2010 has been very busy for Cloud Nothings. First, there was the Turning On EP, then a seven inch single on Group Tightener and then another one on Old Flame, as well as a super rare split cassette release on Bathetic Records. This fall, Carpark compiles the Turning On EP, the Group Tightener single, and … Read more
Hurrah for plum pudding! The dudes that rocked our worlds in concert at the beginning of the month have decided to share a new song with us and the world: “Piece by Piece, Frame by Frame.” Deer Tick released the track’s album, The Black Dirt Sessions, last June on Partisan. Yet, the hits just keep … Read more
We at Speakers in Code were ecstatic to hear that Carl Broemel, guitarist for My Morning Jacket, was doin’ his solo thang. “Heaven Knows,” a recent Pajammy Jam of the Day, charmingly hints at summer love and island whispers. To the MMJ fans who known him for his raging guitar solos: get ready to see … Read more
Not sure what to think about this, but it’s most certainly entertaining! Bo Burnham is like a whiter, more suburban, and equally dirty version of Eminem. He even looks like a rapping Justin Bieber – that’s either saying a lot or nothing at all really. Again, I’m quite confused by what I saw below. If … Read more
Sweden has long been bringing its A-game when it comes to musical exports. Now following the lead of other satisfying Swede acts like The Tallest Man on Earth, Shout Out Louds, and The Knife, comes the sisterly duo of First Aid Kit. Klara and Johanna Soderberg play wise-beyond-their-years, country-tinged pop. They look not a day … Read more
“Who’s got the magic?“ Well, today, I have the magic. Just for you! Let’s celebrate the new Rabbit! album, Connect the Dots, which was released yesterday with, you guessed it, “Magic.” Ok, I am overdoing it. I’m usually the guy who obsesses over lyrics and songs that make you cry on this here blog. Not … Read more
So the Swedes appear to be on a bit of a roll here at Speakers in Code. On Tuesday, we picked First Aid Kit’s “Hard Believer” as the Pajammy Jam of the Day. On Wednesday, we selected The Tallest Man on Earth’s latest effort as the PJOTD. A truly wonderful PJOTD it was, indeed. Today, … Read more
With the release of their stellar mini-album Heretofore a few weeks back, newly-minted North Carolina heroes, Megafaun, are releasing a free MP3 of “Carolina Days” for our listening pleasure. The timing couldn’t be more right for this anthem about their/my home state since the weather down here is finally cooling off and that smell of Autumn … Read more
Photo by Katie Guymon “What you were then I am today / Look at the things I do…” For as big as The Avett Brothers have become in recent years, it seems like the band from North Carolina is still indifferent to one word that has been hard to say: stardom. But all you had … Read more
Oh, Cotton Jones, what have you done to me? From the very first moment I heard your track, “Somehow To Keep It Going,” I got chills, relentless chills. Creepy-crawly rivers of numbness trickled over my scalp. I got the shivers, persistent shivers. Yet, I couldn’t – and can’t – stop listening. Michael Nau and Whitney … Read more
Yesterday, San Diego’s Crocodiles released a free EP, Fires of Comparison, to serve as an aural amuse-bouche to the 9/14/10 release of their second LP, Sleep Forever. The EP is instrumentally in line with the fuzzy buzzy duo’s (yep, only two of ’em and they can make some fantastic noise) debut, Summer of Hate, which … Read more
Picture a black ’65 Lincoln Continental with suicide doors, speeding down Mulholland Drive at 3 o’clock in the morning. A cigarette burns out in the ashtray and a worn out copy of The Dharma Bums is haphazardly tossed on the passenger seat, along with the day’s paper. Top down on a cool October night, our Jam … Read more
Photo Credits: The Independent Weekly Well folks, the inaugural Hopscotch Music Festival is now firmly five days behind us, and it’s honestly taken me this long to decompress, catch up on “real work,” and recover from the sleep deprivation. Thinking back, everything seems a bit blurry – which could be the product of countless pints … Read more
The California four-piece, Infantree, released its Food For Thought EP earlier this year to high praise. With its eclectic mix of instruments (crunchy banjo, folky mandolin, buzzing electric guitar) and vocals compared to the mellow Tom Waits, the EP conjured up a lotta excitement for the LP, Would Work. The 12-song effort was produced by … Read more
Behold! The Firebird’s annual Undercover Weekend (actually, Weekends, this time around) kicks off tomorrow, and local Saint Louis bands will be thronging to the stage to creatively put their spin on the likes of The Postal Service (Union Tree Review), Pavement (Sleepy Kitty), and Loretta Lynn (Tenement Ruth). We at Speakers in Code love a … Read more
Last weekend, I had a conversation with Saint Louis musicians, Seth Porter (vocalist/guitarist of The Blind Eyes) and Cassie Morgan (musician/songwriter of Cassie Morgan and The Lonely Pine) that included (in addition to bowling shoes and small towns), “The State of the Saint Louis Local Music Scene.” Straight from the horse’s mouth (well, two horses’ … Read more
Speakers Rating: 93/100 When I hear the words “experiment” and “Neil Young” in the same sentence, my mind drifts ever so slightly. I think of all the times the Canadian artist has challenged my thoughts, my actions, and why I love music in the first place. Experimenting on a Young album might mean that he’s … Read more
Anna Rose may like to escape every now and then, but singing and writing songs has always been in her blood. Once the 25-year-old from Manhattan picked up the guitar, it’s always been in her life: with her on subways, used heavily in her songs she records and performs. Rose, it seems, knows what makes her … Read more
“I feel your love, I feel your strong love. I feel the patience of unconditional love.” A lot has happened to Neil Young in 2010. He lost friend and producer L.A. Johnson to a heart attack in January, and just last July, his long-time pedal steel expert, the great Ben Keith, also passed. Young’s also … Read more
Enthusiastically endorsed by the influential Nic Harcourt of KCRW, Katie Costello’s new EP, The City In Me (out September 28th on Tiny Tiny Records) is comprised of five gorgeous songs bursting at the seams with soaring melodies and bubbling over with insightful poetics. With hints of Regina Spektor in her powerful vocals, Costello weaves intricate stories … Read more
I hit music dorkness this week people. Congratulate me…seriously give it up! I was sitting at work, probably organizing a spreadsheet, when I heard Blake Sennett produced some dude’s new record, which got me all excited, and I immediately went to research, emailing everyone I knew that would appreciate the news. Blake Sennett, for those … Read more
Union Tree Review is Saint Louis’ answer to genius indie folk. Today’s Pajammy Jam of the Day, “Let Me Be,” instills a sense of longing in me that can’t be undone. It’s an chugging, acoustic train, reminiscent of Ryan Adams: brilliant lyricism, piano in all the right places, plenty o’ references to booze and regret. The track … Read more
Ain’t BFF love grand? I mean, what’s better than a sweet relationship between two dudes? There are no expectations about hanging out ALL the time and no hurt feelings when one guy tells the other guy he’s getting love handles. It’s bro bliss in the purest form. And what’s even better than that is when … Read more
“Oh my Lord, why am I not strong?” Like the wheel. Like the branch that will take me home. Every word, every guitar sound Kristian Matsson produces always sounds so delicate, even if he’s singing as if he’s been stabbed by the King of Spain. I get it, you might not like his voice. That’s … Read more
Note: This piece was written by current teacher of dance arts at Northwood High School in Pittsboro, North Carolina, Leah Smith. I can confer she does indeed know what makes great-artists great, and has all credentials needed for writing the below review. She is Speakers in Code verified. As someone involved with the arts on … Read more
Neon Indian’s “Psychic Chasms” has been given the remix treatment more times than Lindsay’s been to jail at this point. But, this version from by The Phenomenal Handclap Band is the best I’ve heard to date. It straddles the ever-so delicate line between “Song I’d Like To Run To,” and “Song That Would Lead a … Read more
Hey hey! We’ve got two tickets to see Raul Malo at the Old Rock House on October 6th to give away! You have two simple ways to enter: 1. E-mail me at [email protected] with your full name. 2. Post this on Twitter: “I entered to win a pair of tickets to see Raul Malo at @oldrockhousestl … Read more
There is something about The Apache Relay‘s music that is instantly familiar, but nonetheless extremely exciting, the very first second that needle drops. It’s like when you first get your car back after a month in the shop. You can’t wait to get it out on the road, despite the fact you’ve driven it before, and … Read more
Speakers Rating: 90/100 On September 28th, Steve Schlitz, singer and guitarist of Longwave for nearly ten years, will continue on his solo journey with the release of Hurricane Bells‘ Down Comes the Rain EP, a quick follow to the side project’s debut LP, Tonight Is the Ghost, released digitally last November and in stores last April. … Read more
The above shots were taken at the Speakers in Code approved Tallest Man on Earth gig at the Park West in Chicago, Illinois. Kristian Matsson had the crowd in the palm of his hand, as he always does, mesmerizing his fans with his trademark grisly voice, expert six string picking and strumming, and jaw dropping … Read more