TAG: new wave

Apr20

D.C.’s 9:30 Club Turns 30, Online Rockumentary

Music fans may have noticed that when a band plays in the DC area, there’s a good chance it’s at the 9:30 Club. Though I have never been to DC, this is one place I would make a pilgrimage to. Once it was the center of the underground scene that thrived in the area, now it is where bands perfect their craft. While today it is in a new space, the landmark club has some truly humble beginnings and it seems to have been in the right hands for 30 years. The Washington Post published a multimedia history of the club. Informative and inspiring, it’s a reminder of the power of music when it’s not consumed by the powers that be.

Check it out here

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Jan29

Lindstrøm & Christabelle – Real Life Is No Cool (Review)

Lindstrøm & Christabelle

Real Life Is No Cool

Released by Smalltown Supersound / Feedelity


The Norwegian maestro of disco, Hans-Peter Lindstrøm, teams up again with Christabelle (also known as Solale), and together they craft a masterful 10-song pop album. They have worked together since 2001, and begun working on the album before 2008’s epic Where You Go I Go To. Even though Lindstrøm is famous for his retro futuristic space disco, it never sounds like he’s working within a format. Real Life Is No Cool lacks the long masturbatory jams, and is tighter and more formal than his last few releases. The album is filled with new-wave pop melodies and piano house keys. It's sharp and chunky with heavy stomping basslines and wobbly arpeggiated synths. Wrapped in a warm and organic analog production, it's as dreamy as its title suggests.

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Dec14

The xx “Crystalized” from Last Call (Video)

For a band who hardly needs an introduction after such a break-out year, Carson Daly gives us a quick re-cap of The xx’s rise in popularity and the band makes its US television debut performing “Crystalized.” It looks like the band is doing just dandy minus one member–eh, it happens. I wonder if Baria Qureshi Tivo-ed it…

[Prefix]

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Dec07

Live Review – Stellastarr* @ Spaceland (MP3)

So, the story has it that songwriter Shawn Christensen (guitar, vox) became the default lead singer and frontman of Stellastarr* because the band couldn’t fill that role way back when they joined up in 2000. However, it’s a role he seems completely at-home in. At Spaceland on Saturday night, he was poised and emotive, and thrust his whole being into the show. His vibe is unaffected. The band could be playing at an even smaller venue or a huge one, but he would still exude his particular brand of warmth that only a kid raised on post-punk and the likes of Talking Heads and the Pixies.

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Dec04

Stellastarr* “Winter Song” (MP3)

What makes quartet Stellastarr* more than just another art-school band?  Touring with cool bands like The Raveonettes is pretty good. Putting on kickin live shows helps, but what I really enjoy about Stellastarr* is the delicate balance of new wave and Britpop with dark lyrics. “Winter Song” is the perfect example of that juxtaposition and it’s the newly released b-side to their single “Numbers,” off of Civilized. The band just kicked off a string of dates in San Francisco, and since I adored 2005’s Harmonies for the Haunted, I’m checking them out in Silver Lake tomorrow night.
“Winter Song”

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