// Category Archive for: Music

The Corin Tucker Band, 1,000 Years

By Laura L.

If there’s one word to describe Corin Tucker, that’s punk rock. OK, that’s two words.

A few more words to describe Corin Tucker—post-riot grrrl. For those familiar with Tucker from her late, great band, Sleater-Kinney, one might expect a more guttural sound from her new band on its debut album, 1,000 Years. While there’s a definite punk edge on some of the tracks, this album often showcases the softer side of Corin Tucker. Those accustomed to Corin Tucker’s vocal trademarks will likely be surprised, and hopefully pleased, by the songs on this album.
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The Kid Is Slayed? The Crash Street Kids’ Supersonic Star Show

By Cait Brennan

Reductivism is the great tragedy of history. As the years pass and firsthand knowledge dies, the rough grain of history fades to white. Nuance is forgotten and arcane knowledge is lost. An infinite palette of color and shading fades, first to primary colors and eventually down to broad, ill-defined strokes—gouges in sandstone. Our life spans are too brief, our memories too quick to fade.

Thus in 2011, that perfect pop moment called Glam Rock is mostly reduced to flickering B-roll of Ziggy Stardust circa 1972, bless him. Or misremembered entirely as that thing Poison was doing in 1989, whatever that was. Some kid who fancies himself a music historian may mention T. Rex. But the amazing spectrum of bands and artists who made up the first glitter-rock era—from Sparks to Suzi Quatro, from Slade to the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, the Sweet, Mott The Hoople—what self-respecting 21st century boy, not even born when Marc Bolan died, could possibly hope to truly know that world?

Ryan McKay does. He’s the front man for Phoenix’s Crash Street Kids, and—along with band mates A. D. Adams, Ricky Serrano, and Ryan “Deuce” Gregory—the last, best hope for glam rock and roll.
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American Hardcore: A Tribal History, By Steven Blush

By Danny R. Phillips

Over the five plus decades that rock & roll has been a force in American youth culture, many books have been written, most with futility, in an attempt to explain its history, its debauchery, its value, and the ebb & flow of the trends sprouting in all directions from its fruitful loins.

Steven Blush’s American Hardcore: A Tribal History not only explains a big part of the punk rock subculture but comes out swinging like a bloody knuckled little brother with something to prove.
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Mind Your Manners & Your MNDR: New Single, Free Download, and Tour Dates

By Less Lee Moore

“Cut Me Out,” MNDR‘s first single of 2011 is up now on Green Label Sound. Download it, share it, enjoy it!

Says MNDR, “We shot the music video yesterday with Tim Saccenti and it will be hitting your screens soon.”

Today marks the start of the Risky Business Tour with Chromeo, MNDR and The Suzan 2011.
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Whatever This Is, It’s Free: Ruby Coast’s New Album Download

By Less Lee Moore

If you haven’t yet heard Ruby Coast, now is your chance! I caught them last November (at the Meligrove Band‘s Shimmering Lights release party) and their live set is exuberant indeed.

Their new album Whatever This Is, is now available as a free download on their Bandcamp site.

Check out their tour dates while you’re at it. They play at The Brass Taps in Guelph on March 3 so you’ve got plenty of time to memorize the lyrics before the show.

You can follow Ruby Coast on Facebook to keep up with all the latest news.

Shaking With Anticipation: PJ Harvey Album Now Available To Pre-Order From iTunes

By Less Lee Moore

Although PJ Harvey‘s long-awaited new album, Let England Shake, won’t be out until February 15, the iTunes pre-order has begun.

The pre-order features an instant download of “Written On The Forehead” plus an exclusive track, “The Big Guns Called Me Back Again.”

PJ Harvey will also be playing Coachella on Sunday April 17.

Check out the video for the first single, “The Words That Maketh Murder.”

Getting Up Early In The Morning With James Vincent McMorrow

By Less Lee Moore

Early in the Morning, the debut album from singer/songwriter James Vincent McMorrow, was self-released in Ireland in 2010 and hailed as “one of the first truly great albums of the decade” by The Dubliner. The album will be available for the first time in the US on January 25 from Vagrant.

But you don’t have to wait to hear it. My Old Kentucky Blog is streaming the album in its entirety.

You can also download “If I Had a Boat,” the album’s first single.

Introducing James Vincent McMorrow (EPK) from Vagrant Records on Vimeo.

Sister Smile (Suor Sorriso): The Tragic Tale Of The Singing Nun DVD

By Hanna

Suor Sorriso, also known as Sister Smile, is a cult classic in a lot of ways; it has also served to revive interest in the real-life “Singing Nun,” also known as Jeannine Deckers. There has been a demand for Sister Smile on DVD for some time; many viewers will be watching this film for its position in cinema history. Whatever its cinematic merits, though, I found the almost entire lack of factual accuracy or congruency difficult to surmount.
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Jim Sullivan, UFO Reissue

By Chelsea Spear

As with so many other albums, the reissue of Jim Sullivan’s UFO came complete with a compelling back-story.

Sullivan, a purveyor of folk-inflected pop, spent the 1960s playing in LA nightclubs, making time with outlaw movie stars like Harry Dean Stanton and Dennis Hopper, and appearing on The Jose Feliciano Hour and in the movie Easy Rider. In early 1970, he recorded the album UFO with the Wrecking Crew, which his friend Al Dobbs released as a private pressing on his Monnie Records label. When the album failed to gain traction with those in the industry, Sullivan attempted a move to Nashville to work as a professional songwriter. He mysteriously disappeared at a stop in Santa Rosa, New Mexico.
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Meligrove Band BUS FAIL $$$ RELIEF Party

By Less Lee Moore

From the Meligrove Band‘s Facebook page:

Friends! Our US tour in December hurt us real bad. We had to get our transmission rebuilt, stuck in the worst part of Orlando for five nights, missing the last half of our tour, and having to pay $4500! Our bank account is in ruins. Help us pay by partying with us and our friends!

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