Updated Articles and Resources
- Alternative Music Reviews and Recommendations - Top 10 Lists - Defin…Created: 2009-11-06 @ 09:07:22 EST
Reviews and Top 10 Lists to help you make sense of the sprawling alternative music realm… - The Flaming Lips Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots - Review of The Fla…Created: 2009-11-06 @ 09:02:45 EST
'Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots' is the Flaming Lips' ultimate tribute to living life in the face of the inevitability of death… - The Flaming Lips Embryonic - Review of the Flaming Lips' Album Embry…Created: 2009-11-06 @ 05:53:00 EST Updated: 2009-11-06 @ 09:06:23 EST
For most, the double album is a place to harness one’s conceptual ideas. For Wayne Coyne, it's a chance to deliberately lose the plot… - The Fearless Freaks - Review of the Flaming Lips Documentary DVD The…Created: 2009-11-06 @ 05:03:31 EST Updated: 2009-11-06 @ 08:44:44 EST
An intimate portrait of the Flaming Lips' bizarre quarter-century of ridiculous rock'n'roll… - 10 Great Debut Albums from 2009 - Best New Alternative Music…Created: 2009-11-05 @ 19:08:25 EST
These 10 acts arrived in style in 2009, delivering debut discs that impressed many… - New Alternative Music - Forthcoming Album Release Dates…Created: 2009-11-05 @ 03:51:30 EST
Sort through the glut of new releases with this guide to the upcoming indie-music release schedule… - Fool's Gold Fool's Gold - Review of Fool's Gold's Self-Titled AlbumCreated: 2009-11-03 @ 05:53:35 EST
This Los Angeles-born Afro-Islamic-Hebrew jam-band is the music world's digitized global village made manifest… - Kings of Convenience Interview - An Interview with Eirik Glambek Bø…Created: 2009-11-02 @ 05:06:03 EST
The non-spectacled half of the Norwegian soft-pop bards talks about staying true to their 'Quiet is the New Loud' ideal… - Kings of Convenience Declaration of Dependence - Review of Kings of …Created: 2009-10-31 @ 02:10:39 EDT Updated: 2009-10-31 @ 02:56:40 EDT
After five years apart, Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe are back on record together, writing a love-letter to each other… - Michael Hurley Ida con Snock - Review of Michael Hurley's Album Ida …Created: 2009-10-30 @ 10:53:52 EDT Updated: 2009-10-31 @ 07:38:26 EDT
The latest LP for the progenitor of the New Weird America is familiar Hurley: simultaneously wacky and touching… - Devendra Banhart What Will We Be - Review of Devendra Banhart's Albu…Created: 2009-10-30 @ 10:34:24 EDT
Unlike recent Banhart records, here the ambling, genre-dabbling, pastichey feel isn't a product of lazy happenstance, but written into the album's ambition… - Michael Hurley Armchair Boogie - Review of Michael Hurley's Definiti…Created: 2009-10-30 @ 10:22:17 EDT Updated: 2009-10-30 @ 10:25:41 EDT
40 years ago, the New Weird American Folk Underground was essentially just one guy: Michael Hurley… - Mazzy Star Biography - Artist Profile of Mazzy StarCreated: 2009-10-29 @ 00:19:15 EDT
Their narcotic balladry went platinum in the '90s, then they disappeared. The story of Mazzy Star… - Top 10 Breakout Acts of 2009 - Best New Alternative and Indie Bands …Created: 2009-10-28 @ 17:55:09 EDT Updated: 2009-10-29 @ 10:04:07 EDT
From Passion Pit to the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The XX to Girls, here are the 10 bands who came from out of nowhere to suddenly be everywhere in '09… - The Pixies Doolittle - Review of The Pixies' Definitive Alternative …Created: 2009-10-20 @ 07:32:06 EDT
With over two decades of impressive influence in its wake, dare we ask: is 'Doolittle' alternative music's high watermark?… - Built to Spill There is No Enemy - Review of Built to Spill's Album …Created: 2009-10-16 @ 11:46:59 EDT Updated: 2009-10-16 @ 18:54:46 EDT
Doug Martsch and co sound like there’s nothing they’d rather be doing than making this record… - Built to Spill Perfect from Now On - Review of Built to Spill's Defi…Created: 2009-10-16 @ 11:15:21 EDT Updated: 2009-10-16 @ 11:58:38 EDT
Perfect? Well, yeah, almost… - Dead Man's Bones Dead Man's Bones - Review of Dead Man's Bones Self-…Created: 2009-10-16 @ 10:47:01 EDT
Clearly the greatest nightmare-doo-wop-with-children's-choir soundtrack to an imagined monster movie recorded by a Hollywood celebrity ever… - Built to Spill Biography - Artist Profile of Built to SpillCreated: 2009-10-16 @ 10:17:57 EDT Updated: 2009-10-16 @ 10:45:01 EDT
The history of bearded fretboard warrior Doug Martsch, and his merry band of Built to Spill men… - Kurt Vile Interview - An Interview with Kurt VileCreated: 2009-10-15 @ 05:21:41 EDT
Growing up, Kurt Vile dreamed of being signed to Matador Records. Now he is… - Devendra Banhart Biography - Artist Profile of Devendra BanhartCreated: 2009-10-14 @ 05:26:23 EDT
The bearded freak-folk bard is, in his words, just a "song and dance man."… - Shannon Stephens Interview - An Interview with Shannon StephensCreated: 2009-10-12 @ 08:19:13 EDT
Shannon Stephens played in a band with Sufjan Stevens in the '90s. She disappeared. He became a superstar. She was jealous… - Animal Collective Interview - An Interview with Geologist of Animal …Created: 2009-10-12 @ 06:52:27 EDT
2009 breakout superstars Animal Collective began life as shadowy and mysterious. Geologist talks about their journey into the spotlight… - Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions Through the Devil Softly - Rev…Created: 2009-10-11 @ 05:54:03 EDT
Where the Mazzy Star starlet's every whisper is as tangible yet elusive as the breeze… - Boredoms Vision Creation Newsun - Review of Boredoms' Definitive Alt…Created: 2009-10-09 @ 06:19:27 EDT Updated: 2009-10-09 @ 06:20:54 EDT
It's the most unexpectedly influential album of the '00s: the percussive noise orgy that rewired and inspired Gang Gang Dance, Black Dice, and Animal Collective… - Radiohead Kid A - Review of Radiohead's Definitive Alternative Album…Created: 2009-09-26 @ 20:39:14 EDT
Radiohead ushered in the new millennium with a radical reinvention that crystallized the unease of the era… - Meeting People is Easy - Review of the Radiohead DVD Meeting People …Created: 2009-09-25 @ 06:51:21 EDT Updated: 2009-09-25 @ 07:03:59 EDT
Grant Gee's soul-crushing chronicle of life on the promotional trail methodically tears down the myths of the bon-vivant touring band… - Why? Biography - Artist Profile of Yoni Wolf's Project Why?Created: 2009-09-21 @ 20:41:14 EDT
A look at the life and work of indie-pop/backpacker-rap confessionalist Yoni Wolf… - Why? Eskimo Snow - Review of Why?'s Album Eskimo SnowCreated: 2009-09-21 @ 18:30:46 EDT
The master of the lyrical overshare, Yoni Wolf views the world as his "lit confessional marquee."… - Get Back Guinozzi! Interview - An Interview with Èglantine Gouzy of…Created: 2009-09-19 @ 21:47:38 EDT Updated: 2009-09-19 @ 21:51:30 EDT
The singer of the mad French duo talks recording in Indian jungles and old post-punk records… - The Feelies Crazy Rhythms - Review of The Feelies' Definitive Altern…Created: 2009-09-18 @ 08:54:33 EDT Updated: 2009-09-19 @ 02:12:47 EDT
The Feelies preferred coffee over beer, precision over swing, and, most notably, tension over release… - CMJ Hot Picks - 10 Bands to Watch at the 2009 CMJ Music Marathon…Created: 2009-09-15 @ 09:30:26 EDT Updated: 2009-09-15 @ 09:47:06 EDT
From The Antlers to The XX, Broadcast to the Very Best, here's ten perfect picks from CMJ's sprawling slate of performers… - Public Image Ltd. Metal Box - Review of Public Image Ltd.'s Definiti…Created: 2009-09-11 @ 07:49:49 EDT Updated: 2009-09-11 @ 07:55:01 EDT
The continued celebration and canonization of the Sex Pistols has made one thing clear: history's picked the wrong band… - Alternative Music Artists and Record Labels - Names to Know in Indie…Created: 2009-09-09 @ 11:22:01 EDT
Get to know the names of Alternative and Indie Music: Artists, Bands, Record Labels… - Tiny Vipers Interview - An Interview with Jesy Fortino of Tiny VipersCreated: 2009-09-09 @ 11:04:24 EDT
The stark songsmith laments that, though you can leave your small-town upbringing behind, it never really leaves you… - Wavves Interview - An Interview with Nathan Williams of WavvesCreated: 2009-09-09 @ 10:50:48 EDT Updated: 2009-09-09 @ 11:25:14 EDT
Post Primavera meltdown, Nathan Williams talks about being the most hated man in the blogosphere… - El Perro del Mar Biography - Artist Profile of El Perro del MarCreated: 2009-09-09 @ 07:41:16 EDT Updated: 2009-09-09 @ 11:25:49 EDT
Sarah Assbring finds rapture in girl-group grooves and truth in hushed musical sadness… - El Perro del Mar Interview - An Interview with Sarah Assbring of El …Created: 2009-09-09 @ 06:46:19 EDT Updated: 2009-09-09 @ 11:00:09 EDT
Sarah Assbring talks about her first three LPs: the sad one, the happy one, and the break-up record… - The Big Pink A Brief History of Love - Review of The Big Pink's Albu…Created: 2009-09-07 @ 07:01:36 EDT
In 2009, the emperor’s new clothes come in a hot new shade of Big Pink. … - Tiny Vipers Biography - Artist Profile of Tiny VipersCreated: 2009-09-04 @ 19:06:28 EDT
The genesis of Jesy Fortino's sparse, slow-burning music, as told by Fortino herself… - We Were Promised Jetpacks Interview - An Interview with Sean Smith o…Created: 2009-09-04 @ 18:16:20 EDT
The young Scottish guitar-rockers talk drinking 'til you hit the gay bars with the Twilight Sad, and the scourge of being called "Scottish Emo."… - The Pixies Biography - Artist Profile of The PixiesCreated: 2009-09-04 @ 10:08:27 EDT Updated: 2009-09-04 @ 10:16:50 EDT
The Pixies blistering use of broad dynamics and innovative re-write of pop-song forms redefined guitar music… - Scott Walker Biography - Artist Profile of Scott WalkerCreated: 2009-09-01 @ 02:42:51 EDT
Teen pin-up turned avant-garde recluse. The strange music and even stranger life of Scott Walker… - Clouddead Clouddead - Review of Clouddead's Definitive Alternative A…Created: 2009-08-28 @ 08:30:19 EDT Updated: 2009-08-28 @ 08:40:51 EDT
Inspired by obscure space-rock records and armed with cosmic lyrics, Clouddead took hip-hop to its final frontier… - The Avalanches - Review of The Avalanches' Definitive Alternative Al…Created: 2009-08-21 @ 08:38:03 EDT
Irony ruled alternative music in the '90s, but The Avalanches' sterling debut swiftly cemented the '00s as a decade unafraid of earnest romanticism… - Gossip Music For Men - Review of The Gossip's Album Music For MenCreated: 2009-08-18 @ 03:23:24 EDT Updated: 2009-08-18 @ 04:23:45 EDT
Gossip's major-label debut sounds somewhere between stilted and self-conscious… - Stereolab Emperor Tomato Ketchup - Review of Stereolab's Definitive …Created: 2009-08-14 @ 09:47:23 EDT
The groop played their best album ever… - Top 10 Twee Albums - The Best Twee-Pop Records of All TimeCreated: 2009-08-12 @ 04:06:37 EDT
The class releases that defined the growth of twee from tiny, self-contained English scene to global underground culture… - Julian Plenti Julian Plenti is... Skyscraper - Review of Julian Plen…Created: 2009-08-08 @ 19:47:31 EDT
From Garth Brooks as Chris Gaines to Beyoncé Knowles as Sasha Fierce, the musical alter-ego has a long and pitiful history… - Neu! Neu! - Review of Neu!'s Definitive Alternative Album Neu!Created: 2009-08-07 @ 08:34:49 EDT Updated: 2009-08-07 @ 08:39:09 EDT
For many, Neu!'s debut 1972 LP served as the unofficial birthplace of the krautrock movement… - Neu! Biography - Artist Profile of the Band Neu!Created: 2009-08-07 @ 07:57:39 EDT Updated: 2009-08-07 @ 08:14:29 EDT
The German krautrock legends gave the world motorik rhythm and the infamous proto-remix Side 2 of 'Neu! 2'… - Dean Wareham Black Postcards - Review of Dean Wareham's Memoir Black…Created: 2009-08-01 @ 10:14:29 EDT
The spill-all memoir looks at the mundane realities and emotional messiness of doing time in bands rich in critical acclaim, less so in wealth… - Discovery LP - Review of Discovery's Album LPCreated: 2009-08-01 @ 01:39:53 EDT
Vampire Weekend + Ra Ra Riot + Copious Amounts of Auto-Tune = Discovery… - Discovery Interview - An Interview with Rostam Batmaglij and Wes Mil…Created: 2009-08-01 @ 00:55:59 EDT Updated: 2009-08-01 @ 01:34:15 EDT
On (brief) hiatus from their Vampire Weekend/Ra Ra Riot day-jobs, the Discovery duo talk of embracing Auto-Tune, buzzy synths, and inevitable backlash… - The Field Mice Snowball - Review of The Field Mice's Definitive Alte…Created: 2009-07-31 @ 04:13:08 EDT
Bobby Wratten was neither brave nor special, but his debut Field Mice LP helped define the budding twee movement when released in 1989… - Genre Profile - TweeCreated: 2009-07-30 @ 05:27:56 EDT Updated: 2009-07-31 @ 04:05:56 EDT
A back-to-basics primer on the indie-est of indie genres, in all its guitar-jangling, cardigan-clad, 7"-swapping glory… - Interpol Biography - Artist Profile of InterpolCreated: 2009-07-29 @ 07:26:57 EDT Updated: 2009-07-30 @ 05:18:07 EDT
Chronicle of these well-dressed New Yorker dudes and their moody post-punk gloom… - Yo La Tengo Popular Songs - Review of Yo La Tengo's Album Popular So…Created: 2009-07-28 @ 07:21:11 EDT Updated: 2009-07-28 @ 07:30:54 EDT
For their 14th-ish album, Yo La Tengo return to the 'variety show' format of 'I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One.'… - Scott Walker Scott 4 - Review of Scott Walker's Definitive Alternati…Created: 2009-07-24 @ 10:01:08 EDT Updated: 2009-07-24 @ 10:19:40 EDT
Walker's unquestioned masterpiece is an uneasy mixture of MOR balladry, lyrical savagery, and hesitant avant-gardism… - Scott Walker 30 Century Man - Review of the DVD Scott Walker 30 Cent…Created: 2009-07-24 @ 09:59:53 EDT
Documentary chronicle of the life and work of the reclusive crooner both builds up and tears down the Walker mythology… - Mazzy Star So Tonight That I Might See - Review of Mazzy Star's Defi…Created: 2009-07-17 @ 07:52:56 EDT Updated: 2009-07-17 @ 07:56:05 EDT
What was it that took this slowed-down, strung-out take on narcotic country to the ears of a million listeners?… - Christmas on Mars - Review of the Flaming Lips DVD Christmas On MarsUpdated: 2009-11-06 @ 08:45:34 EST
The Flaming Lips' first-ever feature film is a low-budget oddity that has more to do with underground cinema than underground music… - Must Reads: Essential Articles and Resources about AltmusicUpdated: 2009-11-05 @ 05:16:04 EST
- Yeasayer Biography - Artist Profile of YeasayerUpdated: 2009-11-03 @ 22:16:45 EST
Yeasayer are a quartet that accomplishes no small task: defying genre… - Clues Clues - Review of Clues' Debut Self-Titled AlbumUpdated: 2009-11-03 @ 05:55:13 EST
Alden Penner's post-Unicorns outfit debuts with an album of dense, dark, distorted, '90s-ish alt-rock… - Spoon Biography - Artist Profile of SpoonUpdated: 2009-11-01 @ 22:49:18 EST
Potted history of Austin indie-rock outfit Spoon, from their troubled early days to their chart-bothering recent rock classics… - Los Campesinos! Biography - Artist Profile of Los Campesinos!Updated: 2009-11-01 @ 21:56:56 EST
Smartypants twee-pop explosion Los Campesinos! burst onto the indie scene with the release of two albums in 2008… - 10 Acts to Watch at SXSW 2009Updated: 2009-10-27 @ 10:48:36 EDT
Ten hot tips to get you through Austin's musical overload, including Here We Go Magic, XYX, Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, Micachu, and so many more!… - 10 Killer Under-the-Radar 2008 AlbumsUpdated: 2009-10-19 @ 06:21:22 EDT
Here's 10 (well, 12, actually) totally killer 2008 discs that, whilst currently consigned to obscurity, are definitely worthy of reaching a far-larger audience… - Jenny Lewis Interview - An Interview with Jenny LewisUpdated: 2009-10-16 @ 10:20:28 EDT
The child-actor turned Rilo Kiley indie-rocker turned flame-haired country-soul chanteuse talks in the wake of her second solo album, 'Acid Tongue.'… - Megapuss Surfing - Review of Megapuss's Album SurfingUpdated: 2009-10-14 @ 05:30:40 EDT
The debut disc for Devendra Banhart's side-project is an in-joke made public… - Megapuss Interview - An Interview with Greg Rogove of MegapussUpdated: 2009-10-14 @ 05:22:57 EDT
The non-Devendra member of the 'puss talks about publicly outing his own member, his dreams of being a Brazilian tranny, the joys of Little Joy, and how his band was built for good times… - Top 20 Albums of 2007Updated: 2009-10-03 @ 08:03:13 EDT
Let's count 'em down: the very best alternative and/or indie records of 2007. From Animal Collective to, um, Panda Bear, it's the definitive list of the year's essential listening… - Alternative Music 101 - Guide to the Genres of Alternative MusicUpdated: 2009-10-03 @ 08:01:25 EDT
Don't know your shoegaze from your space-rock? Your twee from your C86? Read on to discover the peculiar secrets of all those baffling genre names… - Animal Collective Sung Tongs - Review of Animal Collective's Definit…Updated: 2009-10-03 @ 08:00:19 EDT
Tapping into the freak-folk times, Animal Collective's acclaimed fifth album spearheaded a sweeping movement of 'new primitivism'… - Vetiver Tight Knit - Review of Vetiver's Album Tight KnitUpdated: 2009-10-03 @ 07:58:08 EDT
'Tight Knit' plays like the musical equivalent of building a model aeroplane: precious and painstaking… - Vashti Bunyan Just Another Diamond Day - Review of Vashti Bunyan's D…Updated: 2009-10-03 @ 07:56:37 EDT
Lost in oblivion for nearly three decades, Bunyan's magical debut has been granted an almost holy status by smitten listeners… - Rio en Medio Interview - An Interview with Danielle Stech-Homsy of R…Updated: 2009-10-03 @ 07:51:33 EDT
With the release of 'Frontier,' the freak-folk siren talks the New Mexico snow, Vashti Bunyan comparisons, and trying to create a "field of miraculous occurrences."… - Antony & The Johnsons Biography - Artist Profile of Antony & the Joh…Updated: 2009-10-03 @ 07:50:30 EDT
Profile, history, biography of the warbling New Yorker troubadour… - Genre Profile - Freak-FolkUpdated: 2009-10-03 @ 07:48:22 EDT
A look at the recent folk-revival revivalists who've redreamt the imaginary hippy utopia for the new century… - Bat for Lashes Biography - Artist Profile of Bat for LashesUpdated: 2009-10-03 @ 07:43:22 EDT
History of glamorous English songstress Natasha Khan… - Pavement Biography - Artist Profile of PavementUpdated: 2009-09-29 @ 09:04:23 EDT
Biography of the kings of lo-fi slackerdom, as told by Stephen Malkmus and Spiral Stairs… - Top 10 Alternative Starter AlbumsUpdated: 2009-09-25 @ 07:53:02 EDT
The defining entries in any alternative record collection. The iconoclasts whose singular sound has shaped a whole generation of underground acts… - Young Marble Giants Colossal Youth - Review of Young Marble Giants' …Updated: 2009-09-18 @ 09:03:54 EDT
Recorded in three days in a studio in North Wales, the one-and-only album for Young Marble Giants achieved a perfect kind of simplicity… - The Monks Black Monk Time - Review of The Monks' Definitive Alternat…Updated: 2009-09-18 @ 08:58:01 EDT
With four decade's worth of hindsight, the Monks' still-thrilling debut may've birthed both punk and kraut-rock… - 10 Most Disappointing Albums of 2008Updated: 2009-09-04 @ 10:23:55 EDT
The unfortunate misses, anticlimactic follow-ups, and deflating letdowns that made music-loving in 2008 a little less wondrous… - Death Vessel Interview - An Interview with Joel Thibodeau of Death V…Updated: 2009-09-04 @ 10:18:00 EDT
The gentle folkie with the high, high voice colors in his pre-Sub Pop musical backstory… - Nirvana Bleach - Review of Nirvana's Definitive Alternative Album Bl…Updated: 2009-09-04 @ 10:17:32 EDT
The best $606.17 recording budget Sub Pop ever presided over… - Nirvana Biography - Artist Profile of NirvanaUpdated: 2009-09-04 @ 10:16:34 EDT
Profile of the life and death of the alternative legends… - TV on the Radio Biography - Artist Profile of TV on the RadioUpdated: 2009-09-04 @ 10:15:25 EDT
Let us chart the rise and rise of the Brooklyn outfit who's never met a bad review… - Nico Muhly Interview - An Interview with Nico MuhlyUpdated: 2009-09-03 @ 19:58:22 EDT
Nico Muhly talks Coldplay's lack of originality, Nicole Kidman's "botox-ass'd face", and working with Antony, Björk, Will Oldham, and Sam Amidon… - Top 20 Albums of 2008Updated: 2009-08-26 @ 19:05:29 EDT
Let's count 'em down: the very best alternative and/or indie records of the year. Old favorites, new loves, strange surprises, unexpected treasures. The essential picks of the '08… - Elliott Smith Biography - Artist Profile of Elliott SmithUpdated: 2009-08-15 @ 08:02:46 EDT
Chronicle of the rise and demise of the ultimate depressive songsmith… - History of Kill Rock Stars Records - Kill Rock Stars ProfileUpdated: 2009-08-15 @ 08:00:21 EDT
Profile of the long-running, fiercely-independent Pacific Northwest imprint, from riot-grrrl beginnings to its rebirth in Portland… - History of Sub Pop Records - Sub Pop Records ProfileUpdated: 2009-08-15 @ 07:52:46 EDT
In-depth historical profile of the influential, (semi-)independent Seattle label… - Tortoise Biography - Artist Profile of TortoiseUpdated: 2009-08-14 @ 09:38:57 EDT
A career-long look at Chicago's genre-razing, forever-experimental instrumentalists… - Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band Outer South - Review of Cono…Updated: 2009-08-13 @ 22:15:51 EDT
If 'Conor Oberst' gave off the wafting aroma of a sausage party, 'Outer South' positively reeks of it…