More suspension than solution, Rainbow, a collaborative effort between drone/blues/metal pioneers Boris and psych-rock veteran Michio Kurihara (Ghost, White Heaven, the Stars), strikes a rare balance. I can’t be sure, but this sounds like a concept album; with flowing in cinematic passages, each melody invokes character and drama.
Ben + Vesper: All This Could Kill You
Ben + Vesper, husband-and-wife duo of the same names, are new members to Daniel Smith’s Sounds Familyre family. Accordingly, their latest album, All This Could Kill You, is a challenging, creative expression featuring lyrical non-sequiturs, experimental melodic diversions aplenty, and labelmate Sufjan Stevens on banjo, piano, and assorted woodwinds.
Battles: Mirrored
In presenting their first full-length release, quirky rhythm mashers Battles have done their unique, cavorting style a great disservice.
Ben Weaver: Paper Sky
You’re lying on a couch upholstered in soft corduroy. You’ve been pulling on that enormous joint since breakfast; you’d get up to get some food, but, well, the kitchen is just so far away. At least your water bottle is handy. What time is it, anyway? Aw, hell, it doesn’t matter.
Von Sudenfeld: Tromatic Reflexxions
In an era of mash-ups and cross-genre collaborations, the most alarming genre erosion for staunch rockers must be the collapsing stigma between electronic dance music and traditional rock. With post-punk icon Mark E. Smith (the Fall) and Jan St. Wenner and Andi Toma of Mouse on Mars, Von Sudenfeld is another symptom of that collapse.
Forecastle Festival Lineup Announced
De La Soul (pictured above), Aloha, Cheer Accident, and others head the music portion of Louisville’s Forecastle Festival.
The Strokes to Debut New Video and Website
“You Only Live Once,” the group’s third single from First Impressions of Earth, will get a makeover from visual effects artist Warren Fu.
Brand Upon the Brain!
Brand Upon the Brain!, an absurdly fictional account of director Guy Maddin’s childhood with an overbearing, manipulative mother and mad scientist father, is more than a tale of a dysfunctional family that controls an island full of subservient orphans.
28 Weeks Later
More often than not, sequels don’t live up to the expectations that their predecessors set. That, however, most certainly is not the case with 28 Weeks Later (Fox Atomic), which makes its amateurish 28 Days… counterpart look like an after-school special – albeit one with rage-infected, flesh-eating humans.
Mike Patton to Record w/Dub Trio, Sing for Mondo Cane
The extremely busy, highly diverse vocalist, whose orchestral arrangements with Daniele Luppi can be heard in Italy next week, will also sing Peeping Tom material for “The Henry Rollins Show” on June 1 and soon spend large chunks of time abroad to perform.
The Blood Brothers to Play “The Henry Rollins Show”
The Blood Brothers will perform this Friday, May 18th on “The Henry Rollins Show.”
Neko Case Appears on “Late Night” and Plans Tour
Neko Case will sing back up for M. Ward tonight (May 17th) on NBC’s “Late Night With Conan O’Brien.”