It’s no secret that Black Francis has one of the best screams in rock, but his blood curdling, cathartic spasm on the Pixies’ classic “Tame” is untouchable. Kurt Cobain learned more than a few tricks from Mr. Francis’ guttural shrieks and put them to fine use. I was helpfully reminded of this by The Guardian’s […]

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Pay early and get a bunch of stuff for “free” or something like that. Look at Gahan and the boys being all progressive again.

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I have a soft spot for French pop, from Filles in the Garage style ’60s pop to Serge and Françoise to the twee tunes of Tahiti 80. Phoenix, while definitely falling under the French pop umbrella, manage to transcend that label and have delivered some of the best pop music of this decade. The new […]

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By the time Weezer’s Make Believe dropped in 2005, so had my faith in Rivers Cuomo, irretrievably. I still enjoy the band’s first two records on occasion, especially Pinkerton, for which I like to credit departed bassist Matt Sharpe, whose absence has been sorely missed. He brought a special level of sincerity, humor, and unpredictability […]

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Coming in early April, Mute will release the first 4 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds albums, including the classic (and my personal fave) From Her to Eternity. More here. I must admit to being perplexed by reissues. Of course these, like most, are “REMASTERED IN 5.1 SURROUND SOUND.” I kinda preferred From Her to […]

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Strangely, Entertainment Weekly has an exclusive stream of Cursive’s “I Couldn’t Love You”, off the band’s forthcoming Mama, I’m Swollen out on Saddle Creek March 10. At first, it sounds more like a song by The Good Life, Tim Kasher’s other band, but the tension brims into uncomfortable emotional weirdness, which is much more indicative […]

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Depeche Mode debuted its new single, “Wrong”, at the Echo Awards in Germany this past weekend. It’s sort of a gimmicky Martin Gore composition, but it sounds not unlike Depeche Mode’s recent musical trajectory. Not sure how “live” the drums are in this clip, but Dave Gahan sounds like he’s really singing. May take a […]

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