Review: Peacock

By Lisa Anderson

Not much happens in the small, quiet town of Peacock, Nebraska, until one day, a train caboose jumps the rail and lands in the backyard of bank clerk John Skillpa. Everyone thinks the young Skillpa is a bachelor, and has lived alone in the house since the death of his mother the previous year; when the neighbors rush to the scene however, they find an woman—thankfully uninjured—who they’ve never met before.

She introduces herself as Emma and says that she lives there. Soon, this woman, who all assume to be John’s wife, is drawn not only into the web of state and local politics focused on the runaway caboose, but also into the dark secrets of John’s life, which he had been keeping even from her.
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Download The New Single From UK Band Peggy Sue: “Watchman”

By J Howell

Here’s something that might appeal to fans of artists like Eleni Mandell or even Tom Waits. Smart, stinging lyrics delivered in harrowing harmonies backed by clanging percussion, Peggy Sue‘s “Watchman” has left me eager to hear more.

This Brighton, UK band—comprised of Katy Young, Rosa Slade, and Olly Joyce—is now on the fine Yep Roc label stateside, and on tour in the US through June. The video for “Watchman” is interesting too, featuring animation by Betsy Dadd. Easily one of the most impressive tracks to cross my path recently, “Watchman” has put Peggy Sue on my short list of bands to keep an eye on. Brilliant.

Watch the video for “Watchmen” here.

Peggy Sue’s album, Fossils And Other Phantoms, comes out June 1 on Yep Roc. Be sure to catch the band on tour.

June 9: Johnny Brenda’s in Philadelphia, PA
June 10: Piano’s in NYC
June 11: Paradise in Boston, MA
June 12: Le Divan Orange in Montreal
June 13: Sneaky Dees in Toronto
June 14: Schuba’s in Chicago IL
June 20: Mississippi Studios in Portland, OR
June 21: Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco CA
June 22: Spaceland in Los Angeles CA

New Music + Video From Thomas Dolby: “Love Is A Loaded Pistol”

By Jemiah Jefferson

“Love Is a Loaded Pistol,” the first new track from Thomas Dolby since approximately 2007, might come as a surprise to listeners who never knew anything more than “She Blinded Me With Science,” but the steampunk maestro has left his electronic roots well behind, interested now in a quieter, more personal, but no less intense approach to writing and performance.

“Loaded Pistol” soars on a combination of thoughtful strings and supper-club piano, with Dolby’s voice traversing from a husky near-whisper to a passionate, braying bell and a dozen emotional points between. Between the noir-styled story-song lyrics and the piano, you’d think he’d been possessed by the Blue Valentine-era Tom Waits, but the reality is a lot more clear and delicate.
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Stephan Crump with Rosetta Trio, Reclamation

By J Howell

It’s not often these days you hear a record or band led by a bassist, but with Reclamation, Stephan Crump shines.

Astute jazz fans may be familiar with Crump’s lengthy association with Vijay Iyer, or for holding down the low end in Jim Campilongo’s Electric Trio—in fact, Crump is responsible for the jarring screech that kicks off Campilongo’s most recent, barn-burning Orange.
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IAMX, Dogmatic Infidel Comedown OK

By Hanna

In general, remixes seem redundant to me because they never live up to what they purport to be: a completely new or different piece of music. Mostly I tell people that remixes sound like someone in the band can’t keep the time and is missing the beat over and over and over. But of course, like all generalizations, this is both too simple and too stupid a description of remixes to be completely true.

Remixes of the hilarious parody type can be surprisingly good, if they manage to combine two ideas. And then there are remixes that really do become a whole new piece of music. Dogmatic Infidel Comedown OK features remixes of IAMX’s Kingdom Of Welcome Addiction album and is remarkable in that it manages to do just that.
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New Single from Reflection Eternal

By Less Lee Moore

From Sneak Attack Media:

It might not be news to you that Reflection Eternal (rapper Talib Kweli + producer Hi-Tek) are about to release a new album—Revolutions Per Minute—their follow-up to Train of Thought, out in 2000. Revolutions per Minute comes out May 18 via Blacksmith/Warner Bros, and the duo is also on tour through the spring. . . remaining dates are below.

Here’s a track off the album for you, featuring Estelle, called “Midnight Hour.”
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The Fall, Your Future, Our Clutter

By J Howell

The late John Peel once famously said of The Fall that the reason he loved them was because “they are always different; they are always the same.” That pretty much sums up Your Future, Our Clutter as well as any one sentence could.

Though only Mark E. Smith has been constant throughout the band’s thirty-four year career, that same thread of similar traits is present on this, the band’s twenty-eighth album. Part of that may be that Your Future, Our Clutter was made by the same Fall that made the last album, Imperial Wax Solvent, but listening to a cross-section of Fall music made over the band’s career one can’t help but notice that there are similarities: hypnotic repetition in the music, distinctly British social commentary, Mark E. Smith’s iconoclastic vocals, and an amazing knack for being simultaneously incredibly abrasive and hooky.
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1991: The Year Punk Broke Screens At Hot Docs

By Less Lee Moore

The title of this film—which documented the 1991 European club festival tour of Sonic Youth, a pre-world-famous Nirvana, and other bands—was intended as an ironic comment on the music industry. Although the film came out in 1992 and it was released on VHS shortly thereafter, it is still not available on DVD. How is this possible?

“It’s not on DVD because the rock & roll industry is full of shit,” quips filmmaker David Markey. “There I said it. Also, I totally blame Lady Gaga and her fans,” he adds sarcastically. In fact, Markey prepared a “deluxe” DVD package in 2004, including bonus live performances by Sonic Youth and Nirvana, audio commentary by Markey and Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, and a 2003 panel discussion of the film at the Arclight in Hollywood with Markey, Moore, and others.
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Torch Songs for the Heroin(e): Hole, Nobody’s Daughter

By Emily Carney

“You don’t understand how damaged we really are.” This is a lyric from the opening track of the “new” Hole album, Nobody’s Daughter, which seems like it has been 1,000 years or so in the making. (Well, it certainly has been feted by Courtney Love for the last five years or so). This is the “comeback” album, the one that has weathered all the setbacks, like drug issues, family problems, bad hair weaves, and ill-advised plastic surgeries.
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Let’s Get Associated Released For The Killola Army

By Christian Lipski

Dog tags are usually intended to identify the wearer as a member of a branch of the militia, but after March 2010, they’ll also be used to indicate that the wearer’s a fan of L.A. Band Killola. The do-it-yourself band have released their third album on a wearable USB drive in the shape of a dog tag, also including their previous two albums and much more.

The unique packaging is typical of a band who has made a reputation out of doing things their own way. From their beginnings in 2003, they’ve been doing their own recording, producing, and promotion, and have amassed a huge fan base, performing across the country as well as Europe.
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