Back in 2007, after the release of Outkast’s sixth and worst studio record, Idlewild, Big Boi announced that his first proper solo album was in the works. Soon after the announcement he released what was to be the record’s lead single, “Royal Flush.” The song, for reasons we’ll get to later, was pulled from the planned album. Over the...Continue

In 2001 Elvis Costello drummer Pete Thomas and producer Mitchell Froom heard that the 15-year-old daughter of Geffen Records exec Tony Berg was writing songs and hoped to start a band. Thomas and Froom got their own daughters in touch with Elizabeth "Z" Berg, and they became The Like. Naturally, with such lineage, the hype machine went into high gear....Continue

Anyone who caught Frank Bretschneider's set at Seattle's 2009 Decibel Festival will know what they're in for here. Purely abstracted, painstakingly constructed, 'experimentations' of rhythm patterns and electronic textural elements where the core aspects of the sonic architecture have been stripped away, revealing the inner workings of a precise, austere clockwork. Having followed the Raster-Noton imprint and its core...Continue

Possible leads considered for the review of The Flaming Lips’ rethinking of Pink Floyd’s most popular record and one of the highest selling albums of all-time: 1) In 2005, after buying and selling Dark Side at least five times (due to reissues, loss of interest, needing money, thinking I was “too cool” to like Pink Floyd, etc.), I told...Continue

When you normally think of bands that hail from Brooklyn, you probably just assume them to make experimental indie electro-pop rock (ala MGMT, Grizzly Bear, Yeasayer, etc). At least I do. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that this band I had checked out at the Comet a couple months ago were from that very place.

Naam is a heavy,...Continue

I’m a huge Deftones fan, but it took me a while to realize the brilliance of their 2000 breakthrough release, White Pony. I wasn’t ready for the band’s development at that point. I wanted the aggressiveness of Around the Fur, not “Change (In The House of Flies).” I was kinda bummed the first time I heard it, even...Continue

Recommended read! Three volume trade-paperback story, beginning with Batman and Son and ending with R.I.P., in which Grant Morrison (author of the best-selling Invisibles) reinvents Batman for the 21st century as a 'psychedelic noir' tale, drawing on the entirety of the written history of the character as though it were the extraordinary (and bizarre!) life of one man. Continue

Paul Weller recently discussed how he wrote the songs for this crazy new album of his, saying, "After [2008's] 22 Dreams, I didn't have any songs to speak of apart from the odd title or couplet. So the whole process was really different. It was almost like starting from scratch." And it really shows. The majority of the 16...Continue

Note: We do not sell the Exile bonus album as a standalone item. It is part of the Exile on Main Street deluxe remaster released in May

A friend e-mailed me, asking if I thought he should pick up the reissue of The Rolling Stones’ classic 1972 album, Exile on Main Street. “No, you shouldn’t,” I told him. “Not if you...Continue

Attention fellow '90s grunge lovers, STP are back together with their first new album in over ten years! Once considered a Pearl Jam knock-off band, STP eventually found their own sound with such hits as "Vaseline," "Interstate Love Song" and "Down." They continue to refine it on their latest self-titled effort with such songs as "Huckleberry Crumble" and  "Fast As I Can." A must-have for...Continue