitar noise against understated vocals, sweet melodies, and loud-quiet-loud song structures. Does this sound familiar? To me, it sounds so much like 1991 …
In the ’60s, the pioneers of psychedelic rock were inspired by psychedelic drugs. Not so much anymore, but the musical DNA lives on, so it comes as no surprise when Maserati’s Matt Cherry sends a …
The song “Good Kisser” by Hunx and his Punx has a chorus that goes, “I don’t think he’s gonna miss her/ Cuz I’m a really good kisser.” It’s dumb but irresistibly catchy. It’s a little …
The Dodos are the San Francisco–based duo of singer/guitarist Meric Long and percussionist Logan Kroeber, on the road somewhere between Reno and Las Vegas when we talk. “I’m so glad you didn’t ask me to …
Last year, Bay Area–artist Sonny Smith put on a gallery show in which he designed sleeves and labels for 7-inch singles by 100 imaginary bands. Smith, who’s also a singer and songwriter, recorded songs for …
These days, Creed’s frontman Scott Stapp is a repentant man. “I’m on a quest right now, seeking things of a spiritual nature and really being honest with myself, in an attempt to be a better …