HOT CHIP MAKE THE MOST OF ‘ONE LIFE STAND’

Only the most disciplined artists of the last decade have been able to efficiently manipulate computer technology and effectively incorporate its creative innovations into ideal contemporary pop. Meeting in the year 2000, London-based multi-instrumentalists Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard have steadily improved technical proficiency while heightening the tuneful dramatic intrigue of their augmented post-disco troupe, Hot Chip.

Joined by likeminded synth-based guitarist, Owen Clark, whose provocative artwork (in collaboration with groundbreaking graphic designer, Darren Wall) decorate Hot Chip’s first four …

NEON INDIAN EXPLORE ‘PSYCHIC CHASMS’

Just outside the bohemian State Capitol of Austin lies prospering urban municipality, Denton, Texas, where an exciting contemporary music scene now flourishes thanks to visionary beacons such as Alan Palomo. Ready to breakout and now residing in musical hotbed, Brooklyn, New York, the industrious composing architect contemporaneously helms zestful solo project, Vega, and more renowned electronic rock quartet, Neon Indian.

As a college freshman, Palomo abandoned distortion-pedal Casio rap when he discovered DFA Records’ dance-punk catalogue and disco-rock French duo,

TUNNG GO BEYOND NU-FOLK SEAS ‘AND THEN WE SAW LAND’

Attaching basic organic instrumentation to machine-made computer samples and detached rhythms may sound technologically befuddling, but London-based band, Tunng, have taken their earthy folk rooted inclinations on a space-age journey beyond the sea. Bending quirky stream-of-consciousness lyrics and a goodly amount of stately low key charm into freshly coined ‘folktronica,’ they’ve acquired a deeper emotionalism over time.

Getting together during 2003, founding singer-songwriters Mike Lindsay and Sam Genders began experimenting with electronic folk elements from the start. Though Genders left

THE LOW ANTHEM MUSICALLY ANALYZE ‘CHARLIE DARWIN’

The Low Anthem, Recorded Live In Concert : NPR

A fortuitous meeting at an Ivy League radio station partnered schoolmates Ben Knox Miller and Jeff Prystowsky in a worthy musical venture that has provided some great dividends along the way. Uniting in 2002 as Brown University on-air staffers at WBRU, the dynamic multi-instrumental duo became interested in learning everything they possibly could about compositional construction, studio production, proper miking, and other technical aspects from the outset.

Four years down the road, the humble Rhode Island twosome would hit the

WEDDING PRESENT’S DAVID GEDGE ENTERS THE ‘BIZARRO’ WORLD

This article originally appeared in Aquarian Weekly March ’10.
 
 
During 2007, David Gedge joined the minions of semi-famous indie rock artists (Pixies, Primal Scream, and The Cult) re-creating classic albums in a live setting for a generation once removed. When his renowned British band, the Wedding Present, celebrated the 20th anniversary of their stunning post-punk debut, George Best, the Leeds-based crew gained an audience of younger heads poised to discover one of the most resilient rock troupes in

RICHIE HAVENS RETURNS BUT THERE’S ‘NOBODY LEFT TO CROWN’

Humble aged-in-the-wool folk artist, Richie Havens, continues to provide inspirational guidance for “Freedom”-bound post-hippies as well as a newer generation of earthy philanthropic college students and their forward-thinking progressive elders. Havens became legendary after performing a mammoth 3-hour opening set at Woodstock, the historic 3-day summer of ’69 event in Bethel Woods that shook America’s foundation. Brought in by a local farmer’s helicopter and forced to extend his set by over a dozen numbers while other musicians were flown in,

MC PAUL BARMAN RETURNS HIGH ATOP ‘THOUGHT BALLOON MUSHROOM CLOUD’

Happy Birthday To Ridgewood Rapper MC Paul Barman | Ridgewood Daily Voice |  Your Local News for Ridgewood, New Jersey

We’re hanging out at MC Paul Barman’s lower Manhattan apartment listening to Beatles tunes on a secondhand disc player his chatty son, Felix, commandeers. Barman shows me a mint condition vinyl version of urban fiction mentor Iceberg Slim’s defunct masterpiece, Reflection, and forthrightly comments, “Iceberg was a master of the English language and pulp novels. His verbing nouns were brilliant, economical, and descriptive. He was slick talking, had depth of feeling, and a large personality.”

The same could be

NOAH & THE WHALE GO MAJESTIC ON ‘THE FIRST DAYS OF SPRING’

Promising London-based indie folk purveyors, Noah & The Whale, led by composing guitarist Charlie Fink, deliver fragile romanticism to love-starved minions. Alongside Rain Machine (the solo premier from TV On The Radio’s lead voice, Kyp Malone), Noah’s Whale shows goodly restraint rendering their lovelorn retreats for the terminally pained.

For well-regarded ’08 debut, Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down, Fink’s Whale offered oblique tenderhearted sentimentality merging twee-pop charm with low key anti-folk sensitivity.

Whimsical hand-clapped whistle-bound ukelele-based affectation “5 …

TOP EARLY ROCK & ROLL / RHYTHM & BLUES COMPILATIONS – THE FIFTIES & EARLY SIXTIES

TOP EARLY ROCK & ROLL / RHYTHM & BLUES COMPILATIONS – THE FIFTIES & EARLY SIXTIES
 
  
 1. ELVIS PRESLEY
      Sun Sessions
 
 2. EVERLY BROTHERS
       Collection
 
 3. JERRY LEE LEWIS
      Essential 1956 – 1963 Sun Recordings
 
 4. LITTLE RICHARD
       Grooviest 17 Original Hits!
 
 5. RAY CHARLES
       (Atlantic 8006)
 
 6. LAVERN BAKER
       Lavern / Lavern Baker
 
 7. SOUL STIRRERS
       Soul Stirrers Featuring Sam Cooke
 
 8. LOUIS PRIMA
       Zooma Zooma! The Best Of
 
 9. BUDDY HOLLY
       The Buddy Holly Collection
 
10. GENE VINCENT

TOP STEREO F.M. ROCK & ROLL COMPILATIONS – THE SIXTIES

TOP STEREO F.M. ROCK & ROLL COMPILATIONS – THE SIXTIES
 
  
 1. ROLLING STONES
      Hot Rocks 1964 – 1971
 
 2. BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD
       Buffalo Springfield
 
 3. FAIRPORT CONVENTION
       Fairport Chronicle
 
 4. THEM FEATURING VAN MORRISON
       Them Featuring Van Morrison
 
 5. THE WHO
       Meaty Beaty Big & Bouncy
 
 6. STEVE MILLER BAND
       Anthology
 
 7. YARDBIRDS
       Favourites
 
 8. JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE
       Smash Hits
 
 9. SONICS
       Full Force!!!
 
10.  THE ACTION
         The Ultimate Action
 
11. VAN MORRISON
        The Best Of
 
12. THE MOVE
        Greatest Hits

TOP FAVOURITE SOUL COMPILATIONS – THE SIXTIES

TOP FAVOURITE SOUL COMPILATIONS – THE  SIXTIES
 
  
 1. DIANA ROSS & THE SUPREMES
      Anthology
 
 2. MARVIN GAYE
       Anthology
 
 3. OTIS REDDING
       History Of
 
  4. TEMPTATIONS
        Anthology
 
 5. FOUR TOPS
       Anthology
 
 6. SOLOMON BURKE
       Best Of
 
 7. JACKIE WILSON
       The Jackie Wilson Story
 
 8. SMOKEY ROBINSON & THE MIRACLES
       Anthology
 
 9. LITTLE JOHNNY TAYLOR
       Part Time Love
 
10. BOBBY ‘BLUE’ BLAND
         Two Steps From The Blues
 
11. WILSON PICKETT
       Greatest Hits
 
12. ETTA JAMES
        Peaches
 
13. IMPRESSIONS
        Right On Time
 
14. 

TOP MIDDLE EASTERN – AFRICAN POP COMPILATIONS

TOP MIDDLE EASTERN – AFRICAN POP COMPILATIONS
 
FOREWORD: For a truly comprehensive representation of World Music from remote parts of earth’s hemisphere, please check ex-Village Voice music critic Robert Christgau’s recommendations at www.robertchristgau.com
These five selections will suffice for the uninitiated.
 
  
 1. KING SUNNY ADE
      The Best Of the Classic Years
 
 2. NUSRAT FATEH ALI KHAN & PARTY
       The Supreme Collection
 
 3. FELA KUTI
       The Best Best Of
 
 4. JOHNNY CLEGG & JULUKA
       Putumayo Presents:
 
 5. AFRO-LATINO
       Putumayo Presents: