Dwelling on losses is a big waste of time, but we should recognize how our losses make all that remains so much more meaningful. It shapes us more than we know – rounding off and enhancing the joys that are still present, or that are yet to be made. But we do lose, sometimes without … Read more
Earlier this month, our friends at TwentyFourBit gave us the good word that Ray LaMontagne’s upcoming fourth LP had a title, release date, and all that other jazz that makes us act the fool where new music is concerned. For this effort, God Willin’ & the Creek Don’t Rise (God, I love that saying), LaMontagne … Read more
Speakers in Code Pop Quiz Question of the Day: Larsen B is the name of: 1) An ice shelf in the Antarctic 2) The band name of three young blokes from Hertfordshire 3) A song by British Sea Power Trick question bitches – it’s actually all three! Didn’t see that coming, did you? I will … Read more
As the latest graduates of the British indie-folk boys school, Oxford four-piece Stornoway draw positive parallels with the likes of Bombay Bicycle Club and current SIC faves Mumford & Sons. I’m pretty sure no one could argue that’s an extremely positive thing given the way both bands have blown the beep up over the past year. … Read more
This is just effing exciting! Last winter, members of Chin Up Chin Up, Bound Stems, The Narrator, Vacations, and a whole host of other Chicago bands got together over two weekends and played it out. A band just so happened to come together as a result of that recording studio reunion, and they took a … Read more
Listen up all you cougars out there – Dent May just dropped the frustrated married lady’s equivalent to Beyonce’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).” So shimmy that ass into those Spanx and leave the pearls at home – because once this jam plays on the hubby’s Bose system in the bonus room, there’s … Read more
Austin’s Woven Bones just made a smart move to Hardly Art (home of one of our fave folk duos, The Dutchess and the Duke). The trio will release a 7″ this year on the new label and is expected to release its second LP in 2011. The band will be peddling its 7″ wares on … Read more
It’s so not like me to post anything as poplicious as this JOTD, so you know it must have grabbed me and really took hold. Canadian producer and Kanye-approved songwriter, Colin Munroe’s cover of Prince’s “I Would Die 4 U” is a shimmering, dance floor ready number. Well, maybe only if you’re making like R. … Read more
Brothers Aron and Robert Mardo record together – only on bass and drums – as the Heavy Young Heathens. The Los Angeles duo recently put out a new EP, Make Room For The Youth, co-produced by JP Bowersock (The Strokes, Ryan Adams), and it’s getting a ton of praise, particularly from notable radio DJs like … Read more
A couple years ago, Brooke Fraser’s Albertine had my full attention for a good month or two. The gal from New Zealand’s voice and words were something I listened to constantly at home, in the car, and at work. I watched her video for “Albertine,” which she filmed in Rwanda, and fell deeper in love. … Read more
“Remember that the life we share is nothing but a song.” There was a period of three or four years when all I would listen to was Neil Young. Not a bad thing, but I thought the only great albums that existed were After the Gold Rush, Zuma, Harvest, and Harvest Moon. I never would … Read more
Hi, my name is Katie. And I’m addicted to garage rock. I did not even realize I suffered from such an affliction until I recently considered the July posts I penned for Speakers in Code. The desire to back my Oldsmobile out of the carport, crank The Black Angels, and shimmy under the protective roof is strong. Oh, … Read more
A Heartfelt Letter to the Phat Bassline. By Matt Smith Dear Phat Bassline, First, I would like to start by apologizing to you. My beloved indie-rock brethren and I have ignored you for far too long. As our up and down dance moves illustrate so perfectly – we have forgotten your hip moment-inducing allure. Sure, … Read more
Falsettos have recently been tied to comedy or musical spoofs (insert The Darkness reference here), with most artists too afraid of the delicate tactic to actually implement it into their sound. Like Antony and the Johnsons, however, it works damn well for some. Wild Beasts somehow retain a sort of seductiveness on our Jam of … Read more
Let me start by saying I am not an ’80s music expert – in fact, many of the things I remember as coming from the decade actually came from the early ’90s. I know that ’80s vocals sound distant, and there was an abundance of hi-hat hits and Moogish keyboards backed by snappy drum beats. … 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
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
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
Speakers in Code Monday Morning Listener Proclamation: “I, [Insert Name Here], am not happy it is once again Monday morning, and my weekend is officially over. It sucks – and I know everyone else feels the exact same way. However, I will rise above this dreary and forlorn feeling by using my relationship with this … Read more
A good New York story can do so much for a song. It frames the music and melody, giving it credibility and context that no other city can provide. And to further refine the experience by drilling down to Brooklyn, the coolest and most productive of the five boroughs, certifies any song that dares take … Read more
L.A.’s Warpaint is just about the buzziest buzz band out at the moment. And “Undertow,” the first single from the band’s ridiculously anticipated debut album, The Fool, calls to mind pretty much every great alt-rock female group known to man. Its all-lady harmonies twirl between kick-ass guitar breakdowns to make a JOTD that is both down AND … Read more
Don’t you hate when a band’s name throws you for a loop? Meaning, maybe, perhaps, you might overlook a particular band for, you know, just a moment in time because you think it’s a ’70s classic rock group trying to make a millennial comeback? Alas, I got to Steel Train too late because of my … Read more
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the first single from Philly rapper, producer, and mixtape master Gilbere Forte’s upcoming LP, 87 Dreams. It’s entitled “1st Floor,” and it samples one of the best tracks from one of the best albums of the year by SIC faves Freelance Whales. Add the fact it’s produced by … Read more
Ladies and gentlemen, I invite you to consider the Reebok pump. Created in 1989, this shoe was designed to make young boys run faster, jump higher, eff around and get triple doubles. I saw my brother go through pair after pair, hoping that maybe he’d finally be able to palm a basketball. Cut to 2010, and … Read more
Since the age of four, Will Wiesenfeld has lived a musical existence – from convincing his parents to enroll him in piano lessons, to mixing and recording his own tracks at thirteen. It was then that he decided to learn more instruments. The viola. The guitar. The contra bass. Inspiration struck, and Baths was born. … Read more
The Brooklyn four-piece, The Drums, claims that part of making music is actually chasing the perfect pop song. I think that sentiment indicates that they haven’t found it yet. But, after listening to today’s JOTD, I might beg to differ. And so might you. I can prove my point with three very rational and objective arguments. … Read more
After spending some quality time on the West Coast last week and then stepping back into the blazing inferno-heated sauna that is the East Coast, I’ve been in dire need of something to mentally teleport me back to the land of mild summers and relatively no humidity. Call it divine intervention, but our Jam of … Read more
Photo credit: Danin Drahos Louisiana boy and ex-Acid Bath member, Dax Riggs, is gearing up for the release of his second sophomore album, Say Goodnight to the World. The effort’s been called “heavy, haunting, otherworldly, and seriously rocking,” and today’s JOTD is perfectly representative of those adjectives. In fact, it grows ever more so heavy, … Read more
Swedish musician, Moneybrother (Anders Wendin), is already a big deal in his native country. But, he’s making a big mark stateside already, with his brand of “pub soul,” influenced by the music to which he actually listens: roots-rock, R&B, and maybe even a little disco. Yeah, disco. There’s no way you can listen to “Born … Read more
Brooklyn’s powerful folk-pop duo of Courtney Kaiser and Benjamin Kartel is known simply as Kaiser Cartel. They’ve been making music together since 2004, and despite Kaiser’s classical vocal training (she lent her vocals to the upcoming Sufjan Stevens album) and Kartel’s penchant for self-teaching, the pairing is remarkably satisfying. While songs off the new album, … Read more