I missed the (apparent—according to Pitchf—-k) phenomenon that was Beach House’s debut record. However, I’ve been lucky enough to catch the follow-up, and it’s amazing. The Baltimore duo has been called “dream pop” and “indie rock,” and comparisons have been made to Mazzy Star, Sia, Galaxie 500, Slowdive, and Nico. But these descriptions barely do [...]

Haven’t posted any YLT in quite some time, and that’s too bad because more people need to hear how great this band sounds live, so you’ll go see them and support them. From December 11, 2007 (the eighth night of Hanukkah), in Hoboken, NJ, YLT played a show where guests included Howard Kaylan of the [...]

I’m finding myself more into hip hop this year than in any of the previous 5 years or so. There’s so much exciting new stuff coming out, while the indie rock genre has been a little disappointing this year (especially from established acts). Putting to one side the big misstep of the new Gnarls Barkley [...]

TheBREAX’s debut album led Rawkus Records (their admittedly self-interested label) to declare them one of the most important new hip hop acts of our time. While the trio, which hails from Baltimore (DJ Beleaf), San Diego (Mic B), and Azerbaijad (Ruslan), established their credentials on their first record, the sophomore effort is intentionally more mainstream, [...]

With song titles like, “Let’s Dance to Joy Division” and “School Uniforms,” the new Wombats album is tailor-made for instant indie buzz. Plus, it’s got two English boys from Liverpool plus one Norwegian, so it’s even got the DNA for blog love. Well, although it’s not an instant classic, I’m happy to report that “A [...]

I opened an e-mail the other day from a reader urging me to check something out. This guy raved about SoloMan Spectrum’s new album, which I scored off eMusic. I sampled a few tracks, and then quickly bought the whole thing. Even if the entire album was crap, My 10th Drink would be worth a [...]

By mid 1981, The Clash had been recording albums for just four years, and yet they’d managed to put out four records in that time, two of which are two of the greatest albums of all time (The Clash; London Calling), one of which was a double album (LC) and another was a triple (Sandinista!). [...]

One might expect that the deliciously retro soul/jazz/funk band, The Gumbo Brothers, would have Southern roots, but one would be wrong. Hailing from Venice Beach, the New Orleans-style quartet makes the kind of saxy, wah-wah, keyboard-driven funk that was popular before most of today’s music buyers were born, but it doesn’t sound outdated. It’s dance [...]