Berated

Forest Family Records, created by the brains behind Gorilla vs Bear and Weekly Tape Deck, tends to show a penchant for timely pop music. Their previous 7″, Go Outside by Cults, had most critics gushing over its exuberant blend of twee-pop and chilled-out electronica, while their most recent offering, Gauntlet Hair, associates that same vein [...]

The subjectivity of audible beauty creates no room for uniform mastery. As styles of music have fluxed in popularity over the past several centuries, the presence of classical music has endured for several reasons. The technical achievements it marked in musical composition is perhaps the most immediate influence, as are the great minds from Beethoven [...]

Jon Chapple takes on the unique experience of a Brian Jonestown Massacre show, an event that certainly lives up to the band's defiantly frustrating image. BJM, while inconsistent, have shown glimpses of brilliance throughout their career, and their recent performance at The Academy 3 was typical of just that: full of potential but with too many distractions - both on the stage and off - to truly flourish beyond their period of hype in the mid-'90s.

The Dead Weather follow up the excellent Horehound with an interesting but flawed album that relies more on derived techniques and reverb-heavy production than the ingenious songcraft of its predecessor.

The Rassle - comprised of members from The Virgins, The Takeover UK, and Young Lords - sit down with Lauren Tischler and reveal the origin of their name, how technology affects their music, the band's interesting songwriting process, and their promising road ahead.

Lauren Tischler sits down with Tokyo Police Club's keyboardist, Graham Wright, and talks about the touring life, the project's beginnings, quality television, and the band's new album Champ, which Wright believes is their best record.

Twelve seconds into The Colorage, a trumpet caps off the end of an crescendo guitar run, practically announcing the arrival of a talented new alt-rock band from Pittsburgh, PA. And while the five-song EP from Yours Truly isn’t completely flawless, bigger bands have professionally produced worse LPs than this young trio from the Steel City.

Jay Mattson covers his favorite songs of the year so far. Although the year is not even halfway over, there has been enough great music to warrant a recap of sorts this early. MP3s include work by Liars, Plants and Animals, Gigi, Crystal Castles, The Black Keys, Band of Horses, The New Pornographers, and Yeasayer.

It’s almost dark, and I am sitting in front of the fountain that decorates the Bearsville Theater in Woodstock, NY. Walking towards me is Kathryn Calder and her manager Euvin Weeber. Kathryn is looking like anyone else in the crowd that surrounds us, down to earth in a floral print dress, while Euvin blows her [...]

Band of Horses' third album brings to mind both rootsy Americana and straightforward pop-rock, which should not be a surprise to any fan. Its incredible starting momentum finds an abrupt halt in several fillers, but Infinite Arms does have several gems that make the listen worthwhile.