Update: Just in case you haven't been keeping tabs, this year's Monolith line-up has been shaping up rather nicely. On May 18, the masterminds of Monolith began revealing the line-up for the third annual two-day indie-centric music festival every two hours on Twitter and Facebook. Some folks found this approach tedious, while others enjoyed the surprise. Either way, we're pretty impressed with the acts that have been announced -- including the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Mars Volta, which was just a
Last time we checked, there's still a good four months left until the end of the year. Regardless, that hasn't stopped Bob Boilen and company from NPR's All Songs Considered from weighing in on the best music of 2009 (so far). Actually, check that -- the results, which were posted on the show's blog last week, were evidently voted on by the listeners, who apparently really, really dig Animal Collective. Take a look at their picks after the jump and see if you agree. Did they get it right, or
With early support from one of the country's most important independent radio stations, KEXP in Seattle, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart -- appearing at Monlith this weekend -- struck a chord with fans of earnest, dreamy, lush pop music. Though often compared to C86-era and Sarah Records bands, Pure at Heart make music that clearly draws on aesthetics evolved since that time and its songs are not awash in layers of delay as some of its critics have hinted when comparing the group unfavor
Over the course of this week, we've delivered a ton of Monolith coverage, so you'd be forgiven if you managed to overlook something. But because we care, we've taken the time to round everything up in one spot for you. Every Q&A, the stories in the paper, our special list of can't-miss sets, everything. Click through to the jump for links to all of it, and don't forget to come back this weekend to check our live-blog coverage direct from the festival. We may have one more late-breaking Q&A fo
Photo by Drew ReynoldsBrooklyn's the Depreciation Guild has spent the last few years fusing elements of synth pop, dream pop and experimental electronic music into an indistinguishable amalgamation of the band's wide-ranging sonic influences. In reviews and profiles of the band, much has been made of the group's use of an old piece of digital sound equipment (discussed below) but the Guild are not 8-bit composers nor are they neo-shoegazers trying to recreate a sound of times past. Instea
Autovaughn, by Aaron Thackeray
Is this thing on?
We're live from Red Rocks for Day One of Year Three of Monolith, the indie-hipster-Urban-Outfitted-neon-fest that marks the end of the Colorado music-festival season. The lovely promotional folks at Madison House have moved the media tent from the bottom of the hill to the top, which means two things are different this year than last year:
1. It doesn't smell like poop
2. The ice cream man isn't here.
You take with the good with the bad
As music critics, the most common question we get asked (and ask each other, for that matter) is, "What are you listening to?" The pervasiveness of this query is precisely what inspired Heavy Rotation, our latest feature. For the benefit of those who happen to be curious, we've compiled a list of all the things we're listening to this week. Feel free to chime in with picks of your own after the jump.
