Tag: 2013

  • “Take me somewhere I can grow, give me something, let me go, or tell me something I don’t know,” she sings, armed with her acoustic guitar, with the tongue of a poisonous viper.  You do not want to fuck with her.  “I am a master, I am a master, I am a master, hunter,” she…

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  • Bradenton, Florida’s finest are back with a red hot new single every bit as infectious as past hits like “Secret Valentine,” “Heaven Can Wait,” “Party, Fun, Love & Radio,” and “Friday is Forever.” It begins with twinkly guitars then the drums and vocals kick right in and immediately hook you. “I’m all alone / holding…

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  • Until recently, I thought that Diplo and Major Lazer were two different people. Alas, I was wrong. Diplo is Major Lazer, Major Lazer being his reggae-ish alter-ego. Although many of the songs on Free the Universe stray pretty far from reggae. And I have to say — this is a very difficult album to digest.…

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  • I really hate that there’s a hash tag in the title of this song. It was obnoxious enough when will.i.am used one in the title of his new album. We certainly didn’t need Mariah to do that. It just seems like a lame attempt to capture the attention of the Twitter generation. She’s a living…

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  • Although many of the songs were in English, Iggy Pop’s last two albums, Preliminaires and Après, were essentially French pop albums. Iggy is a national icon in France, arguably as popular as Elvis is in the States, so I’m sure one of the reasons he made those albums was to thank his devoted French fans.…

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  • “Everybody have fun tonight, everybody have fun tonight,” will.i.am sings during “Hello,” the first track on his fourth solo album, #willpower. If that sounds boring and uninspired, well, welcome to a whole album of boring and uninspired anthems. I’m talking about songs so horrifyingly bad that they make even the worst songs he’s done with…

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  • When English singer/songwriter Charli XCX — born Charlotte Aitchison — was 14 her parents loaned her the money to finance her debut album. The album, which Charli wrote entirely herself, was made and called 14, but it was never officially released, though promotional copies were sent out. Charli was quick to put the album behind…

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  • Dragonette have released a video for “Giddy Up,” arguably the strangest track on their amazing Bodyparts album…    

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  • Patti Smith is a living legend and “Because The Night” is one of her most popular and beloved tracks. It’s such a classic that covering it would seem to be pointless because you couldn’t possibly live up to the original and to even try to would almost be an insult to Smith. Meanwhile, you’d just…

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  • Vampire Weekend put out this 7″ featuring their current single “Diane Young” and the B-side “Step” as a special, limited edition Record Store Day release. If there’s one thing you have to give “Diane Young” credit for, it’s easily one of the band’s most sonically adventurous and experimental tracks yet, which is saying a lot…

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  • Phoenix — the cool cats of Versailles — had probably given up on the idea of ever becoming popular in the States by the time they released their fourth album, 2009’s Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. But, to everyone’s surprise, the album became an enormous success here. Its blend of irresistible pop hooks and sophisticated art rock…

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  • I started off writing a very negative review of this new Lana Del Rey single from The Great Gatsby soundtrack. I wrote about the lyrics being sub par and Lana practically slurring half of them with her peculiar pronunciation. But then a funny thing happened. After listening to the song nearly 10 times, I found…

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  • Well, there are plenty of things you can say about The Flaming Lips but, love ’em or hate ’em, you have to admit that they’re prolific. Seems like every six months they’ve got an album for you (or whoever buys their records). One minute they’re covering Dark Side of the Moon, the next minute they’re…

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  • Garbage collaborated with Screaming Females on a cover of Patti Smith’s “Because The Night” for Record Store Day, which was yesterday (4/20).  Here’s the video:            

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  • Empire of the Sun’s 2008 debut Walking On A Dream was an electro-pop masterpiece that ranked very high on most critics’ year end best lists and was almost universally loved. I read several music magazines — not to mention websites — and I don’t recall reading a single negative review. Now the Australian duo of…

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