Four years ago, I flew from Portland to New York to see my favorite band, New Zealand's garage-pop trio the Clean, play three shows at a glorious pit called Cake Shop. The openers were Crystal Stilts, a Brooklyn group with no records out whose moody and noisy music pushed all the right buttons. I quickly befriended the group, especially guitarist JB Townsend and his then-girlfriend Frankie Rose, whose own band Vivian Girls were soon-to-be favorites.… more »
It used to be easier to pretend that an album was its own perfectly self-contained artifact. The great records certainly feel that way. But albums are more permeable than solid, their motivations, executions and inspirations informed by, and often stolen from, their peers and forbearers. It all sounds awfully formal, but it's not. It's the very nature of music — of art, even. The Six Degrees features examine the relationships between classic records and five… more »
You can never accuse John Barrett of having his heart in the wrong place when he explains the genesis of what would eventually become Bass Drum of Death: "Basically, the whole purpose of me ever [playing songs] live was because I could get free drinks and make a little money and girls would talk to me. It worked a lot better than if I was just going out normally." Indeed, while their debut LP GB… more »
File Under: From raw, gutbucket blues to soul, rock and pop with a similar unspoiled spirit
Flagship Acts: R.L. Burnside, Junior Kimbrough, Solomon Burke, the Black Keys, Andrew Bird, Band of Horses, Dinosaur Jr., Wavves, the Walkmen, Smith Westerns, Yuck, Tennis
Based In: Oxford, Mississippi
Like the Delta bluesmen whose records he started Fat Possum to release, Matthew Johnson is part of a dying breed. Rock owes much of its early legacy to eccentric, mostly European-descended label owners… more »
Activity
05.28.12
Flying to Amsterdam tomorrow. We play at Paradiso on Wednesday.
