It’s the 31st annual Festival International de Jazz de Montréal. MAGNET’s Mitch Myers translates the action. As the Montreal Festival ebbs and flows, so do I. The early part of this jazz week radiated low energy for me, but the musicians I saw perform still did their level best to entertain and inspire. Consider master [...]
To celebrate today’s crop of releases, here are new mp3s from Wolf Parade, Adam Franklin & Bolts Of Melody, Alejandro Escovedo, Peter Case and Alasdair Roberts & Friends. Also, vote for your favorite of today’s new releases.
Nothing did more to further the cause of Alternative Nation-building than 120 Minutes, MTV’s Sunday-night video showcase of non-mainstream acts. For nearly two decades, the program spanned musical eras from ’80s college rock to ’00s indie, with grunge, Britpop, punk, industrial, electronica and more in between. MAGNET raids the vaults to resurrect our 120 favorite [...]
For more than a decade, the Pernice Brothers have mostly made plush, romantic orchestral pop that doesn’t gild the lily once tended by the Zombies, Walker Brothers and Elvis Costello. True to frontman Joe Pernice’s working-class nature, the band’s sixth and latest album, Goodbye, Killer (Ashmont), does away with the sighing string section and goes [...]
On the evening of the Passion Pit/Tokyo Police Club show, the Mann Center for the Performing Art’s outdoor amphitheater was hotter than the backseat of a senior football letterman’s car at the drive-in movies, enough so that about 25 people were crammed into the air-conditioned ATM kiosk at any given time. Standing in the concession [...]
We were very sad to hear that original Kinks bassist Pete Quaife passed away on Thursday. They were the last of the British Invasion bands with all of its founding members still alive, which always made us think that they just might get back together for one more tour. Here’s a clip of Ray Davies [...]
Ever wonder what will happen during the last five minutes of late-night TV talk shows? Here are tonight’s notable performers: The Tonight Show With Jay Leno (NBC): OK Go Rerun from June 9. OK Go performed “End Love” from new album Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky. Last Call With Carson Daly (NBC): Fanfarlo [...]
For more than a decade, the Pernice Brothers have mostly made plush, romantic orchestral pop that doesn’t gild the lily once tended by the Zombies, Walker Brothers and Elvis Costello. True to frontman Joe Pernice’s working-class nature, the band’s sixth and latest album, Goodbye, Killer (Ashmont), does away with the sighing string section and goes [...]
New York-based singer/songwriter Neil Nathan returns with another twangy pop/rock confection with “California Run.” Nathan is perhaps best known for his folksy cover of ELO’s “Do Ya,” which was featured in an episode of Californication. “California Run” is the first single off Nathan’s debut album, The Distance Calls. Bobby Harlow of the Go produced, and it features [...]
It’s the 31st annual Festival International de Jazz de Montréal. MAGNET’s Mitch Myers translates the action. As Italian trumpeter Paolo Fresu’s all-star segment of the festival’s Invitation Series wound to a close, I had to admit that this amazing game of musical chairs had its own worldly charm. For his final night, Fresu hosted Norwegian [...]
