I first caught a glimpse of a dewigged Robert Smith on a spotty VHS copy of “The Cure: In Orange,” a videotape a friend popped into his VCR and told me, then in 1998 when I first started playing the bass guitar, “man, look at Simon, you need to learn how to play like that.”… Continue reading “The Cure: In Orange”
Author: Art
Arcade Fire’s ‘Reflektor’ Lyric Video is Live!
There you have it, it’s live. We don’t usually post newsy news, but this one is…uniquely grand. After months of teaser videos and guerrilla marketing maneuvers that annoyed even their most die-hard fans; Arcade Fire’s fourth full-length studio album Reflektor is streaming on YouTube.Ā It’s live, and well, it’s a lyric video of epic proportions. [youtube]http://youtu.be/CBjqUEMlHTY[/youtube]… Continue reading Arcade Fire’s ‘Reflektor’ Lyric Video is Live!
TRAAMS
“That’s it, right there,” I said to myself, “right when the bass line hits, 40-seconds in, the sound grabs you like a hungry beast looking for satisfaction. ” The crunching guitars and driving drums on “Swimming Pool,” the opening track on the FatCat debut of West Sussex trio TRAAMS, is a bodacious opener that lures… Continue reading TRAAMS
Colorful Electricity: The Naked and Famous
In 2011, New Zealand’s The Naked and Famous released their synth-pop debut Passive Me, Aggressive You; which included the sugary electro-pop anthem “Young Blood,” which hit the radio like a runaway train carrying a cargo of starburst choruses, metallic synths, and soaring vocals. With comparisons to early MGMT floating around the blogosphere (which wasn’t fair,… Continue reading Colorful Electricity: The Naked and Famous
Nothing Romantic About UK’s Savages
“The world used to be silent / Now it has too many voices.” – Savages (Silence Yourself Manifesto) As I prepare to see Savages at theĀ Fonda TheatreĀ in L.A. tonight, I look back at my first experience seeing this band earlier this year. Jerking her head back-and-forth, with sudden and purposeful movements, Jehnny Beth’s dark, piercing… Continue reading Nothing Romantic About UK’s Savages
The Kate Boy Collective
The sheer scope of vision involved in creating and executing concept art requires an incubation process that in today’s music industry, is almost impossible to accomplish. While concept albums are churned out at a feverish pace (even John Mayer dabbles in the space; which should annoy you), a group or a solo artist that symbolizes… Continue reading The Kate Boy Collective
Palehound: “Pet Carrot”
The ’90s were the last, and in fact, the most definitive epoch in the music discovery evolution that grew from early DJs introducing new singles on the radio, to the music streaming ‘arms race’ that has managed to reduce the experience of finding a new band to a Google search, a click of the mouse,… Continue reading Palehound: “Pet Carrot”
Body Language: “Well Absolutely”
You’d think a mad scientist — some moonlighting hacker who mastered the codes to a complex DJ software — would be responsible for the laser-beam funk that resonates out of every Body Language track. Wrong, it’s just four kids from Brooklyn influenced by Brian Wilson and from the sounds of it; Studio 54 fantasies filled… Continue reading Body Language: “Well Absolutely”
The Day The Music Died: Joe Cocker and ‘The Wonder Years’
“What would you do, if I sang out of tune,” echoes in the hearts of millions as the famous lyrics first penned by Lennon and McCartney (more of a ‘Paul song,’ no question), and later endured by Joe Cocker’s 1969 cover and subsequent opening theme for the classic TV show, The Wonder Years. Clearly, the… Continue reading The Day The Music Died: Joe Cocker and ‘The Wonder Years’
Podcast Painkillers
Editorās Note:Ā Please welcome new Knox Road contributor, Art Tavana. Art is based in L.A. and will be writing long-form, short-form and everything in between. Enjoy his first piece about our favorite kind of people. [Image via Lovato Design, photo by Joslyn Baker.] Music snobbery is rooted in the blind pursuit of a transient experience; a… Continue reading Podcast Painkillers