Of the many things Poly Styrene was, timid was never amongst them. Her personal and musical arc, from 1977's Germ Free Adolescents all the way to this collection of songs for what would be her final album, Generation Indigo, showed quite the opposite. Continue Reading...
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With sadness, we can now confirm rumors of the passing of Poly Styrene, punk rock icon & lead singer of seminal U.K. punk band X-Ray Spex. According to a posting on her official Facebook page by her long-time friend Symond Lawes, "i just spoke to her mother and its very true, she passed away quietly last night, her mother and daughter were with her, bless you marianne. symond xxx". The news was further confirmed by her PR team, saying "We can confirm that the beautiful Poly Styrene, who has been a true ...
If power pop is really not your thing, you're probably in the wrong spot. To my excitement, it happens to be the thing of Vancouver, BC darlings Mother Mother whose third studio album, Eureka, is due for release on 15 March worldwide. Continue Reading...
There was a psychedelic re-awakening of sorts in the late 1980's, due in part to the pervasive cultural trend towards retrospective of the late-1960's "Summer of Love". In the midst of this, there appeared the psych-pop of The Dukes of Stratosphear. The Dukes were a spin-off of the much-loved British pop/punk act XTC, whom many consider the most important British rock act of the 1980's. Though they worked feverishly to cloak themselves in anonymous monikers and lack of fanfare for the release of their first EP, 25 O'Clock, people would eventually come to figure out that ...
Last year, I procrastinated heavily. I think there were a lot of good records that came out the last couple of years, but I started to think that for every record that came out, there was an equal number of these "best-of" lists being bandied about. At first I thought, "Wow, it's finally happened. Everyone's a music critic." Then, with this pervasive thought entrenched in my gourd, I started reading these other lists before making my own.
I suddenly felt small.
So deadlines for the "best of 2007" rolled around, and I was in a tailspin, dogged by ...
What an awesome way to start the day before my birthday. Two new remixes from two stellar artists end up in my inbox, remixed by two of my current favorite remixers/performers/disco savants -- Fujiya & Miyagi and Friendly Fires, each of whom have recently released albums which shine rather brightly of their own accord.
The first remix is presented as the highly-touted "revitalized Mercury Rev" returns in full force with their seventh album (which I've just received and not had time to listen to as yet), Snowflake Midnight. If you're in UK, they tour in November -- dates after ...
photo credit: dongraft
I've been bragging about the new Oasis album Dig Out Your Soul ever since it leaked & I'm not one for needless banter about bands that over-hype and under-deliver. Oasis hit this one out of the park. Don't believe me? Click here to visit them on MySpace and find out for yourself. Win, win, win. Dig Out Your Soul is without a doubt the most well-crafted Oasis album in over a decade & now you can see what I mean for yourself.
(Ed. Note: I'm reposting this with updated information, so if it looks like you've read this, you have -- but now you can go buy the record)
I'm so sick and tired of all the bullshit, aren't you?
I am so tired of being force-fed the idea that clowning on a style that you used to do is supposed to be clever and cool. Weezer's completely over-hyped and under-delivering 2008 release, aka the Red Album, is getting one mention in this column and one only: every time you see another article hyping Weezer, remember that there's a conspiracy out ...
I don't have a lot of time this morning to give it a proper overview, but I can honestly say this: if for many a year it has seemed to you (as it has to me) like Liam and Noel have been on about nothing when calling themselves "geniuses" or "brilliant", their luck has turned (and thankfully, so has ours). Dig Out Your Soul is by far the finest new recording by Oasis in over a decade. I have enjoyed listening to it repeatedly over the last few days & plan to spend time telling you more about ...
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