(part 611 in a 1001 part series)
The first thing I listen for when I put on a new John Vanderslice album is the production. Sure Vanderslice is a great songwriter, great arranger and all that, but his sense of crisp pop production is phenomenal… he’s one of the best out there. Vanderslice’s new album Romanian [...]

(part 567 in a 1001 part series)
Last week I was introduced to a great new unknown band called The Antlers. The new album Hospice is a dark orchestral and electronic pop album that recalls Arcade Fire’s bombast and the quivering and mannered voice of Antony. The song that sold me was the opener “Kettering.” [...]

(part 512 in a 1001 part series)
This morning while walking to work, a particularly dreary and cold day in Washington, a great new song by Papercuts caught my ear — “You Can Have What You Want” from the upcoming album of the same name. This new record was recorded with no computers and with [...]

(part 458 in a 1001 part series)
This is another record I just dug out of my giant mail bin full of unlistened discs… one that I had overlooked until I read about a song on NPR’s Second Stage and thought I’d give it a once through.
Not sure what it is about this song… the computerized [...]

(part 436 in a 1001 part series)
The Bad Plus, along with a singer named Wendy Lewis (who is known on the Minneapolis alt rock scene) are set to put out an album of cover songs called For All I Care. The album features songs by Flaming Lips, The Bee Gees, Wilco Pink Floyd etc. [...]

(part 307 in a 1001 part series)
So I wrote that blog entry about Jon Brion, which led me to the Largo website, which led me to the Largo documentary website, which led me to the videos section, which led me to a clip of Grant Lee Phillips (formerly of Grant Lee Buffalo)… and I really [...]

(part 253 in a 1001 part series)
This song is from the new David Byrne\Brian Eno album Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. While there a few clunkers on the disc, as a whole it’s much better than I expected. A few songs are downright great and up there with some of Byrne’s best [...]

(part 212 in a 1001 part series)
Jaymay is a jazzy folk singer with quite the pleasant voice. This song is nice and catchy. Nothing else really left to say. It’s just a nice little song.
“Gray Or Blue” by Jaymay

(part 168 in a 1001 part series)
Up until about a week ago, I had not heard of The Fairer Sex, a jangly indie-folk-pop group from Lawrence, KS. But then again, I was definitely interested since I know two of the members from high school and college days. Nice to see another local Lawrence band [...]

(part 124 in a 1001 part series)
Ah yes.. Good ‘ol Stephen Malkmus has a new record out: Real Emotional Trash. It’s a much ‘jammier’ rock record than previous solo albums. While Pavement is long gone, Malkmus has put out some great things since then. This song “Out of Reaches” might be one of the [...]