St. Vincent’s self-titled fourth record is without a doubt in my top ten for the year. Her music is an idiosyncratic mix of post-Bowie stylized weirdness, syncopated, dance-able rhythms, and off-kilter guitar bravado. There is no one in her league. Her lyrics are intellectual and articulate with the requisite amount of oddness to match the […]

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Beloved and seminal North Carolina indie rock label Merge Records — home to such historically important indie rock bands as Archers of Loaf and Polvo and current chart-toppers Arcade Fire — celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, and Merge is throwing one hell of a yearlong party. There’s the Or Thousands of Prizes subscription series, […]

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Whether or not your down with Joy Division bassist Peter Hook touring his old band’s debut album with his kid and a few hired guns in tow is one thing. Purchasing an EP of Joy Division covers by said crew is another. I couldn’t imagine patronizing either one. But somebody must be, or I wouldn’t […]

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George Michael is set to release a cover of New Order’s “True Faith” on March 13, 2011 to raise money for Comic Relief. Seems a bit of a left-field choice for Michael, but New Order’s (ex) own Peter Hook has given his slightly backhanded blessing, saying, “It blew me away when I heard it. Not […]

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The blog “Music For Kids Who Can’t Read Good” has a collection of commercials featuring music from Morning Benders (see above), Joanna Newsom and Los Campesinos, among others. We at Drawer B are still in shock from the Gang of Four Xbox ad.

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1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Via Metafilter See also “The rage of Common People”

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Sigh.

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“You could call it their OK Computer. But it’s arguably better than that.“ I love Arcade Fire as much as the next guy, but whoa nellie, I don’t think Suburbs is worthy of that hyperbole. Of course, I’ve only listened to Suburbs once and OK Computer about a billion times, so I might be jumping […]

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I like to think of myself as a pretty big Fugazi fan, having seen them live five or six times over the years, but the news of the band’s upcoming massive live archive website isn’t as exciting to me as it seems to be for everyone else. With literally hundreds of shows being digitized and […]

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“Compliments” is the first single off Band of Horses’ third long-player, Infinite Arms, which is due out May 18th via Fat Possum/Brown/Columbia. The music is thicker and busier than anything they’ve done previously. Bridwell’s vocals have always been double-tracked and drowning in reverb, but now he’s harmonizing with himself on multiple levels, which is interesting, […]

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With word of a new CocoRosie record due in May, I was reminded of the brilliance of “Terrible Angels” and their debut record, La maison de Mon Rêve.

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NPR piece on compression and the trending of loudness in modern music.  Anchor Robert Siegel interviews legendary mastering genius Bob Ludwig, who has 40 years of experience in sound engineering. He references the following YouTube clip entitled “The Loudness War” as an example of the decline in dynamic range.

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So, Dirty Projectors’ Bitte Orca is easily one of my favorite records of the year. If that record has already blown your mind, I’m not sure how much more impressed you can be, but this song absolutely floored me. Originally written as part of a six-song suite for Bjork (more details over at Stereogum), “When […]

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Columbia, South Carolina’s Death Becomes Even The Maiden say farewell to their drummer at the 2009 Free Times Music Crawl with the crowd pleaser “The Only Thing I Feel For You Is The Recoil.” Also check out the video for their track, Control from The Arrangement EP. (Full Disclosure: While we typically eschew posting self-promotional […]

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Interesting. No comment on the choice of song.

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With all the activity in the Blur camp, fans on this side of the pond have been wondering if they’ll get a taste of the action. Rumors are pointing to some US dates later this year. To coincide with the live shows, the band’s label is prepping a compilation for those who might have missed […]

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Portland’s Viva Voce have a new LP, Rose City out on May 26th on Barsuk and as one might expect, they’re on tour and heading to SXSW. Devotion from the forthcoming LP. March: 12 San Francisco, CA Rickshaw Stop 13 Visalia , CA Cellar Door 15 Tucson, AZ Plush 16 Phoenix, AZ Rhythm Room 18 […]

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Interpol just published a letter to fans “Cherished Interpudlians” to announce work on its fourth record has commenced, at least the writing stage that is, which is a perfectly justifiable excuse to post this video of the best song off Our Love to Admire, “Pace Is the Trick.” The band succinctly describes the state of […]

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