By Owen

Published: October 29th, 2006

Cuz lemme tell ya, I sure as shit haven't. Something about this band comes off as completely and wholly elusive. Stylistically swervin' back and forth from lo-fi wierdness to smooth britpop, like the proverbial drunk driver speeding down the proverbial Indie Boulevard, OTC seems to want to throw you off the scent. After all, all the best musicians make it a habit to keep you on your toes. Take a listen to " I Have Been Floated". A solid piece of poppy goodness with willowy vocals and drifty guitars. Once it settles in from the opening four bars with the frankenstein organ, strings kick in and soothe the savage beast into an eloquent number with lots of breaks in the rythm, allowing ...

By Owen

Published: September 12th, 2006

Have you ever been driving down a road flanked on one side by a park or heavily wooded area, and flanked on the other side by buildings, traffic and streetlights? Well, White Rainbow is the one man band to ride that road until the end. Somewhere between pleasant natural ambiance and completely synthetic pulsing keyboards, Mr. Adam Forkner, a scruffy lookin' dude from Portland, is the man behind White Rainbow. On the song "Tribe of Thugz", steady African bongos and the digitally altered sounds of crickets lay the groundwork for a steady groove for a few minutes. Every once in a while you're hit with what seems to be a few random sounds that Forkner made up himself, and the result is ...

By Owen

Published: August 5th, 2006

From deep inside the hectic electricity and streetlight sidewalks of Brooklyn New York, flowers grow. Those wise enough to tend their gardens will cultivate a lush bed of colors that stand in stark contrast to the grimy brick walls and dirty gutters of the city in which it dwells.Paul Weinfield of Tam Lin sows the seeds that make those flowers grow. Flowers that live to be so beautiful, to see them prospering in such a harsh environment makes you a little sad. Composed with a very delicate touch of acoustic guitars, drum machines and blippy little keyboards, Tam Lin makes the music that steps out of a dream and wonders whether it should have stayed there. It's a very open ...

By Owen

Published: July 22nd, 2006

All great events in history are met with an argument. Whether or not you agree with the events of say, The Bay of Pigs, or The War of 1812, the fact remains that both of these events have their relevance in history (hence the capitalization).Another stellar event that altered the course of history was a little band from Liverpool who came about in the early sixties and absolutely tore it up. You can hate 'em, you can have creepy sex fantasies about what you'd do if you were alone in a room with Paul, whatever your opinion, The Beatles carved a notch in the proverbial bedpost of rock music that you have to look at every time you lay down ...

By Owen

Published: July 12th, 2006

Ladies and gentlemen, it's true what your parents told you when you were just a little pup. You can be anything you wanna be when you grow up. You wanna be the president? Well you go right ahead, as long as you have the determination and drive to follow through with what you want. And then there are those pesky types called "realists" who like to argue that this is a world where things like living in the shitty part of town really do hang that price tag around your neck, unless someone stands up and points right at it. This message bought to you by your friendly neighborhood Subliminal Orphans, a seven-piece hip hop group based in good ol' Philadelphia. Sub-O ...

By Owen

Published: June 27th, 2006

Gimme one word. One word is all i need after listening to Brooklyn musician Zach Bondon, alias Beirut. Dreamy. The stuff is just plain dreamy. Checking out the song "Postcards From Italy", a lone ukelele commences the number. The tone is sweet and already it's taking me somewhere. And once Bondon starts in with the singing, you're all wrapped up in a silky croon cocoon that brings to mind NY native Julian Casablancas, or perhaps Morrissey Whatever you prefer, his voice reverberates with a conviction the likes of which is rarely seen in contemporary music. Cue the drums. Cue the bass. Hell, cue a few more instruments. Beirut's instrumental range is a broad one, with mandolins, horns, keyboards and even a glockenspiel if you're ...