Listening to Sorority Noise’s third album, You’re Not As _____ As You Think, is a sobering experience. For his band’s latest release, vocalist-guitarist Cameron Boucher did what he always has: written music about his life and put together an album. But this time around, things were a whole lot darker. You’re Not As…
Swedish folk musician Jens Lekman recently stopped by the A.V. Club studio to sing a few songs off of his most recent album, Life Will See You Now. In the clip above, he performs “Wedding In Finistere.”
Heartworms, The Shins’ first record since 2012’s Port Of Morrow, kicks off with the bouncy, sun-kissed jaunt “Name For You”—an ode to female empowerment inspired by James Mercer’s three daughters. While it’s a decidedly summery affair, it deals with serious ideas, admonishing those with antiquated notions who might…
Before his show in Chicago, Jens Lekman stopped by The A.V. Club to sing a few songs off of his most recent album, Life Will See You Now. In the clip above, he performs “To Know Your Mission.”
Welcome to the Music Roundtable, where music writers and fans discuss recent reissues, hot new releases, or just records we like. For this installment, on the 50th anniversary of The Velvet Underground’s debut, The Velvet Underground & Nico, three of our writers—one devoted fan, one skeptic, and one neophyte—discuss…
In Under The Influence, The A.V. Club asks a musician to pair three of their songs with a non-musical influence.
On March 10 The Shins will release Heartworms, the band’s fifth album and first in five years. It’s a record that sees James Mercer getting back to his roots and finding ways to take past inspirations and make them feel new again. The A.V. Club talked to Mercer about one of his childhood passions: skateboarding. Here,…
Recently, Profound Lore Records announced a new 12-inch EP from Disma, an American death metal band that’s existed for well over a decade. The band’s frontman Craig Pillard is considered a pioneer of the genre due to his work in Incantation, one of the early innovators in New York City’s death metal scene. He is also…
Stephin Merritt loves a good gimmick, doesn’t he? There was his Magnetic Fields magnum opus, 1999’s 69 Love Songs—exactly what it sounds like—and his subsequent experiments with form and instrumentation: i, Distortion, and Realism. While those latter gimmicks purposely limited Merritt, perhaps as a means to rein in…
Rap is a game of streaks, and few in history compare to what Future did in 2015. After years as a somewhat slept-on, eccentric talent from Atlanta, he released what was supposed to be his breakout album, 2014’s Honest. It was a big, guest-filled coming-out party—look, it’s Drake! it’s Andre 3000!—that was met with a…
Melbourne-based folk duo Oh Pep! recently stopped by the Chicago office to perform just for us. Their record, Stadium Cake, is out now, and they’re currently on tour with Valerie June. Dates are listed here.
Midwestern hardcore has always been for the weirdos. Compared to its coastal cousins, which dealt largely in hyper-speed or chest-thumping aggression, the punk bands of the Midwest have intentionally pushed themselves to the fringes. In Chicago, groups like Naked Raygun dealt in herky-jerky rhythms and guitars that…
For nearly 15 years, Xiu Xiu has madly scribbled in a cluttered sketchbook of experimental rock, with enough brilliant moments to keep listeners wondering whether frontman Jamie Stewart might be onto something. And yet, for the most part, each record has stubbornly maintained a disorganized shamble, making it safe to…
Infinite Worlds is full of surprises. Each of the four tracks on the album’s A-side has a section that throws you. It could be the first time the chorus hits in “The Embers,” or when “Fear & Force” transitions midway into contemplative R&B, or the pregnant pause in “Minneapolis,” eliciting the same kind of rush as a…
This week’s question comes from commenter nunyobini:
“Let me level this as an indictment: Only a part-time grass but a full-time asshole,” sings Gareth David (a.k.a. Gareth Campesino!) less than two minutes into “Renato Dall’Ara (2008),” the first track on Sick Scenes, the band’s first new album in more than three years. The declamatory zinger is just the first of many…
David Longstreth didn’t need to spout off on Instagram to set his musical project, Dirty Projectors, apart from the last 15 years of indie rock that it is generally associated with. Longstreth’s music does that on its own. His best-known song, 2009’s “Stillness Is The Move,” makes more sense as a cover by Solange than…
The latest installment in our Pickathon series finds Jeff Tweedy nestled into the fest’s Mt. Hood stage for a performance of “Jesus, Etc.” The solo acoustic take was filmed last year at the fest, and is dark, atmospheric, and finds Tweedy in fine vocal form.
Advertisement
Advertisement
