When you first get into electronic music, you’ll soon learn that (far more than rock music) it’s all about the label. Back before everybody and their brother had a MySpace page, it was almost all you had to go on in the faceless world of techno. If it wasn’t for the Transmat imprint, for instance, [...]

A great day for new additions to eMusic, including Blonde Redhead, Oh No, Jens Lekman and other assorted goodies.

The first time I came to New York for the CMJ Festival, only one artist blew me away. When Fog, AKA Andrew Broder, took the stage with his band at the Knitting Factory and played the turntable, reproducing the scratches on “Pneumonia” cut for cut. Actually, did he have a band? I can’t really remember. [...]

Just got an email announcing what will almost certainly be (outside of Hell’s Kitchen!) the best thing on television all week:
Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story
PBS / Great Performances
Wednesday Aug. 1
9PM Eastern and Pacific/ 8PM Central
Directed by Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville
More here.

Last night, Sonic Youth played their landmark 1988 Daydream Nation double album at McCarren Pool in Brooklyn, and the Williamsburg crowd reacted as if this were an evening at the symphony. Daydream Nation actually is the classical music of the indie nation – cerebral, canonical and hailing from a very distant, very different era. [...]

All summer, I’ve had a constantly evolving playlist on my iPod that I listen to almost exclusively. I find some new song I like from eMusic, a blog or a friend, and it gets incorporated into the mix, along with some old favorites and a few oddities. I thought I’d share mine if you are [...]

For those who pay attention to such things, it seems like Friday is always full of electronic new arrivals of note. That’s because it’s the day that the German digital distribution company FineTunes drops their new releases. Today, two releases on the same label caught my eye.

While not worthy of a download all, the Department of Eagles EP that came in today, A Johnny Glaze Christmas, provides primo cherry-picking opportunities. One of the two Department of Eagles dudes is in Grizzly Bear (not Big Ed tho), and this EP is a weird hodgepodge of stuff from their two-year-old album called The [...]

Today’s new arrivals, pumped full of AllMusic Guide review chemicals and, mostly, scrubbed free of 17Dots-enhanced commentary. Lazy, you say? You betcha.

I love to watch Soul Boys dance: whether it’s that tidy little shoulder-drop, ankle-twist manoeuvre all mods seem to pick up with their first pair of decent trousers or the full-on, talcum-powder-on-the-floor acrobatics of a true Northern Soulie. So I’ve been enjoying the BBC’s truly wonderful Soul Britannia documentary.

Hit the Porter Wagoner/Grinderman/White Stripes show at Madison Square Garden last night. During Grinderman’s set the following occurred:
Nick Cave: This song is called “No Pussy Blues.”
Heckler: “Well, you’re UGLY — what ELSE would it be called?”
A little later, I turned around to check out the heckler, who was sitting right behind me. He was [...]

Each month, the eMusic Editorial staff suggests some of their favorite tracks on the site — for those few subscribers without insanely packed “Saved for Later” lists. We’ve finally got July’s edition up now and we’re proud to say that it features Paris Hilton, grindcore pit bulls and Dane Cook’s kid brother — among others.

The new M.I.A. record, Kala (out in the US Aug. 21, Aug. 20 in the UK), is
a) absolutely ridiculous
b) some crazy-ass back-to-the-future-music time-warp kinda deal
c) a country mile better than the already-great Arular
d) the smartest/sickest/slickest pastiche/homage/collage/mélange of pop music I have ever heard

I just came back from the Museum of Modern Art and a screening of Fabricando Tom Zé, a documentary about the brilliant and idiosyncratic Brazilian composer, one of the founders of the fantastic and fascinating Tropicalia movement of the ’60s. (eMusic has a lot of his incredible music, and I suggest you check out [...]

It’s a hit-or-miss situation when an artist is hyper-aware of their lineage. Far too often they spend too much time paying homage or psyching themselves out trying not to pay homage to the things that they love. It’s a rare case when someone can take from the past and build it into something new. One [...]

Let’s get this thing going again. Ross correctly identified Laika, so he’s up. Post yr cover in the comments, buddy! If you’re new to the game, check the rules here.

A very quick, bullet-point stylee look at the weekend’s new additions.

July 15th 2.00pm Andrew Bird, The National Obelisk Arena
It takes a while to get up on Sunday. Emma makes it to Ra Ra Riot and raves about them, but, pathetically, I fall asleep again. Charlie comes round to the tent about two and wakes me up with more cider and we head off to [...]

Close, but…
As the production editor at eMusic, I get the unique chance to see nearly every piece of writing before it makes its way to the site. And, if I’m being honest, the stuff that really gets me excited is music that I’ve never heard of.

July 14th 11.30am breakfast with My Two Toms, Lake Stage
My camping partner Emma arrived in the middle of the night. Helped put her tent up, which was something of a miracle given that it was inky dark and I was drunk. Gave her some wine, cheese and crackers and spent the rest of the night [...]