Dreamy, Jazzy Folk
Samuel Beam is nothing if not productive. As the sole member of Iron & Wine, he has released five studio albums, seven EPs and three live albums since he began recording in 2002. Any artist who has something to offer every year either has more creativity than he can contain or poor judgment as to what constitutes “quality.” Beam happily falls into the former category as his latest album, Ghost on Ghost, shows a surprising breadth of interests and influences.
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By Alyssa Fried Posted in Reviews Iron and Wine
Pop-Psychedelic-”Hindie”-Rock
Elephant Stone took some time to create the follow-up to their 2009 Polaris Music Prize longlisted debut, The Seven Seas. Since that release, only an EP has escaped their workshop. Three years later, we find them fully immersed in their appealing, if overly hyphenated, pop-psychedelic-”Hindie”-rock sound.
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By Alyssa Fried Posted in High Fidelity, Reviews Elephant Stone
Turning Dream-Pop into Reality
Ex Cops, a Brooklyn duo formed in 2011 recording and touring as a five-piece, have released their debut, True Hallucinations, on indie label Other Music, run by the Manhattan record store of the same name. As weary as indie-via-Brooklyn-hipsters may be, an open mind makes Hallucinations worthwhile.
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By Alyssa Fried Posted in Reviews
How many voices ring out high and clear above the audience, textured by rough edges and thirty years of performance? There are a handful, and even fewer whose pipes have held up as well as Chris Cornell’s. The famed frontman was back with the recently reunited Soundgarden for three nights at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom. For the final night, fans were treated to a two-and-a-half-hour performance, with Cornell quipping, “We’re pretty much playing songs from every record we know.” Not quite, but they did include songs spanning their entire career, from 1987’s Screaming Life EP to their 2012 album King Animal, with the most emphasis on the latter, and their 1994 mainstream mega-hit Superunknown. Amazingly, new tracks and old, deep cuts and number 1 hits, all fit together seamlessly. Soundgarden next take their tour out west across America, before ending in Seattle on February 8.
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By Alyssa Fried Posted in Reviews, Show Reviews Soundgarden
SPIN magazine rang out 2012 with their annual Year in Music Party, where they invite artists who made an impact in the last 12 months to perform a dual showcase. This year, the chosen two were Santigold, who released her sophomore album Master of My Make-Believe in April, and Grizzly Bear, who released their fourth studio album, Shields, in September. Both acts treated a packed audience in New York’s Bowery Ballroom to ten and eleven songs respectively (setlists below).
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By Alyssa Fried Posted in Reviews, Show Reviews Grizzly Bear, Santigold
Spirits were high as Pearl Jam fans and ukulele enthusiasts alike gathered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to see Eddie Vedder, best know as frontman of the aforementioned band, perform his latest solo tour in support of his solo album, Ukulele Songs. Although the show was rescheduled from May because of a wrist injury Vedder sustained earlier this year, the wait only added to the audience’s anticipation.
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By Alyssa Fried Posted in Reviews, Show Reviews Eddie Vedder, Glen Hansard
Not So Happy
Bush Tetras, an on-again off-again band active since 1979, seem to have crafted their career in spurts, working when it suits them, absorbing contemporary style while remaining true to their core sound. Never quite achieving mainstream success, they grew or or were stunted by their own whims. Their latest release, Happy, is not their most current, having been recorded in 1997. Because of this, Happy acts as something of a time capsule, and given the fifteen-year gap between recording and release, it shines best when considered in its original time and context.
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By Alyssa Fried Posted in Reviews bush tetras
Amanda Palmer’s Million-Dollar Album
What does a million-dollar album sound like? Art-pop cabaret songstress Amanda Palmer has the answer. Rather than finance her new album via traditional routes, Palmer turned to her fans and launched a Kickstarter campaign for funding. Eventually raising just over $1M, Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra recorded the fifteen tracks on Theatre is Evil, written over the four years since her previous release, Who Killed Amanda Palmer. Read more…
By Alyssa Fried Posted in High Fidelity, Reviews Amanda Palmer, The Grand Theft Orchestra
Vans House Parties–a free, open to the public, concert series in Brooklyn, NY–concluded the summer season last night in style. The vibe was fierce as Nightbirds, Doomriders, and Turbonegro offered up one mosh-worthy slam after another. The audience took advantage as a pit opened up early and crowdsurfers constantly spilled over the security barricade. Read more…
By Alyssa Fried Posted in Reviews, Show Reviews Doomriders, Night Birds, Turbonegro, Vans House Parties
A Tribute to Greatness A Little Less Than Great
A band that’s been around 40 years has seen its share of covers, and Fleetwood Mac is no exception. Recent memory bears Smashing Pumpkin’s haunting “Landslide,” and Hole’s snarling “Gold Dust Woman.” Just Tell Me that You Want Me – A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac, the 17-track tribute album to the legendary band, eschews known entries for the all-new, and embraces fellow classic artists alongside the newbies, the traditionalists with the experimentalists, to offer a wide array of artistic interpretations of Fleetwood Mac songs. The end result is hit-or-miss, with some artists going for straight covers, where others achieve reinvention. Read more…
By Alyssa Fried Posted in Reviews Fleetwood Mac
