Xiu Xiu have never been one of my favorite bands. However, I think Final Fantasy’s He Poos Clouds was just the bridge I was looking for. Owen’s wonderful album has made me more receptive to curious music like Xiu Xiu’s new song, “Buzz Saw” off their new album The Air Force. MP3: Xiu Xiu – [...]

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Sigur Ros, Shonen Knife, and Yulduz Usmanova all taught me that you don’t have to speak my language to be understood. They’re all non-English-speaking musicians or bands that still get their point across despite the language barrier. Now I get to add Prototypes to that list. This French band don’t have a lick of Engish [...]

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I’m almost waiting for The Boy Least Likely To to let me down. I find it highly improbable that almost every song they write is one that I identify with completely. “Rock Upon a Porch With You” is a bside from the “Hugging My Grudge” single and is well in line with the sound established [...]

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I would love to say that this post was inspired by Thom Yorke’s new solo work, The Eraser, but I cannot tell a lie. I was asked to contribute a Top 5 list to WRFL’s publication, Rifle. After discussing it with Julie of Fabulist! I came up with a list of the Top 5 Solo [...]

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Oh Matinee, you’re too good to me. The home to the Lucksmiths and Math and Physics Club has delivered another spectacular album, this time by pop songstresses Tender Trap. The band is probably going to be best known as Amelia Fletcher’s newest project (Heavenly, Talulah Gosh, Marine Research, Sportique), but is strong in their own [...]

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The past three days I’ve fallen asleep in my chair. Why, you ask? Because of bands like Boat. I’ve featured Boat long ago, but now they’re proud to announce their new album, Songs That You Might Not Like. If the whole album’s as good as this song indicates, it looks like I won’t be getting [...]

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Looks like Page France stepping out in the world. They just signed to Suicide Squeeze and will be re-releasing Hello Dear Wind on September 12, 2006 “before setting out to record new material.” No word on what label the Page France / Anathallo split is going to wind up. Let’s celebrate with a Page France [...]

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Of all the things I get emails about, lately this song by the Shins has been the most requested. Seems a lot of people are curious to hear what the new Shins album is going to sound like. MP3: The Shins – New Song (1/7/06) I’ll admit that I was a bit underwhelmed by this [...]

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Bonnaroo just announced their full schedule. Here’s a rough estimate of the bands I’ll be checking out. Feel free to offer any suggestions if you know that a band puts on a stellar show. Friday, June 16th 1-2 Andrew Bird 2-3:15 Ben Folds 4-5:30 Bright Eyes 6:15-7:45 Death Cab For Cutie 8:30-12 Tom Petty 12-1 [...]

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