Every so often something just leaves you dead on the tracks, be it the fact I’m seeing snow April 16th when it was over 70° last week and perfect biking weather, the first time you see Godard’s Weekend, or last night’s circus of an experience of of Montreal opening Union South here in Madison. These(…)
On the Horizon
Who was that? Qui?
On the Horizon: Siriusmo
Recommendations these days are predominately word-of-mouth. It truly is the most effective form of marketing in business and music. Word-of-mouth has a way to transcend even negative preset connotations. Thus when electronica was associated with Siriusmo‘s name, that predisposition was swiftly tossed out the window like an old television purely due to the Twitter account(…)
On the Horizon: Bars of Gold
Years ago, two post-hardcore bands challenged not only mine but a plethora of ears across America. One, The Blood Brothers, infused the highest-pitched screaming with danceable, off-kilter hardcore music. The other, Bear Vs. Shark, melded complex song structures and melodies that just should not have worked-but did-over barking and a relentless vocalist named Marc Paffi.(…)
On the Horizon: Lissie and "Bully"
Rock Island does not have anything going for it in Illinois. It is the final gasp of breath before you plunge across the border on I-80 and into that corn stalk heaven of Iowa. So it comes as a surprise to find Lissie, breaking waters in the UK, happened to sprout out from those farmlands(…)
On the Horizon: The soulful, majestic Madjo
In December, an email landed in my inbox from France with a gratuit MP3 from this unheard of singer. Free and French? Sign me up! Her voice shook me, akin more to North American songstresses of late than the likes of Camille, Charlie or Nolwenn Leroy. Madjo is an île of soul-infused sounds, evidenced by(…)
On the Horizon: Lawrence Arms + Methadones = Noise By Numbers
Ah the coincidence! Sitting in my flat today after French courses, I was reminiscing over old Lawrence Arms (Ghost Stories). Coming back from Place Verte in the 11e arrondissement, I discovered that their drummer/Swiss army knife, Neil Hennessy, joined up with members of Screeching Weasel, The Methadones, and Four Star Alarm to create Noise By(…)
On the Horizon: Florence and the (Soon to be Unstoppable) Machine
Few female British artists have reached the grandiose genre-bending sonic sounds coming from such artists from Sweden and Canada. Finally, we’ll have one later this year in the form of Florence and the Machine. Her single, Kiss With A Fist, emerged around halfway through last year, bumping up through the mangled mess of UK underground(…)
On the Horizon: Spinnerette brings together Queens of the Stone Age and the ex-Distillers
Running across this video by chance the other day, with its combination of artful, Liam Lynch-directed visuals and growling, soulful vocals sinks deep and holds you down like a tar pit. Spinnerette is the combination of The Distiller‘s (now disbanded) Brody Dalle’s versatile vocals and Queens of the Stone Age‘s Alain Johannes heavy-as-an-industrial-plant guitarwork. Topped(…)
1 2