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JONATHAN DONALDSON
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Cellars by Starlight
Slowdim drink wine with pizza. It's true. I was there.
Labrador (2013)
Hit the Waves is so heartfelt as a pastiche of '80s alternative music that it almost muscles its way into being brilliant.
Cellars by Starlight
On his new record On My Mind/In My Heart , the question is not if Jesse Dee can step up to the challenge of making authentic soul and R&B music in 2013, but rather how he goes about it.
Whether it's Bradford Cox with Deerhunter, or Dan Snaith with Caribou, or Kevin Parker with Tame Impala, there must be something with this trend in sonic auteurs with cervine band names.
"It seems like a challenge to make something that you have to pay a lot of attention to," says Josh Dibbs.
Like the cool air and diffuse light surrounding the desolate, ramshackle boardwalk pictured on the cover of her new record, Via (Thrill Jockey), something dark looms in Thalia Zedek's music.
This year brings two revelations from Chicago-born pop/soul/torch-singer Liam Hayes of Plush.
Cellars by Starlight
For a songwriter as simple and direct as Naseem Khuri, the band he's built around himself is surprisingly multi-faceted.
Shortly after the release of their 2011 self-titled debut, Widowspeak drummer and founder Michael Stasiak left the band; it was the blow that drove singer Molly Hamilton and guitarist Robert Earl Thomas to make a better album.
Books
Prior to the meme-tastic success of last year's Go the Fuck to Sleep (Akashic Books), Adam Mansbach had written two acclaimed novels about race and culture.
Released the day before Halloween, the Soft Moon's Zeroes is the perfect soundtrack for anyone looking to flirt with their '80s UK-goth dark side.
Sundazed Music Inc (2012)
Sundazed scores with an LP-only box featuring rare original mono mixes of the Velvet's first three records; Nico's debut, Chelsea Girl ; and an unreleased album heretofore known to fans by legend only.
Cellars by Starlight
In talking to a cross section of talented musicians about their craft, certain themes repeat, and sometimes the names of certain people.
Cellars by starlight
Sitting with Eddie Japan frontman David Santos, there is suspicion he might be a spy. He's well-dressed, to suit any occasion that might arise, and he refuses a drink.
CDs might now be an outdated medium, but there was a time when everything on the format was available — except for one of the great rock records of the early '80s: 1981's In a Roman Mood by legendary Boston punk/new wave/whatever band Human Sexual Response.
Paw Tracks Records (2012)
We are used to this kind of thing with bigger stars — where the biography starts to take over and we talk more about how gaga-licious the artist is than about the music — but less so with the underground. Prince Rama don't make it easy, but their music demands that we dispense with their deep-fried, peyote-dipped creamsicle of a story as quickly as possible.
Outside their rehearsal space, Mean Creek are standing with their hands in their pockets, excited to dig into some discussion about their anticipated new record, Youth Companion .
Easy rider
Simplicity is not always easy, but sometimes it's the surest path to style and clarity, especially when we're talking about three girls, three instruments, three singers, loads of reverb, no solos, basic blues beats, high-and-lonesome harmonies, and killer songs dying for a smoke.
Circus of our stars
If the theme of last year's One Night Band was fun, the theme this year was star power.
Glitter bomber
Following the directions to this special private set by Gene Dante and the Future Starlets was a lot like following a scavenger hunt.
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