Here's a selection of the best of last week's music blogging from around the Village Voice chain:
In his second entry as the Seattle Weekly's resident guest blogger, the Long Winters' John Roderick meets classic-rock royalty in the form of Alan Parsons and it sparks some deep thoughts on the history and state of rock music.Short but sweet, this blog gives a heads-up on two intriguing acts and expounds on the futility of bathroom attendants, all in the course of three bullet points. And that great photo seen above.
Two drummers, six-dude harmonies and not a hint of irony all go into the mix of Akron/Family and the results stake out a weird middle ground between underground psych heroics and straight-up jam band territory.
This reviewer notes new levels of complexity within Magnetic Fields' frontman Stephin Merritt's voice and is charmed by pianist Claudia Gonson in this show review.
Find out how a made-for-TV movie taught one man to appreciate Meatloaf (the melodramatic arena rocker, not the homey foodstuff) and set him up for heartbreak when a chance to meet the man behind the myth falls just out of reach in this blog post.
If you're one of the half-billion fans eagerly awaiting the release of the new R.E.M. album Accelerate, you'll appreciate Annie Zaleski's thorough sneak peek at the record.
Sometimes, there's very little to say, as in this post, which simply embeds a YouTube vid of a song called "Hot Tubbin' on the Late Night" and calls it hilarious. And it is.
An insightful Q&A session with Texas legend Joe Ely.
New to the metal? Or maybe you just want to fake it to get that cute headbanger boy to chat you up? This lexicon of subgenres should help. Hard-core metal fans, this is for you too! Go and start fights in the comments section over quibbles about minor points!
What does it take to be "The Boss?" It's all explained here, laid out by Rick Ross and illustrated and explained by LA Weekly blogger Jeff Weiss. -- Cory Casciato
