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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Apples in stereo, Travellers In Space And Time

By Chelsea Spear

It’s a typical Sunday morning in New England. The skies are overcast, precipitation is spitting, and a slight breeze has started to pick up and become a full-blown wind. To my Eustachian tubes, however, the weather is 85 degrees and sunny without a cloud in the sky. The music of the Apples in stereo can have that effect on listeners.

While Robert Schneider and his band of merry musicians lack the cathartic heft of their Elephant 6 buddies Neutral Milk Hotel, and were never as experimental as the Olivia Tremor Control, he’s always been adept at serving up a kind of musical comfort food to fans of 1960s bubblegum and power pop. He sets his stick-in-the-head melodies in lush, layered production, creating a satisfying sound for fans of a bygone era.
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Arranged Marriage, Dearly Beloved

By Christian Lipski

As a rule, kids never like the music their parents listen to. Likewise, there’s an unwritten law that parents must hate their children’s music. It’s important for young people to develop their own identities as people, and for parents to get a taste of what they put their own parents through. That’s what makes the band Arranged Marriage such a unique treat: father Brad Allen has teamed up with his son Scott to write, perform and produce the album Dearly Beloved.
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Eight Bits To Hold You: Oxvylu’s Chiptunes

By Less Lee Moore

If you haven’t yet heard Oxvylu, here is the latest press release which should explain exactly WHY you SHOULD hear Oxvylu!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Oxvylu Recess EP – Free Music Download – April 9, 2010
Oxvylu invites you out to play with an all new RECESS EP release. Remember when RECESS was your favorite time of day, relive that bliss for 16 minutes while listening to “8-bit chiptunes” goodness. Every tune is short, bursting with playful melodies and retro videogaming nostalgia that will keep you listening every day. RECESS can also stand for ‘RECESSION’, but never fear! Download the entire RECESS album in mp3 format at absolutely no charge. Don’t keep this a secret and invite your friends out to play too. Take a break and enjoy your RECESS.

To download the free music, please visit http://www.oxvylu.com/recess
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Hypernova, Through The Chaos

By Matt Demers

I’m not going to lie: I volunteered to review Hypernova because of their name. I mean, as a nerd, the word “nova” has certain. . . gravitas towards it, be it for the physics reference or one of the few words to pull off the “badass v” consonant.

But I was pleasantly surprised by their new album, Through The Chaos; there were no songs that I vehemently hated on the album. This is a bit of a feat for me, as when I listen to most records there seems to be one or two tracks that stick out like sore thumbs. In the best case, they serve as annoying distractions and at worst, they can derail an entire album. An album that is cohesive as an album (thematically or otherwise) definitely wins points in my mind.
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Tuneage And Telly: When Music & TV Collide!

By Mandy Mullins and Jaime Sparrowhawk

Nothing like syndicated sound and vision on the small screen!

TV careers certainly haven’t killed radio stars; they often spawn them, and vice-versa. Myriad meldings of tune and telly set the scene for pop-preoccupied music mavens Mandy and Jaime, whose latest dispatch promises to be their longest, most eclectic and giddily madcap yet. Do not adjust your sets!

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The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Dirty Shirt Rock ‘N’ Roll: The First Ten Years

By Noreen Sobczyk

Jon Spencer is a man of many faces. He is a crazed preacher proselytizing the electric gospel. He is a musical ringmaster with Tourette’s Syndrome repeatedly proclaiming, “the blues is number one.” He is the majestic mumbling Boomhauer of rock and roll. He and the Blues Explosion are here for one reason: to save rock and roll. And they do it repeatedly, as though it simply flows from their veins; as if they were born to do it. If you’ve ever seen them live, you know two things for certain: they take no prisoners and they are not fucking around.
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From Page To Screen: Shutter Island

By Maureen

When I saw the trailer for Shutter Island, I was instantly intrigued. My first celebrity crush, Leonardo DiCaprio, delving into my current career field, mental health? Seemed too good to be true.
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