Listen Before You Buy

There are some bands that I really wish I could have caught early. Bands like The Beatles, The Stones, Nirvana, Sex Pistols… (I’m sure you have yours, maybe you could let me know what they are.). The thing about seeing a band before they make it big is that you get to see them in [...]

I can’t say that I’m a die hard Death Cab For Cutie fan, but I am a fan. I’ve been listening to them for about six years now and was introduced to them via an online messageboard, my first taste being their (then) just released “Plans”.  If you can wear down MP3s then I wore that [...]

OK boys and girls, quick musical history lesson coming up. Stay with me, it’s kinda fascinating. Why were singles traditionally 3 minutes long? Our dear friend Wikipedia says “A combination of technical factors combined with the 10 inch diameter of standard discs limited the duration of recording available on each side of a disc to [...]

Leaving don’t write conventional songs. The four tracks on their EP “Ghost House” don’t so much progress as drift. Each song features a textured wall of guitar distortion and reverb, softened by mournful strings and supported by only the slightest of structures. This is rootless music, fitting for its subject matter: the EP is about [...]

Picture by James Chadderton/Peter Hook   It’s fairly indescribable the impact that Joy Division have had on my life, but it’s fair to say it’s been nothing short of life-changing; one of those artists that literally do change your life, and personally it’s only happened with four others (Oasis, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Arcade Fire…gotta [...]

It’s been a crazy few days for me and I really needed to listen to some mellow, well written music. Fortunately for me Fort Frances got in touch with us and suggested we take a listen to their debut album, “The Atlas”, and it was exactly what I was looking for. Hailing from Chicago, Fort [...]

I still remember when I first discovered Bob Dylan, and I think I might’ve spoken about it before but in case you missed it, I’ll tell it again (it’s incredibly exciting!). I used to watch VH1 Classic religiously when I was a kid, all hours of the night and I’d be enthralled by all of these amazing old [...]

All of the songs listed below were personally chosen by the artist or blogger above. I got in touch with a lot of artists and bloggers who were all kind enough to get back to me and take part in Desert Island Discs. If you’re unaware of the concept behind Desert Island Discs, check out the basic [...]

Arguably one of music’s greatest eras, the 50′s and 60′s changed the face of music forever.  Without people ranging from Elvis Presley to Little Richard, Bob Dylan to The Beatles, we probably wouldn’t be listening to some of the bands and music we take for granted today.  One man who grew up obsessed by the [...]

This post is a “QuickPick”.  QuickPicks are my attempt at getting all of the music that’s sent to me that I like (or just music I like but have no words for because it’s so awesome), out into the dubya dots. Any time I get sent music that I like I “star” it in Gmail [...]

This post is a “QuickPick”.  QuickPicks are my attempt at getting all of the music that’s sent to me that I like (or just music I like but have no words for because it’s so awesome), out into the dubya dots. Any time I get sent music that I like I “star” it in Gmail [...]

Hi, I’m Franky B Rockafeller and you might remember Sweet Lights from such posts as “[Introducing] – Sweet Lights” and “[Listen/Download] – New Song By Sweet Lights – “Scopitone Scopitone”. Or maybe you don’t, and that’s alright too, but I won’t let you off a third time though.  The song is gorgeous and you don’t [...]

This post is a “QuickPick”.  QuickPicks are my attempt at getting all of the music that’s sent to me that I like (or just music I like but have no words for because it’s so awesome), out into the dubya dots. Any time I get sent music that I like I “star” it in Gmail [...]

Poverty and the lack of culture is just as influential in breeding creativity as being cultured and well-off does.  It gives people a way out, a desire to succeed at anything if it means they can escape their life of ennui. Some of the greatest bands of all time have grown up with nothing other than [...]

Last week one of the bestest and bestest of music blogs called it a day. This Swiss blog Delicious Scopitone were apparently having some internal conflicts that caused them to disband and just last week they shut up shop.  Before that though they did a little visual dedication to Philly’s Sweet Lights and in turn Sweet [...]

There was a band a few years back called Cotton Mather who I was turned onto by Noel Gallagher after he proclaimed their brilliance on an early morning TV show in the U.K. Being the loyal Oasis follower that I was back then I swiftly ran out to find their CD, mainly because he likened [...]