When I was in middle school, I had a lot of ideas for music videos. Generally these ideas were boring and tame – mostly because at the time, I was listening to a lot of really sappy, sad music (I changed from a private school to a public school between seventh and eighth grade and...
Part of the reason why T-Sides has been so quiet these past few weeks is that, until about two weeks ago, I was busying myself with a Cultural Criticism class taken through NYU. As part of this, we of course read Lester Bangs’ now rather infamous diatribe on Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks, and just a...
Image courtesy flickr user forklift The New Pornographers put on one of the worst concerts of recent memory at the Bowery Ballroom last August. It was so unbearable that writing a review would have been like rubbing alcohol on an open wound. A.C. Newman was acting like a real prick in-between songs, talking for longer...
When you’re young, the desire to fit in can be a very, very dangerous thing. Sure, this applies to drugs, sex, alcohol, violence and all those things parents worry about – but it also relates to music. I came across Da Real One’s version of “If U Like Pina Colada (Pina Colada Song)” during eighth...
Maybe it’s because I recently heard Narrow Stairs, Death Cab for Cutie’s upcoming album for the first time, maybe it’s because I’m going through Death Cab’s discography for a piece I’m working on, but for some reason or another, I find my long dormant appreciation for Ben Gibbard reawakening. For those of us who grew...
This song is Spring. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: “Helplessly Hoping” (download) It’s easy enough to point to nearly any Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and say that – “Judy: Blue Eyes,” certainly. “Guinnevere,” absolutely. “Our House,” you bet. But “Helplessly Hoping” is it, the most Spring of any of their songs. This is it....
Bullz-Eye: I conducted an interview with Jimmy Gnecco of OURS, whose long-awaited album Mercy (Dancing For The Death Of An Imaginary Enemy) is finally out on April 15th. Popdose: I reviewed the Sun Giant EP from Seattle’s Fleet Foxes, who are stirring up the blog hype lately. Portishead: “Wandering Star” (download)
Oh, hey Devendra Banhart, I didn’t realize you were in that new movie, Forgetting Sarah Marshall. What, that’s not you? Okay, if you say so. Pretty close resemblance, though. But I guess I can understand if you’re embarrassed and don’t want to lose your cred. Devendra Banhart: “Seaside” (download)
As T-Sides Domination continues expanding, “T-Sides Elsewhere” will likely become a somewhat regular feature every couple weeks. On Bullz-Eye: My review of the Heart of the City Tour (Jay-Z & Mary J. Blige), the new Destroyer album, Trouble in Dreams, and I wrote about the book Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop for the Rock of Pages...
The first music, in general, that I remember loving and growing up with was from “the Music Man” – as in the movie with Robert Preston, which I would watch repeatedly, to the point of annoying my mother, when I was about four years old. But memory is a tricky thing, and a lot of...
Much like John Darnielle himself, the Mountain Goats’ audience at Webster Hall on Tuesday night had a tendency to flaunt its wit. Every time someone called out a song request – which was frequently, because in this cultish fan base, everyone has a favorite – someone else had a witty thing to yell in retort....
The best thing about St. Patrick’s Day – aside from that whole drinking thing – is that it’s a day to be especially proud about redheadedness. A long time ago, the Seattle alternative weekly Tablet had a feature called something like: “what it’s like to be…” and had someone write a short paragraph about what...
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