Rock / Pop Browse All

Interview: Alabama Shakes

By Annie Zaleski, eMusic Contributor

During "Hold On," the first track from Alabama Shakes' debut album, Boys & Girls. vocalist Brittany Howard asserts, "I got so much to do, I ain't got much time." Those words perfectly summarize the ascent of theAthens,Alabama, band. Once known as the Shakes (they addedAlabama later to avoid confusion), the quartet formed in 2009 and cut their teeth playing a mix of covers and originals at local clubs. A chance encounter with Patterson Hood led… more »

04.03.12 List Hub 1

Comeback Kids: The 10 Best Musical Resurrections

By Arye Dworken, eMusic Contributor

Remember that band you loved that broke up? Well, next year, they're playing Coachella. We live in an age when band reunions are bordering on passé, which can obscure the fact that a well-executed comeback is often difficult to come by. Take Limp Bizkit. That once incredibly popular band released an album this year that you probably had had no idea existed. Or on a somewhat more credible note, Duran Duran reunited and recruited famed… more »

04.03.12 List Hub 0

Schizo-Pop! A Guide to Musicians and Their Alternate Personae

By Laura Studarus, eMusic Contributor

Whether it's on account of creativity bursting at the seams, or just a desire to try something musically or lyrically different from their previous work, sometimes artists feel the need to step outside themselves and create an entirely new persona. The syndrome that's kept psychologists busy for years has manifested itself in concept albums, live performances or just the occasional one-off single. Inspired by Nicki Minaj's sophomore album Roman Reloaded — where Minaj channels her rage… more »

Exister

Hot Water Music

2012 | Rise Records

Hot Water Music, Exister

2012 | Label: Rise Records

By Jon Wiederhorn eMusic Contributor

05.24.12 Comeback albums are tricky, especially for a band as beloved as Hot Water Music. Wisely, on their eighth disc (and first new album in as many years), the band decided not to recreate the past but instead forge ahead. The songs on Exister expand the boundaries of their sound without sacrificing the visceral sing-alongs that endeared them to fans.

For the past decade co-frontman Chuck Ragan has had a successful career as a folk troubadour, which makes it even more satisfying to hear those whiskey-soaked pipes crack with emotion on roaring anthems like "Mainline" and "Paid in Full." The band's other guitarist/vocalist, Chris Wollard, crafts songs like "The Traps" that are more pop-inspired than anything the band has done before, though… more »

I Predict a Graceful Expulsion album cover

Play

Member Price $6.99

I Predict a Graceful Expulsion

Cold Specks

2012 | MUTE

Cold Specks, I Predict A Graceful Expulsion

2012 | Label: MUTE

By Laura Studarus eMusic Contributor

05.23.12 "Cross your heart and remember me, the good father and the bad seed," London-based songstress Al Spx sings on the opening track of her debut, I Predict A Graceful Expulsion. A sea away from her Toronto, Canada, home, it's difficult to believe that Spx — who refuses to use her real name out of respect for her God-fearing, disapproving family — is writing from a place of anything less than gut-wrenching sincerity.

Slung somewhere between Bill Callahan's folk nihilism and Flannery O'Connor's down and dirty spirituality, I Predict A Graceful Expulsion is an extended dalliance with darkness. As though weaving a gospel for the unbelieving, Spx fills her "doom soul" with tales of fractured families, weary travels, and what feels like… more »

Play

Member Price $3.43

Lillie: F-65

Saint Vitus

2012 | Season of Mist / The Orchard

Saint Vitus, Lillie: F-65

2012 | Label: Season of Mist / The Orchard

By Jon Wiederhorn eMusic Contributor

05.22.12 Saint Vitus were creating droning, deafening symphonies of gloom in the early '80s, long before bands like Cathedral, Sleep and Down started turning the cannabis-flavored whiff of Black Sabbath into soundtracks for their own bong-enlightened adventures. And Vitus faced adversity from the moment they released their self-titled record in 1984 on SST, a label dominated by hardcore, post-punk and alternative bands. Singers came and went, including the indomitable Scott "Wino" Weinrich (ex-Obsessed, Shrinebuilder), who fronted Vitus through its best material while holding down crappy day jobs and debilitating addictions.

It's hard to believe 17 years have passed since the D.C.-based doom metal veterans released their last album, Die Healing, and a full 22 since Wino was at the helm on V.… more »

Play

Member Price $9.74

RAM (Special Edition)

Paul McCartney

2012 | Hear Music

Paul McCartney, Ram (Special Edition)

2012 | Label: Hear Music

By Andy Beta eMusic Contributor

05.22.12 The case against Paul & Linda McCartney's Ram (the couple's lone album made together under their names) is formidable indeed. Robert Christgau's Village Voice review of the 1972 album is a vicious body blow: "The songs are so lightweight they float away even as Paulie layers them down with caprices. If you're going to be eccentric, for goodness sake don't be pretentious about it." Over at Rolling Stone, Jon Landau aimed far below the belt: "Ram represents the nadir in the decomposition of '60s rock thus far." Well...with such critical savaging, one might mistake Linda McCartney for being more despised for ruining a Beatle than even Yoko.

Landau also noted in his dismantling of Ram that "the Beatles were obviously a… more »

eMusic Radio

02.02.12 Radio Program 0

Righteous Babe Radio

By eMusic Editorial Staff, eMusic Contributor

The office folks at Righteous Babe Records put this playlist together for eMusic. It has some choice songs from the Righteous Babe catalog but also some friends, openers and influencers we either work with or just plain like to play. Hope you enjoy! more »