Lists are inexplicably difficult yet undeniably crucial for music nerds. We have to sum up the events of the year with numbers and bullet points or our brains melt and our hearts explode. Sad but true. It's been in fashion of late to be more eclectic with lists, including everything from drone-core to bubblegum pop [...]
In the mid-2000s, mainstream music got injected with an unexpected shot of indie rock, and Arcade Fire was one of the lucky bands to bask in that exposure. While the band hasn't ruled the airwaves with quite the same ubiquity that so-called grunge bands achieved in the early '90s, Arcade Fire has topped the billboard [...]
Good morning! Between Fan Death's haterade and our look at the practice of door polling at local venues, in recent weeks Arts Desk has generated a fairly surprising amount of discussion about the state of D.C.'s indie-rock scene—not all of it civil, but that's OK. Clearly people are frustrated, for a number of reasons. (And by the [...]
Undoubtedly, two of the biggest names of the last decade's indie rock and electronica were Spoon and Four Tet. In this week's City Paper, our critics take a look at their new records and how each act is faring at the dawn of the 2010s.
Spoon's Transference leaves Marc Hirsh underwhelmed:
Transference is larded with bits and [...]
Morning, readers.
*More British authors onboard the proposed Google books boycott, including J.K. Rowling and Phillip Pullman. (If you missed Ursula K. Le Guin's fiery anti-Google manifesto/petition, check it here.) And speaking of Rowling: the next two Harry Potter movies will screen in 3D.
*Louis Auchincloss dead at 92.
*Pete Doherty pulls some serious rock-star shit by bringing [...]
Think of all the truly awesome things that Merge Records has accomplished in its 20-year existence. Not only has the label—founded in the late ’80s by Superchunk members Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan—released countless 7" singles, LPs, and at least one boxed-set by myriad worthy artists, but they've pulled off a few truly improbable feats. [...]
