Poetic Memory: Hotel St. George (List)
San Diego’s Hotel St. George recently premiered the excellent video for their song “Little Children’s Bones.” The video features a robot battling a wizard in Russian roulette, a dog with a cape, and various other serious things. It’s definitely in your best interest to check it out.
To enhance the viewing of their latest musical movie film, band members Matt Binder and Eric Visnyak provided us with their Poetic Memory. Watch the video above, and read their list of influences below. Continue reading…
Wilco Archive Update – June 18
Here’s volume four of the summer updates. Check back next Friday for volume 5 (the last one)!
Click here to view the full list.
Wilco Archive Update – June 11
Here’s volume three of the summer updates. Check back next Friday for more! Click here to view the full list.
Wilco Archive Update – June 4
Here’s volume two of the summer updates. Check back next Friday for more! Click here to view the full list.
Wilco Archive Update – May 28
It’s been so long since the last update to the Wilco Archive that I can’t even remember when it was. Well, things are gonna change (for at least the next few weeks, anyway. We have 60+ shows to add to the archive, and this marks the first Friday installment. Enjoy. Click here to view the list of new shows…
Review: Wilco; April 11, 2010; Carnegie Music Hall, Pittsburgh, PA
Photo credit: J. Walkos
Roots rock, alternative country, folk, and indie are all terms to which Wilco’s sound has been likened. Most bands loathe being pigeonholed into a particular sound, and if you ask them what genre they fall into, you can actually see them cringe. Yet we all feel the need to relegate bands to made up genre names, and in recent years defining a band by a specific sub-genre (chillwave, anyone?) has become the norm. But, for me, Wilco are an American rock and roll band: plain and simple. Continue reading…
Big Star Singer Alex Chilton Dies at 59
What can I say? Alex Chilton is dead. As part of Big Star, he wrote some of the best music of the 1970s, and his work has influenced so many — Jeff Tweedy, Califone, Elliott Smith, The Replacements. The list goes on.
I’m just sitting here playing the YouTube video for this old song over and over again. Those harmonies get me every time. Goodbye, Alex.
Poetic Memory: Fruit Bats (List)
Fruit Bats at The Casbah, San Diego - February 3, 2009
The Ruminant Band, Fruit Bats‘ first release in four years, is undoubtedly one of the best releases of 2009. We recently sat down with Eric to talk Poetic Memory, and he listed the records most influential to him from the 1990s. Check it out below. (more…)
Halloweening It Without Jeopardizing Your Indie Cred (An O&B How-To)
Call it Halloween, call it the day after Devil’s Night (if you’re a fan of The Crow), call it the day before All Saints Day (that’s for all you Catholics out there), or just call it a pain in the ass. Like it or not, it’s time to dress up. Whether fun or a chore, it’s more important than it seems, and wearing the wrong costume can be disastrous. The right costume, however, will not only get you through the night unscathed, but it could also do wonders for upping your rep. Most important, not wearing a costume is not really an option. You’ll be viewed as Halloween’s equivalent to Scrooge. Going to a Halloween party sans costume is like not dancing to a band that moves you. Don’t be a dick. Wear a costume. Dance. (more…)
Download: Jay Bennett’s Best Shows
As news of his passing spread across the Internet, many people made sincere and moving tributes to Jay Bennett, the polarizing but astoundingly influential former member of Wilco who died unexpectedly on May 24, 2009.
In the search for our own fitting tribute to Jay Bennett, we decided to round up some of his best live performances from the Wilco Archive and let his talent speak for itself. We polled members of Wilco’s ViaChicago fan community, and they obliged with eloquence. (more…)
Interview: Dan Murphy of Golden Smog
Yesterday, I sat down with Dan Murphy, Golden Smog’s affable guitarist, to talk about Barack Obama, Brian Wilson, the band’s early days, Soul Asylum, The Jayhawks, Jeff Tweedy, nonexistent Swedish brides, and the music industry.
Murphy’s Midwestern supergroup will release Stay Golden, Smog on September 23. The record is made up of tracks from the band’s early years, but also features two unreleased tracks: a demo version of “Until You Came Along” and an unearthed cover of Brian Wilson’s “Love and Mercy.”
