Country musician Steve Earle once famously pronounced Townes Van Zandt "the best songwriter in the whole world, and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that." So how come the only people who ever give Townes his propers are his contemporaries and the odd independent filmmaker? Maybe because even [...]
It was hard to cop a buzz from most of the northeast collegiate bands in the early oughts; the music was by and large unexceptional, and most of the musicians spent as much time in front of an easel—or wrapped around a bong—as they did practicing. But then there were the rumors coming out of [...]
Just a quick reminder that the DC Record Fair hits this Saturday and is shaping up to be the greatest record fair in the history of record fairs. The legendary Chuck Brown will be in the building signing autographs, ten DJs will be rocking separate rooms, food and alcohol will be served, and yours truly [...]
I recently came under fire for being too cruel to the new Gomez record. Specifically, I came under fire from City Lights editor Mike Riggs, who called me a "harsh motherfucker" and who really, really enjoys the song "Little Pieces," which (he tells me) ran as intro/outro music to yet another episode of Grey's [...]
Dylan/Zimmy/Judas wasted no time after last October's release of the sprawling retrospective, Tell Tale Signs: on April 28, Columbia will release his new studio album, Together Through Life, Billboard reports.
If label hype is any indicator—which, in this case, it sort of probably is—the record's packed full of nostalgic, tumbleweed-y vignettes, Chi-town blues, and churning boogie. [...]
Dischord announced that it has more back-in-stock and remastered LPs. Records include Fugazi's Red Medicine (a must own), Embrace's self-titled LP, Scream's Still Screaming album and the Faith/Void split. Some of these have been reissued on colored vinyl!
Crooked Beat sent along this e-mail with a list of new arrivals at their shop. Includes Link Wray, the Wedding Present, and the new Animal Collective LP.
List after the jump.
Recently, indie-rock cornerstone Touch and Go Records announced it was effectively closing up shop. Carrie Brownstein wrote up a solid essay on her blog, Monitor Mix, about the sad news.
Brownstein points the finger at music websites as a big culprit. She makes some interesting points. I agree with everything she has to say. It should [...]
This past weekend, we learned that former Washington City Paper music critic Rickey Wright had died. I put together a tribute of sorts made from Wright's blog posts and WCP pieces, tributes from friends and colleagues and family.
On Saturday afternoon, I had the fortune of talking with Nicole Arthur. Arthur served as Washington City Paper's [...]
Former Washington City Paper music critic Rickey Wright is dead. Wright passed away at 4:31 p.m. on February 19 in Seattle after suffering from a series of small strokes. At the time of his death, he was working on a book about John Lennon's "Imagine."
Wright was probably one of the most prolific talents the Washington [...]
