Pomegranates | Photo by Drew Jacoby Oh, Tuesday. What is your purpose? We thought we’d help you ascend from the existential angst that abounds on seemingly meaningless Tuesdays and treat you with a new Radio Cure. Download. Listen. Ignore the absurdity of our human existence. Pomegranates – Pass Away With sunburn guitars and a falsetto … Read more
Photo by Chris Lay Last month, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals released The Lion The Beast The Beat, and the “deluxe version” of the album offered a little gem: Potter’s duet with Willie Nelson on “Ragged Company,” a song that was originally released on the first GPN album, Nothing But the Water. Here’s the issue … Read more
Photo courtesy of the artist On their upcoming fourth studio effort, Mirage Rock, those southern indie rocker guys, Band of Horses, display their apparent infinite affinity for God’s country. The sentiment comes shining through on the new video showcasing “Knock Knock,” the first single off the forthcoming effort. And, let’s not forget Mirage Rock’s majestic … Read more
Photo by Andy Tennille Patterson Hood, the storytelling frontman of Athens, Georgia’s Drive-By Truckers, is getting ready to release his third solo album, Heat Lightning Rumbles In The Distance, on September 9th (ATO Records). The first track from the album is this gorgeous song co-written by Hood and Kelly Hogan (whose own solo record from … Read more
Photo by Agatha Donkar Lilac Shadows lists just four words on their Bandcamp page in regards to their Shallow Madness EP. Bright. Dark. Quiet. Loud. And from what we’ve heard, the description is fitting. It’s this ability to mix opposites that sets our Jam of the Day apart from other shoegaze wannabes attempting to make … Read more
Photo by Katie Guymon Hey, look kids, there’s Big Ben! And there’s Parliament…again. With the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics kicking off tomorrow, we at Speakers in Code are already drooling with jealousy. London! We want to go to there. We’re already imagining those sprawling aerial views – not quite the same on the … Read more
William Beckett is a busy man these days. The former lead singer from The Academy Is… has already released two EPs in 2012, and a third will be coming in October. The latest is titled Winds Will Change, and “Warriors,” today’s video premiere, is the standout track. If you’ve already heard the studio version of … Read more
Photo by Katie Guymon This coming Wednesday, July 11th, Baltimore’s vanguard dream-pop duo, Beach House, will grace The Pageant’s stage in Saint Louis, with openers Wild Nothing. We’re psyched to be giving away TWO pairs of tickets to the show. Here’s how you enter: 1. Tell us where you’d build a beach house, if you … Read more
As we make our way into the second half of 2012, we want to take a minute to look back at what we saw, what we wrote, who we spoke to, and who we shot in January through June. In the coming days, we’ll also be posting our favorite songs of the first half of … Read more
Photo by Cameron Ingalls Friends, we know it’s Monday, and we know your work is never done, but that’s why Diego’s Umbrella exists — to remind us that a cowboy’s work is also never done. That probably didn’t make sense, but in the world of DU, who brought us the fabulous “Richardson” last year, everything … Read more
Old Crow Medicine Show is back in Saint Louis on Friday at The Pageant, and we’re pretty sure they’ll be stoked to be playing cuts off their recently released album, Carry Me Back. Of course, they’ll also probably play this sing-a-long, too. Friday’s show at The Pageant is sold out, but we have TWO pairs … Read more
It’s better to burn out than to fade away Jonathan Demme’s new film, Journeys, which focuses on Neil Young and his 2010 solo tour, will be coming to the Tivoli in Saint Louis on Friday, July 27th. Young didn’t perform in Saint Louis on that tour, but we did catch him at The Ryman in … Read more
I’ve listened to Exitmusic’s debut LP, Passages, twenty times probably. And I’ll be damned to find out this morning, when prepping this little post, that the voice I’ve been listening to on record is the same voice I’ve heard hundreds of times on HBO. See, Aleksa Palladino, who is one-half of the the duo comprising … Read more
As a music blogger, it’s a bit tough to admit this – the reason I picked up Gross Ghost’s new LP, Brer Rabbit, is it has a really pretty cover. There. My soul is now free. Luckily, my post-purchase experience with it was even more pleasurable, even beyond the clear vinyl that the awesomely-designed sleeve … Read more
Today, we offer you a selection of fifty of our favorite songs from the front half of 2012. Pump up the jam in your cubicle today, and get ready to blare this one from your America party tomorrow. That is, if you live in America. If not, have a great Wednesday! What did we miss? … Read more
Photo by Brian DePinto Here at Speakers in Code, we’re feeling a little weepy ’cause our babies are all grown up. Yup, the Chicago new-wave quartet, California Wives, has signed to Vagrant Records and is getting ready to drop their debut album, Art History, on prepped ears all ’round the country. But, let’s rewind a … Read more
Photo by Melissa Madison Fuller Don’t let your silly dreams Fall in between The crack of the bed and the wall If good genes mean anything — and I’m led to believe that they most certainly do — Rayland Baxter should definitely have more than a fighting chance at being a special musician. His father, … Read more
St. Louis native Bhi Bhiman has a big voice, and it’s best experienced on “Guttersnipe” from his 2011 album, Bhiman. You’ll have a chance to see him tomorrow evening at Plush in Saint Louis, where Bhiman will be opening for Josh Ritter & the Royal City Band, a show that will almost surely sell out, … Read more
Next Monday, July 16th, Staten Island’s Ingrid Michaelson will grace The Pageant’s stage in Saint Louis, with opener Greg Laswell (Doors: 7:00 PM; set times are posted here). We’re psyched to be giving away TWO pairs of tickets to the show. Instructions to enter are below the awesome video for Michaelson’s “Blood Brothers.” Here’s how … Read more
Photo courtesy of Boxed Wine As a girl who drank her fair share of Franzia in college, the name of this New Jersey foursome immediately caught my eye. Boxed Wine has a new (and free!), five-song EP on the Bandcamps, and it’s as fun and unpretentious as a Chillable Red. It was hard to select … Read more
Photo by Derek Branscombe I woke up on an island this morning, but not one of those deserted kinds – it’s the inhabited kind we have here in the southeast, packed with equal parts Yankee and redneck. Anyway, I got out of bed, wanting something to soundtrack my morning. Everyone else in the house was … Read more
There are several very good moments on A City On A Lake’s self-titled debut, but its longest song, “Always Something Better,” is important, because it shows Alex Wong’s ability to arrange and create something that warrants to be over five minutes. And for the music I listen to and enjoy, the five minute mark is … Read more
All photos by Chris Lay UPDATE: Stream/download the full show here, courtesy of Chris Finn. If this was the Cold War we could keep each other warm I said on the first occasion that I met Marie There was no Cold War at Plush last night. It wasn’t “hospitalization hot” or “raining from the ceiling,” … Read more
Album art for Beulah’s The Coast Is Never Clear Lost = Found is a new feature the SIC gang will be testing out over the next few months. The general idea is to feature an album we love that time has let slip into musical obscurity, or one that the new kids on the block … Read more
Dirty Projectors album art courtesy of Domino While much of the country is in a drought, we are not want for new music during the summer months. Your grass might be brown, and your air conditioner might be bending under the burden of 100 degree weather, but your new album release cup runneth over. Don’t … Read more
Each and every track that has either been leaked or officially posted from Dan Deacon’s soon-to-be-released LP, America, is freaking Awesome with a capital A. Today’s Jam of the Day, “LOTS,” is no exception. It walks the line between an all out rock assault and one of those songs that sounds like something I would … Read more
Josh Ritter at Off Broadway | Photo by Jason Gonulsen In what had to be the (literally) hottest show of the summer last year, Josh Ritter & the Royal City Band and a sold-out crowd turned Off Broadway into a friendly sauna (seriously, people: if you were there, you know that it was cooler outside). … Read more
Photo by Nigel Crane There are some days when what I want from a song isn’t lyrics that make me think, or complex orchestration; I just want crashing guitars and something that sounds and feels like rock and roll at its most pure. “45,” the first single off the Gaslight Anthem’s upcoming record Handwritten (out July 28th), … Read more
Photo courtesy of the artist. What happens whenever one of Will Johnson’s multitude of projects releases a new record is this: I fall into this crazy spiral of listening to everything that Johnson has ever had a hand in, from the dozen-plus Centro-matic LPs and EPs, to the handful of muted, sad, and lovely South … Read more
I’ll remember youWhen the wind blows through the piney woodIt was you who came right throughIt was you who understood This one’s for all the victims in Aurora, Colorado. Peace and love to all.