Maggie Rogers stands onstage alone, acoustic guitar in hand, to begin her encore at Austin’s Moody Theater. In a heartfelt speech about gratitude, Rogers thanks the 24 people who worked on the set and lighting, and the fans who brought her music to light. She has barely been home in three years, thanks to her…
Category: News
25 Songs Rolling Stone Forgot About This Century
18 and 1/2 years into the 21st century, Rolling Stone, celebrating a visual rebranding of the print magazine, decided to take a tally of the era’s greatest songs. The magazine was careful to point out the list does not reflect its editorial views, but the votes of “a large group of artists, producers, critics and industry…
New Earworms and Heartworms from The Shins
The Shins are back again after a five-year absence with a second single from Heartworms, “Name For You”. The new album produced by frontman James Mercer, is out March 10th and available for preorder. Some people (your author, for instance) who love vaguely gruesome, trip-inducing tattoo art might spring for the slightly overpriced, but charming lithograph poster….
An Urban Tribe Called Quest
Tomorrow alternative hip hop legends A Tribe Called Quest will release their sixth and final album, We got it from here… Thank You 4 Your service, featuring guests Kendrick Lamar, Jack White, Elton John, André 3000, Anderson .Paak, and Busta Rhymes. After thirty years and a shift to an increasingly neotribalist society, is A Tribe…
Ernie Ball’s String Theory Blog: Great Content and Frankly, A Touching Marketing Campaign
In a sea of collectors items and custom boutique mods, the lowest common denominator for all guitarists: the string. They are the true life force of the instrument. While not all of us have experience switching out our pickups or customizing a speaker cab, a rite of passage for every new guitarist is choosing…
New Release: Pierce Fulton’s “Make Me Blue”
The fresh and playful “Make Me Blue” stands out in Pierce Fulton’s current repertoire of in-your-face dance music, and puts him on the map for more alternative fans who still like to get down to a fun electronic groove. This new track is an alternating string of sparsely yet elegantly filled swathes of vast sonic…
Best of Summer NAMM 2016
The ever-expanding world of music products offers everything from the lowest-level entry point to the music industry to the pinnacle of musical luxury, true works of playable art. The unique physicality of music making knows no greater celebration than the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) show. To share just a few items that made…
Different Strokes for Different Folks: “OBLIVIUS”, “Drag Queen”, and “Threat of Joy”
This week the Strokes unveiled, one by one only over the course of a day, their first release in three years: the EP Future Present Past. I can’t help but wonder if the three time periods are represented in the three songs, and since the tracks became more familiar to me as a Strokes fan…
Beck and Flume Casually Throw Together a Masterpiece
We love Beck here. I’m always delighted, and somehow perpetually surprised by his versatility. Now, he’s partnered with Flume on the closing track on his LP Skin. The first time listeners heard the track was Wednesday on Zane Lowe’s radio show hosted by Apple Music, called Beats 1. The track comes sandwiched between short, charming interview…
Attunement 