Monthly Archives: February 2011

MAGNET’s Oscar Predictions

UPDATED FEBRUARY 28: WINNING PICKS IN RED. WE GOT 20 OF 24 RIGHT. Three of the four acting spots are pretty much locks, and The King’s Speech has stolen all of the best-picture momentum The Social Network had slowly built up throughout the awards season, but a number of the 24 categories still seem up in [...]

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From The Desk Of The Jayhawks’ Gary Louris: Writing And Singing With Mark Olson

Gary Louris and Mark Olson left Jayhawks fans in a lurch when they parted ways rather abruptly in 1995. Turns out Olson had tired of all the obligations and trappings that came with the Minneapolis-spawned group’s hard-won success. So he escaped to the Mojave Desert to ply a rootsier, salt-of-the-earth trade with the help of [...]

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Film At 11: The Kills

Following up on 2008′s Midnight Boom, the Kills are back with a vengeance. The first single from forthcoming album Blood Pressures (out April 5 via Domino), “Satellite” eschews the duo’s earlier taste for minimalism and snarl and replaces it with echoing vocals and a dirty, danceable groove. The video, directed by Sophie Muller, is in [...]

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From The Desk Of The Jayhawks’ Mark Olson: Songwriting (The Wah-Wah Banjo)

Gary Louris and Mark Olson left Jayhawks fans in a lurch when they parted ways rather abruptly in 1995. Turns out Olson had tired of all the obligations and trappings that came with the Minneapolis-spawned group’s hard-won success. So he escaped to the Mojave Desert to ply a rootsier, salt-of-the-earth trade with the help of [...]

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MP3 At 3PM: Low

Low‘s new album, C’mon, is out April 12 via Sub Pop. The Duluth, Minn., trio recorded the 10-track LP in an old church in its hometown and mixed it in Hollywood with producer Matt Beckley. Frontman Alan Sparhawk has described C’mon as “warm, pretty, large like Nashville without the country,” but we need to spend [...]

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Normal History Vol. 101: The Art Of David Lester

Every Saturday, we’ll be posting a new illustration by David Lester. The Mecca Normal guitarist is visually documenting people, places and events from his band’s 27-year run, with text by vocalist Jean Smith. On a Valentine’s Day long ago, I dressed up all sexy for the guy I was seeing. He refused to look at [...]

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From The Desk Of The Jayhawks’ Gary Louris: Music

Gary Louris and Mark Olson left Jayhawks fans in a lurch when they parted ways rather abruptly in 1995. Turns out Olson had tired of all the obligations and trappings that came with the Minneapolis-spawned group’s hard-won success. So he escaped to the Mojave Desert to ply a rootsier, salt-of-the-earth trade with the help of [...]

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Film At 11: We Are Trees

Virginia Beach, Va.-based We Are Trees recently released their debut EP, Boyfriend (Collective Crowd), and singer James Nee garnered instant comparisons to Grizzly Bear’s Daniel Rossen. Anxiety of influence aside, We Are Trees has a gorgeous sound all its own, replete with delicate vocal harmonies and trembling percussion. The video for “Sunrise Sunset” captures the [...]

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TiVo Party Tonight: Jessica Lea Mayfield, Janelle Monae

Ever wonder what will happen during the last five minutes of late-night TV talk shows? Here are tonight’s notable performers: The Late Show With David Letterman (CBS): Jessica Lea Mayfield The singer/songwriter is plugging new album Our Hearts Are Wrong. Last Call With Carson Daly (NBC): Janelle Monae R&B singer Janelle Monae is supporting Grammy-nominated [...]

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From The Desk Of The Jayhawks’ Mark Olson: Songwriting (The Djembe)

Gary Louris and Mark Olson left Jayhawks fans in a lurch when they parted ways rather abruptly in 1995. Turns out Olson had tired of all the obligations and trappings that came with the Minneapolis-spawned group’s hard-won success. So he escaped to the Mojave Desert to ply a rootsier, salt-of-the-earth trade with the help of [...]

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