Photo by David Greenwald
Two years ago, one of my more trusted publicists sent over a track from a brand-new band. They were called Pepper Rabbit. “Wanted to get you the scoop,” he wrote. I skimmed their EPs. “Red Wine,” with its piano chords landing like brontosaurus feet, stood out immediately. Rawkblog premiered the track. Read the rest of this entry »
Be safe, pals. See you in 2k12. Also: (500) Days of Summer forever. Watch Nellie McKay’s (even better?!) version after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
BEST OF 2011: Albums | Songs | EPs/Singles | Discoveries | Photos | Bootlegs
Let’s just dive right in, shall we? I wrote blurbs for everything. If you jump straight for No. 1 (SPOILER IT’S KAPUTT), I’ll understand, but you might enjoy some reading. Read the rest of this entry »
BEST OF 2011: Photos | Live Videos/Bootlegs | Discoveries/Heavy Rotation | EPs/Singles | Songs | Albums
The brightest spot of 2011′s music for me was that I could’ve happily watched handsomely crafted live videos and downloaded radio sessions and bootleg recordings all year and never reached for an actual record. It’s both a tribute to modern technology and a sign that we have a welcome surplus of quality videographers and engineers. Hopefully they keep it up. Here are six essentials. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s been a few weeks since launching Mercury Music, Rawkblog’s digital record club, and I’ve been really pleased to see it take off. We’ve had dozens of subscribers and I’ve been up to my ears in personal mixtapes (they’re almost done, folks!). Membership is simple: each week, you get the best new album of the week and an influential classic sent right to your Spotify inbox (I’m looking into Rdio and Mog, too) along with an email newsletter discussing the picks and gathering the week’s most important news and blog posts. No RSS feeds, no clicking through dozens of MP3s, just the good stuff. Not to mention your Personal Mixtape, a specially designed collection to help you find your new favorite bands. If you’re a regular reader of this blog, this is the best way you can support me — and you’ll get music you know you’re going to love in return.
In honor of the holiday season, I’m offering a special 25% off deal for a one-year membership from now until Dec. 23. Give it to your mom, your co-worker, your little brother who doesn’t know Weezer made albums in the ’90s. Check it out, and thanks for reading.
BEST OF 2011: Songs | Albums (soon) | EPs/Singles | Discoveries/Heavy Rotation | Photos
A really good year! The first 40 or so are mega-jams and the latter 38 (Rawkblog loves you, baby) are still jams. I purposefully left out songs by Destroyer because I couldn’t decide, so consider Kaputt represented. You can play the entire page with the handy Ex.fm player in the bottom right corner, stream the playlist on Spotify and Rdio, and download everything after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
Photo by Malcolm Niekirk
Alessi’s Ark, one of this year’s finest new folk singers (and Laura Marling’s lovely tour opener) has an early holiday present for us: a crisp cover of the Smiths’ “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want.” In Alessi’s hands, Morrissey’s lament takes on an oddly triumphant quality — when the electric guitars slide in halfway through, it’s hard to imagine wanting anything else.
The singer has also put together a holiday Spotify playlist that ranges from Bing Crosby to the Ronettes, if you’re looking for some Yuletide tunes.
(Alessi’s Ark’s Time Travel is out now on Bella Union and streaming on Spotify)
View all my best concert and portrait shots of 2011 over in our new giant-size gallery. Because we care!
