A musician who arranges the tracks of an album as if it were destined primarily for a double-faced plate of vinyl—complete with a 24-minute, side-two opus called “River of Transfiguration”—is obviously not embracing the earbud-wearing, shuffle-happy present. The Sun Awakens (Drag City), the latest offering from guitarist Ben Chasny, who goes by the Buddhist-inspired moniker Read More
A musician who arranges the tracks of an album as if it were destined primarily for a double-faced plate of vinyl—complete with a 24-minute, side-two opus called “River of Transfiguration”—is obviously not embracing the earbud-wearing, shuffle-happy present. The Sun Awakens (Drag City), the latest offering from guitarist Ben Chasny, who goes by the Buddhist-inspired moniker Read More
In the years after the explosion of punk, the underground was left with a challenge: Keep up the energy, but make it new. Plenty responded by playing faster and louder. Mission of Burma, a Boston band from the early 80’s, followed that approach, but the impulse was less about heightening confrontation and more about intensifying Read More
In the years after the explosion of punk, the underground was left with a challenge: Keep up the energy, but make it new. Plenty responded by playing faster and louder. Mission of Burma, a Boston band from the early 80’s, followed that approach, but the impulse was less about heightening confrontation and more about intensifying Read More
There are performers you can’t enjoy unless you learn to ignore or tolerate some aspect of their music. If the challenge is worth it, what seemed at first annoying or bewildering later seems essential. In the case of Destroyer, the obstacle is the voice of singer and songwriter Dan Bejar. A native of Vancouver, Mr. Read More
New York’s cool kids have been keeping busy: The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Fiery Furnaces, the Walkmen (who are saying goodbye to their Harlem studio) and Liars (who relocated to Berlin to work on their latest) are all getting ready to grace us with new records throughout the spring, while TV on the Radio’s sophomore Read More
There are performers you can’t enjoy unless you learn to ignore or tolerate some aspect of their music. If the challenge is worth it, what seemed at first annoying or bewildering later seems essential. In the case of Destroyer, the obstacle is the voice of singer and songwriter Dan Bejar. A native of Vancouver, Mr. Read More
New York’s cool kids have been keeping busy: The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Fiery Furnaces, the Walkmen (who are saying goodbye to their Harlem studio) and Liars (who relocated to Berlin to work on their latest) are all getting ready to grace us with new records throughout the spring, while TV on the Radio’s sophomore Read More
Once, after listening to a plaintive cello line on one of Belle and Sebastian’s early albums, a friend imagined bandleader Stuart Murdoch hovering over the other players as they rehearsed, slapping each of them gently with a soft white glove, chastising them to “make it prettier! Make it prettier!”
An unfair caricature, perhaps, but Read More
Once, after listening to a plaintive cello line on one of Belle and Sebastian’s early albums, a friend imagined bandleader Stuart Murdoch hovering over the other players as they rehearsed, slapping each of them gently with a soft white glove, chastising them to “make it prettier! Make it prettier!”
An unfair caricature, perhaps, but Read More
