The James Blackshaw renaissance continues! In 2016, the British fingerstyle guitar virtuoso pulled the plug on his music career, citing economic concerns. In 2019, he announced his return to music, but not until late 2024 did we get Unraveling In Your Hands, Blackshaw’s first album in nearly a decade. He’s followed that one up much […]
Swapmeet – “I Know!”
Winspear have put out some of our favorite indie rock records of the past couple of years, and now, the label have welcomed their first non-US artist to their roster. Swapmeet — Venus O’Broin (guitar, vocals), Joshua Doherty (bass), Maxwell Elphick (guitar, drums, vocals), and Jack Medlyn (guitar, drums, vocals) — are a young four-piece who […]
King Tuff – “Invisible Ink”
King Tuff’s return is imminent. The psychedelic garage rocker Kyle Thomas made his new back-to-basics album MOO shortly after leaving Los Angeles and returning to Vermont, the place where he’s from. He recorded it on the same Tascam 388 that he used to make his 2013 debut King Tuff Was Dead. On the LP’s first […]
Tomahawk Return, Announce First Live Shows In 13 Years
Back in 1999, Faith No More/Mr. Bungle frontman Mike Patton started the noise-rock supergroup Tomahawk with the Jesus Lizard guitarist Duane Denison, Melvins/Cows bassist Kevin Rutmanis, and John Stanier, the absolute beast of a drummer who’d already been in Helmet and who would later join Battles. Tomahawk have been intermittently active since then, though Rutmanis […]
Population II Announce New EP Gimmicks: Hear “Magouilleux”
I was mightily impressed by Maintenant Jamais, last year’s album from francophone Montreal psych band Population II. They’re following it up this April with a new EP, Gimmicks. Lead single “Magouilleux” sits in the middle of the five-song tracklist, and it makes for a sprawling centerfold. Powered by bleary keyboards and propulsive bass, the track […]
UK Burger Bar’s Fake Toto Plaque Angers Local Historical Society
Toto members David Paich and Jeff Porcaro wrote “Africa,” the band’s immortal 1982 chart-topper, because Paich had just seen a late-night TV documentary about poverty in Africa and because he was excited to try out the horn sounds that he could make on a new polyphonic keyboard that he’d just bought. Paich and Porcaro had […]
Grace Ives Announces New Album Girlfriend: Hear “Stupid Bitches”
Grace Ives back! It’s been too long. Ives, then a Brooklyn-based DIY pop artist, released a very cool debut album called Janky Star in 2022, and then she went quiet for a few years. Last November, Ives released three excellent songs — “Avalanche,” “Dance With Me,” and “My Mans” — that she recorded with producers […]
Dave Grohl Breaks His Silence On Firing Josh Freese From Foo Fighters
In 2023, Foo Fighters brought in rock veteran Josh Freese as their new drummer, replacing the late Taylor Hawkins. Two years later, the band fired Freese and hired Ilan Rubin away from the mid-tour Nine Inch Nails. NIN simply responded by bringing in Freese, who’d previously been in the band for a stint, thus completing […]
Teddy Riley Backtracks After R. Kelly Comments
Teddy Riley, the extremely influential R&B musician/producer and Blackstreet/Guy singer, is looking back on his heyday. The Songwriters Hall Of Fame member recently published the memoir Remember The Times, co-written with author Jake Brown, which reflects on the beginning of new jack swing. The book was actually written over a decade ago, but now it’s […]
Guided By Voices’ Doug Gillard Announces New Solo Album Parallel Stride: Hear “Face Of Smiles”
Because putting out a million albums with Guided By Voices isn’t enough, the band’s guitarist Doug Gillard is announcing a new solo record. Parallel Stride arrives in April, and we’re getting a taste with the lead single “Face Of Smiles.” About the song, Gillard says, “Disparate imagery converges to tell the story of someone experiencing […]