Перед вами новый выпуск «Блогоскопа», дайджеста зарубежных музыкальных блогов. Главным «генератором новостей» на этой неделе был выход в свет нового диска американской инди-рок-группы The Shins «Wincing the Night Away». Альбом «утёк» в Сеть ещё несколько месяцев назад, но это не помешало ему стать одним из главных бестселлеров недели и предметом оживлённых пересудов: удастся или нет ему возглавить хит-парад Billboard и оказаться таким образом первым в истории «альбомом-номер-один» для независимого лейбла Sub Pop. На момент написания этого текста результат «чартовой битвы» The Shins и «порно»-RnB-проекта Pretty Ricky ещё не был известен, и предсказания все делали разные. Тем временем Chromewaves и ...

Dating back to his days in the metal leviathan Sleep, Matt Pike has been obsessed with the arcane. But where Sleep’s opus, Jerusalem / Dopesmoker , lets its godlike drones do most of the chanting, Pike’s subsequent band, High On Fire, is far more articulate—in a guttural sort of way, of course. Even the outfit’s most conceptual album, 2010’s Snakes For The Divine , wraps its love of gnostic apocrypha in sky-shredding squalls of thunder. De Vermis Mysteriis is High On Fire’s sixth full-length, and it’s steeped in a relatively contemporary lore: the metaphysical horror of ...

The discrete opening notes from lead-off single 'Desperation Breeds' recalls the sombre atmosphere of Bird’s earlier works, like 'Scythian Empires', but whereas Armchair Apocrypha featured sweeping strings, Break It Yourself feels more restrained. The duet with Vincent">St. Vincent’s Annie Clark on 'Give It Away' echoes a forlorn country ballad, while 'Lazy Projector' is positively lethargic, a slow snare drum marking the inertia as Bird sings “I can’t see the sense of us breaking up”. The album carries an emotional vulnerability not usually found on Andrew Bird albums and marks his growth as a songwriter. Nautical themes ...

There is no perfect way to grow out of hardcore, what with its sublimely teenaged palette of growled salvos, amped-up riffs, jackhammer drums, song-eschewing brevity, and hostile irreverence. In fact, most of the genre's trailblazers came of age in unusual ways. Minor Threat did it with tolling chimes and acoustic guitar on "Salad Days," not to mention covering the Standells. Black Flag jumped ship for sludge metal and then wove Sonny Sharrock-style free jazz guitar into the mix. Circle Jerks recorded with Debbie Gibson. Still, they all either retained a hard edge or just broke up. Ceremony, a Bay ...

I started collecting vinyl in January of 2008.  Here is what I have amassed. (updated January 2012) AC/DC Back in Black American Football American Football Andrew Bird Armchair Apocrypha Band of Horses Everything All the Time Infinite Arms Battles Gloss Drop Mirrored The Beach Boys Endless Summer The Beatles 1962-1966 1967-1970 Abbey Road Hey Jude Let it Be Magical Mystery Tour Rubber Soul Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Beck Modern Guilt Odelay The Bee Gees Best of Bee Gees Vol. 1 [pre-disco] Saturday Night Fever Ben Folds Five Ben Folds Five Blackalicious A2G [EP] Blazing Arrow The ...

In the early days of QBiM, it seemed strange if a month went by where I didn’t write something about Andrew Bird, let alone years between posts.  A brief recap is in order, then?  Bird’s 2007 album Armchair Apocrypha was a shoo-in for end of year honours ’round these parts after its March release that [...]

If any one band has been able to defend endless reissues, it’s The Residents through their claim of adherence to the Theory of Obscurity. By stating that something is worth release once forgotten (a trend starting overtly with Not Available and never officially abandoned), any old material can be remixed or repackaged with no harm to the fan base or the mythos of the band – and so their unreleased Warner Brothers album has seen a few incarnations and leaks, some overlapping into fan made compilations available through BitTorrent and SoulSeek in the old days. And now as a general ...

The Zombies: Odessey & Oracle Vampire Weekend: s/t Elvis Costello: This Year's Model Andrew Bird: Armchair Apocrypha The War on Drugs: Slave Ambient (2) Chopin: The Piano Works (performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy) Kurt Vile: Smoke Ring for My Halo A...

Reno, Nevada blackened death metallers Blasphemous Creation have inked a deal with Russian record label HeadXplode Records. The band's second full length album "Battle Of The Ancients" will be released sometime in early 2012. The album was engineered by Josh Williams at Metal Works Recording Studio in Folsom, CA and the cover artwork (available below) was handled by Tony Koehl of Sketch The Soul Studios. This second offering is a follow up to Blasphemous Creation's first full length album "Diabolical Kingdom," which was released on San Francisco label Apocrypha Records.

Seminal recording artist Andrew Bird is best known for his melancholic tales of the mundane nature of everyday life, particularly on critically acclaimed album Armchair Apocrypha. All this makes him a perfect choice to write the score for Jonathan Segal-directed film Norman. The film...

Rampage 1983 Chances are very few of today's kids have heard of the band Slaughter. No, I'm not even talking about the excellent Canadian death/thrash version but rather the other one. You know the "Fly to the Angels" one. Years before Mark Slaughter would form his eponymous band Slaughter and before he was chosen as the lead singer of group Vinnie Vincent Invasion he fronted a hard rock/heavy metal act known as Xcursion. This Las Vegas, Nevada three piece featured Mark Slaughter on vocals/guitar along with Anthony White (Cold Sweat, Ferrari) on drums and Al ...

Nevada based blackened death metallers Blasphemous Creation have lifted the lid on their upcoming second full-length release "Battle Of The Ancients." The band now has 9 songs completed for the new album, which is the follow up to the 2009 debut "Diabolical Kingdom." The album will be released on San Francisco based label Apocrypha Records, and ... Read More/Discuss on Metal Underground.com

It’s hard not to think of Sweden’s Refused when pondering the phenomenon of Denmark’s Iceage . Both are Scandinavian. Both were formed when their members were in their teens. Both offer bracing, radical, yet fundamentally faithful reinterpretations of their chosen genres. But while Refused deconstructed post-hardcore, Iceage’s stunning debut, New Brigade , slaps vibrant new life into the worked-over corpse of post-punk, radiating a breathless, desperate, ramshackle charm that runs counter to the frigid gloom of the music. The disc’s opener and standout track, “White Rune,” simultaneously taps into Nordic apocrypha and hormonal melodrama—and it does ...

Steve Amarantos is one of the hardest working men in the Chicago underground. Between gigs and recording with both Apocrypha and Mechina, Steve manages to do what few musicians are capable of. Having not only managed to open for some of the biggest names in the underground metal scene but also joining an established Chicago underground staple, Stev... Read More/Discuss on Metal Underground.com

Iron & Wine: Kiss Each Other Clean James Blake: s/t John Vanderslice: White Wilderness (2) Josh Ritter: The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter PJ Harvey: Let England Shake Low: Trust Andrew Bird: Armchair Apocrypha Belong: October Language Disappears: Guider Arp:...