So in August of last year, with low to slow-building (sounds like BBQ, doesn’t it?) fanfare, the music world was introduced to Crosses. Described initially as a witch-house (throw a couple Crucifix symbols around and call it a gimmick for marketing lovers) and featuring a pretty heady mix of both 80′s nu-wave with White Pony and Saturday Night Wrist-esque Deftones atmospherics; EP1 was unleashed as a free low-grade download to would-be listeners. Featuring the duo of Chino Moreno (of Deftones, [...]
Spin Cycle: Lana Del Rey’s “Born To Die”
In the world of pop culture, everyone wants a story to go behind the face. With a face like Lana Del Rey’s (born Elizabeth Grant) there’s generally going to be a lot of questions along the lines of “who’s that girl?” and “What’s her story?” For those not familiar with the short story – the kid grew up in upstate NY and was shipped off to boarding school at 15 after getting involved with drugs and alcohol, is a daughter [...]
Spin Cycle: Nada Surf’s “The Stars are Indifferent to Astronomy”
It’s still hard to believe it has now been 18 years since Nada Surf’s “Popular” graced the airwaves. In fact, since 2002 (i.e. the last 10 years) the band has done quite well at establishing themselves as one of the finest indie pop rock acts for your money. Let Go is a stand-alone defining moment in their career – from the opening chords of “Blizzard of ‘77″ we began to hear what separated Nada Surf from their pop rock leaning [...]
bLISTerd Presents: KBox’s Top 11 Albums of 2011
Ryan Adams, Bon Iver, plus Kanye and Jigga. Another Best of ’11 list. That shit cray!
Spin Cycle: “Fear and The Nervous System”
O.K. – so rewind back to 2008 for a minute. I am in a limo with Raymond Herrera (Fear Factory), Billy Gould (Faith No More), Brooks Wackerman (Bad Religion) and James “Munky” Shaeffer (Korn) and we’re talking about all things music. James is working on his debut solo project and he tells me it’s called Fear and The Nervous System. I am completely stoked to hear how it’s all coming together and up to this point have assisted two of his other [...]
Spin Cycle: Wednesday 13, “Calling All Corpses”
There’s something to be said for knowing exactly what you’re gonna get. You can’t go to a Metallica show and get the same high you got when you were in your later teens or early 20’s. What’s worse – you can’t listen to a Metallica album and truly reminisce about that live experience. Your ears and eyes heard and saw those things and you enjoyed how they translated between record to club (or arena). I have always been a fan [...]
Spin Cycle: Everlast’s “Songs of the Ungrateful Living”
In a recent interview with Billboard.com, Everlast was quoted as saying “I would rather if people love or hate my music. The only thing I don’t want is indifference. If you are not stirring shit up, then what the hell are you doing?” At that point, I’d listened to his new album, Songs of the Ungrateful Living, a couple times and to be honest, I was kind of indifferent. The interviewer also asked him if he felt the new album [...]
Spin Cycle: Ryan Adams’ “Ashes & Fire”
So it’s October 2011, and Ryan Adams has returned from what seems like an eternity to the casual listener. I, however, am not that casual listener and was quite satiated last year by the Cardinals double-album III/IV and a release by R.A.’s heavy metal side project, Orion. Ashes & Fire is a return to form for Ryan Adams, the solo artist, though. 11 new tracks soaked in coffee, cigarettes, a few late night beers and a whole lot of 70’s rock [...]
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