Yeasayer and Icy DemonsSaturday, November 29, 2008Bluebird TheaterBetter than: Flashbacks.Druggies, take notice: Yeasayer is a band you need to know. Between the trippy, hypnotic visuals provided by the lightball tree sculptures on stage and the wall-of-sound performance, this is a band that will help you get maximum mileage from your high. That doesn't mean that those less inclined to chemical explorations should shy away; for reasons of professionalism and general good sense, I saw this show a
I saw some great shows in 2008, along with quite a few not-so-great shows. It can be hard to quantify the best shows -- what really makes one show better than another, after all? Is it a killer set list, a virtuoso performance, the accompanying light show? Becasue of that, I'm going to share with you not my best shows of 2008, but my most memorable ones, along with a line or two about why they were so memorable. If you want more detail on why they stuck with me, you can click through and read t
Every year, as I finish up my mandatory end-of-year lists I'm struck by the fact that each year, some of my most interesting, influential and important musical experiences find themselves homeless, unlisted and unknown. Everyone wants to know the top releases of the year, top shows and similar, obvious categories. But what about the other stuff? The stuff that weighed heavily in my musical mind, yet don't fit into any of these neat, familiar categories? Well, thanks to the power of blog, where s
Conrad Keely, frontman for the indie-rock vets in ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, is among the most articulate and opinionated figures in music. He earns this reputation anew it in the following Q&A, conducted for our profile of the band, "...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead Cuts Its Own Path," which was published in advance of the band's Monday, March 9 gig at the Bluebird Theater.
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.
