As was widely reported last week, The Cure plans to release four new singles on the 13th of each month leading up to the release of its (surprise, surprise) as-yet-untitled 13th studio album in September. First up on May 13th is “The Only One”, which is backed by the non-album b-side “NY Trip.” Each [...]

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I’ve been reading some ho-hum impressions of Scarlett Johansson’s debut single, “Falling Down”, and, after listening myself, I must say I’m sort of surprised by the complaints. It’s nowhere near as meh as people are saying. I was expecting it to be horrible based on some of the hyperbolic headlines. Granted, it’s not great. It’s [...]

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So it ain’t no Crying Game-like secret that Ben Bridwell and his (mostly) faithful sidekicks have got a new release, Cease to Begin, coming out on Sub Pop October 9th. By now you probably even know the track listing by heart (or at least as well as The Dirty Projectors know Damaged), but here it [...]

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Not content to leave well enough alone (or in the case of his and Daniel Merriweather’s “Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before” cover…let dead dogs lie), Brit and brass man Mark Ronson has given Bob Dylan’s “Most Likely You’ll Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine)” the hot fuzz treatment. And while we’ll [...]

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Stream “Skin Divers” here. This is the highest quality leak from Duran Duran’s forthcoming Red Carpet Massacre. There’s been much debate about the band’s new direction, but to me “Skin Divers” is the most polarizing new song yet to surface. It’s a dark and sleazy club track and another Timbaland collaboration with the inevitable arsenal of repetitive, [...]

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This is the second release in The Social Registry’s limited 7″ Social Club. Sian Alice Group’s “Nightbird” is an expansive pop experiment, interweaving ethereal vocals with a lush and layered musical backdrop. Sian Ahern’s voice is precariously poised on the edge of seductive otherworldliness and shadowy allure. The music has an amorphous vagueness to it [...]

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Chin Up Chin Up is playing one of those sneaky, just-announced Spoon shows on Friday the 13th at Shuba’s in Chicago. Here’s the title track off Chin Up Chin Up’s latest record on Suicide Squeeze. Smart, jangly indie rock a la local predecessors The Sea and Cake, though less polished, Chin Up Chin Up operates [...]

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I think this song could make a believer out of anyone on the fence about this band. I imagine there are plenty of people put off by the hype and the accolades, and that’s a shame. The lyrics are just too insanely good to be ignored, and Alex Turner is too fucking young to be [...]

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The first release in The Social Regsistry’s new Social Club singles subscription is from actress Jena Malone, who has sustained her career with low-key roles in off-beat films like Donnie Darko, The Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys, and Saved! With such an innocent, almost child-like onscreen presence, it’s hard to imagine she’d create music anywhere [...]

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I am admittedly puzzled by Spiderman 3’s decision to go indie for the its latest soundtrack, since the franchise has successfully slummed through unlistenable nonsense like Nickelback and Hoobastank on previous compilations with enough fanfare to ignore the little guys.
I guess some remotely tuned-in staffer decided it was time to cater to the Subterranean [...]

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