Thanks to one of my wonderful readers, I’ve received two more Shim Sham shows, 5/5/00 and 4/27/02. And he’s received a copy of The Editors’ new album! Thanks, dude! You all owe him thanks. Download, thank him, and then, if you’ve got any more shows, SEND THEM TO ME! You, too, might get the new [...]

Tough, tight riffs and a trebly, whispery, strained falsetto? Check. Slow builds to adrenaline hooks? Check. The occasional profanity and slightly political overtones? Check. The latest member of the British Indie rock invasion is . . . From New Zealand. But Motocade isn’t just another Bloc Party soundalike. What the band lacks in innovation, they [...]

I’m looking for the other Shim Sham shows–I’ve been looking for a long time. If you can send any of them to me, via snail mail, zip file, megaupload, whatever, I’d be ever so grateful. (MP3 or FLAC format, no WMV please, and at least as good quality as what’s below.) So grateful, that I’ll [...]

There’s nobody I’ve seen in concert more often than Van Morrison, although I admit it’s been a few years. I used to live in the Bay, where he lives, and got lots of chances back then. I’m giving away hisi third Best Of collection, which is mostly live and/or recent material, including songs with Tom [...]

I recently got a nice e-mail from someone asking me to upload a live Damian concert I posted a year and a half ago. I don’t usually do requests (or reposts), but this one was from a long time ago so I figgered I’d honor it. Unfortunately, I don’t have that boot anymore. But I [...]

Today, we’re going to discuss a little band called Two Hours Traffic, on a label I’ve never heard of before now, Bumstead Records. Little Jabs is the band’s second album, a joyful collection of pop rocks that burst open in your mouth with delicious hooks and melodies. There’s some cool power chord pop on song [...]

taKKa takka (or Takka Takka, depending on where you’re reading about them) hail from New York and most closely approximate folktronica–that odd mix of gentle acoustic guitars, piano, and the occasional horn, punctuated by beeps, burps, whirls and clicks. Some songs are heavy on hook, like “They Built You Up Too Fast,” while others are [...]

Nees and Vos sent me their debut album about a month ago, and it’s been sitting on my “fence post.” I’ve struggled with how and whether to post on it because it’s “more of a collection of tunes rather than a cohesive set,” and those words come from the band itself (Andrew Neesley), not me. [...]

I’m baaaaaack! My connection is finally right, and I’ll be reviewing an indie album before the weekend is through–have to write up my notes. In the meantime, though, I’ve been running over this post ever since I heard Zeitgeist was coming. Unfortunately, it’s not terribly good. The Pumpkins, however, were awesome once. In their prime. [...]

Still stuck with the spotty-at-best wifi here. I happen to have this on my laptop, though, so I’m throwing it up. It’s the 2001 demo of The Arcade Fire’s first work. It’s interesting to see how their sound evolved into Funeral. I can’t say I really love these songs, but they’re worth checking out, for [...]