To commemorate 60 years of the Billboard Hot 100, Off The Charts revisits each year since it was established to spotlight songs and artists that didn’t make the cut, yet still made a significant impact. Years are chosen randomly and—to make it even harder on ourselves—rules for inclusion are that neither the songs nor…
Car Seat Headrest reimagines 2011’s fiery Twin Fantasy with a bigger budget, while Poliça and Stargaze turn in the stirring Music For The Long Emergency, and Brandi Carlile finds strength in forgiveness on the lovely, languid By The Way, I Forgive You. These, plus Superchunk, Ought, and more in this week’s notable…
The year in music was off to a promising start thanks to January’s many great new albums. And with planned releases from the likes of U.S. Girls, Rhye, and The Soft Moon—not to mention the hotly anticipated Kendrick Lamar-curated Black Panther soundtrack—February looks to continue that trend. Here are the new records…
First Aid Kit delivers more ’70s folk-rock mastery with Ruins, while Porches sputters out on The House and Belle & Sebastian go deeper and darker on the second How To Solve Our Human Problems EP. These, plus Tune-Yards, Shopping, and more in this week’s notable releases.
In this week’s notable releases, pianist Tom Rogerson debuts with a beautiful Brian Eno collaboration, and Belle & Sebastian’s EP series begins by looking backward.
With its echoing, gossamer guitars, the debut, self-titled album from Brooklyn four-piece Cigarettes After Sex evokes the fleeting quality of memory—the bedroom pop group’s very name pointing to something having just happened rather than occurring in the present. Perhaps no song on the 2017 LP better captures the…
Although 2017 is already wrapping up with best-of lists and the like, December still promises a handful of new records from Miguel, Belle & Sebastian, Brian Eno, and N.E.R.D., to name a few. Here are the ones we’re looking forward to the most from the last remaining releases of the year.
To commemorate the 20 years that have passed since the last time they released three consecutive EPs—1997's Dog On Wheels, Lazy Line Painter Jane, and 3.. 6.. 9 Seconds Of Light—Scottish twee-pop superstars Belle & Sebastian have announced that they’ll be releasing three more EPs in quick succession this winter. All…
A corny musician joke about drummers came to life for Belle & Sebastian’s Richard Colburn this week, when the group’s bus driver looked around, said, “yup, everyone’s here,” and pulled out of the parking lot of a Walmart in Dickinson, North Dakota, leaving Colburn behind. “I was coming out of the Walmart, and he was…
Being on the cover of Nirvana’s Nevermind has turned into a pretty good gig for that one baby, who can now check in with the media every few years to show what he looks like and prove he hasn’t died, and now Belle And Sebastian is looking for 50 volunteers to get the same sort of treatment for a new series of vinyl…
This week’s question comes from reader Joe DeCarolis:
With new albums coming out from The Decemberists, Sleater-Kinney, and Belle & Sebastian, next week has officially been declared Indie Rock Christmas. That means we still have a few days before Indie Santa—who is a lot like regular Santa, but his red suit is vintage and he has one of those horrible twisty mustaches…
