As summer tends to begin late and run long in Los Angeles, much of my August-October last year was soundtracked by the (then) new compilation The World Ends: Afro Rock & Psychedelia in 1970s Nigeria. The entirety of the two disc set is worth seeking out, but it was my own re-discovery of The Ify [...]

With Pavement on the road most of last year I almost forgot Malkmus had been fronting his other band, the Jicks, for nearly a decade. With his old band is back on the shelf, the Jicks have a new (Beck produced) record ready to roll out August 23rd, via Matador, entitled Mirror Traffic. “Senator,” the [...]

If you somehow missed our Ghost Capital mixtape last January, here’s a second shot at Otis Wright’s acoustic Jamaican gospel, “It’s Soon Be Done.” MP3: Otis Wright :: It’s Soon Be Done —————— _____________________________________________________________________________________

Tony Joe White’s The Train I’m On is one of those records that are just too damn good to be kept a secret. Keeping it oh so real and raw on what may be his finest moment, the LP is a sweet and languid roots rock triumph. Give me acoustic guitar and the bass drum, [...]

Their first collaboration on record since 2005′s Superwolf, Matt Sweeney and Will Oldham just released “I Must Be Blind” on 10″ vinyl with “Life In Muscle” on the flip. I ran into Sweeney last month in New Orleans and followed up this week to get the skinny on his and Oldham’s collaborative history, creative process, [...]

If there was a jumping off point in trying to predict the sound of Bon Iver’s self-titled sophomore album, it probably came with the numerous live recordings of the touring incarnation of the band covering the Outfield’s “Your Love” back in 2009. But it isn’t as simple as that either. While Bon Iver certainly owes [...]

I’ve never been a huge fan of 14 Songs, which is probably an odd statement coming from a massive fan of both the Replacements and much of Paul Westerberg’s solo work. But when I was first getting into Westerberg in high school, I was always more fond of Eventually and Suicaine Gratifaction. Also, I think [...]

The guys in the Allah-Las (one of my favorite new bands from L.A., who I’ll be writing about at length shortly) just hipped me to this video for Dennis Wilson’s “Lady” (aka “Fallin’ In Love”) from 1970. According to Beach Boys lore the song was originally intended for use on the the album that became [...]

Our weekly two hour show on SIRIUS/XMU, channel 35, can now be heard twice, every Friday – Noon EST with an encore broadcast at Midnight EST. SIRIUS 196: Jean Michel Bernard – Generique Stephane ++ Braids – Lemonade ++ Azeda Booth – In Red ++ Baths – Lovely Bloodflow ++ Kurt Vile – Freak Train [...]

We caught up Martin Larsson of Swedish dream-pop band The Radio Dept. before their gig at The Troubadour last week. Along with the trio’s critically acclaimed third full-length, Clinging to a Scheme, this album cycle saw the band touring the United States for the very first time. They’ve experienced a steady stream of open arms, [...]