News

Did you ever wonder what would happen if Elisa Ambrogio and Ben Chasny got together and made a record in addition to making out? Sure, they've collaborated on each other's music, with Magik Markers and Six Organs of Admittance, respectively, but it's tough when you don't have a project to call your own. Ever problem solvers, these two have done what everyone had hoped for-- gone along and formed a new band. They call it, 200 Years-- and we call it one of the... (read more)

Art lovers of Greater New York! Grab your monacles (or whatever it is you peer at fine art through - !) and head on out to the Arf Art Gallery of Parsippanny NJ (well, Boonton, actually - but they're practically the same) to catch the final moments of Bonnie 'Prince' Billy's much-noted month-long installation, "There Is Someone What Will Pay For This (Darkness)." Our kid's a reg'lar renaissance man - singing, acting and now making with the visual arts, some of which can be... (read more)

Hey everybody! Remember the 80s? Live Aid and all that shit, that was horrible! Then there was "We Are The World," the landmark charity single from 1985 that raised the bar for bleeding-heart celebrity supergroups, liberal guilt & promotional tie-ins. It also spawned more parodies than COPS. Well...are you ready for another? Think of this as more of an update for a new generation (it worked out well with Gus Van Sant's PSYCHO, remember?) This is a similar shot-by-shot tribute BUT all profits... (read more)

The women of Cliffie Swan are tough, but they're not mean. They bear no ill will towards Canadian Lights. Ultimately, they chose a new name for the band in order to reflect the transformations that have occurred within the band. They needed a name as unique as their sound.

But face it, it's been frustrating sharing this name the past couple of years. It was a name that both parties felt was important to their message. If the word 'wretched' could be applied... (read more)

Regular readers of this space are thoroughly aware of what the Israeli power trio Monotonix can do to move a crowd: they can literally move the crowd with the force of their convictions - their convictions and their hairy, sweaty bodies, which when thrust forth with the power of rock, can push an assemblage all the way across the room.

Part of this phenomenally moving ability can be explained by Monotonix's preference to set up their drums and guitar and vocal mic on the floor... (read more)

Recent correspondence from Britain reports that the High Llamas chaps are quite busy! Busy writing and recording a new album for one, as well as just shoring up operations in general. Did you know you can get High Llamas updates directly from the band? ‘Tis true, and all you need do is have a glance at this link to find out how — there are a few options. Being so chuffed with the completion of a new album, the lads are playing live for the... (read more)

This Thanksgiving, we cheerfully wish good times for all ! Let there be fun throughout the land and dancing - on Netflix's queue!

No, they're not dead yet - quite alive in fact, as it turns out: their campaign of censorship against the all-American entertainment known as Trash Humpers has breathed its last, thank Job. Now you can spend your holidays with Harmony Korine and his gang from the back streets of Anytown USA by pointing your clicker right here. Or refer yourselves to... (read more)

Fresh off some killer solo White Magic performances in southern California, Mira Billotte is cruising her orb 'cross the globe to exert forces on European soil, kicking off the first official White Magic tour in a couple years. What has she been up to, you ask? Well, we've asked the same on occasion; all we can assume is that she's been traversing the astral plane with sonic intentions since we released the Dark Stars EP. Yes, we've sensed new recordings-- songs from which White... (read more)

There's an old joke wherein a man is approached on the street near Carnegie Hall and asked, "Pardon me, sir -- how do I get to Carnegie Hall?" To which the asshole replies, "practice, practice, practice." If that's truly the case, then no one we know practices harder than Joanna Newsom. Our girl makes her Carnegie Hall debut on Tuesday, November 23rd, in support of her new (c'mon, anything from 2010 is still new! Slow down, interweb!) jam, Have One On Me. The show... (read more)

Everyone is talking about Lights! Even "Sir" David Bowie's assistants! Thing he needs to know that they need to tell him (because otherwise how would he know?), as do all you friends and fans of Lights, is that the band has officially changed its name to Cliffie Swan. Lights haven't just gone out, they've been reborn! Here's hoping this will end all confusion between the Canadian musician Lights and the incredible talents of Sophia Knapp, Linnea Vedder and Alana Amram. These sultry ladies have been... (read more)