We all suffer from this to varying degrees. There are those among us who know very well what it is like to stare at a featureless ceiling in the dark at 4:15am, wondering how much longer we have to try and fall asleep before sunlight invades our room and we have to give it up. [...]

Dear Dark Energy,
I love you. I know. It probably seems too soon. It did to me at first, too, but I can’t get you out of my head. Last night I told myself: “No more. There’s more to life.” But then just this morning there I was on the treadmill, lagging on my run, searching [...]

When push comes to shove, Galaxie 500’s Copenhagen might be my favorite record ever. Aside teenage obsessions (say what’s up Gallagher brothers, Beatles and the entire 1994 DGC roster), it’s certainly the record I’ve listened to the most. Galaxie 500’s final release, recorded at the end of a European tour, is a live album, and [...]

So obviously we are all pretty obsessed with the Altair and Julianna Barwick records we put out via eMusic Selects today. Yancey posted his great Q and A with Julianna earlier today, and here’s a look at the record itself.
Julianna Barwick – Florine – Really, this is the sort of record you fall backwards into [...]

Today we unveiled two new records on eMusic Selects, our DIY record label. Dark Energy from Altair Nouveau and Florine from Julianna Barwick. Both records are exceptional. Altair is sci-fi disco, these shimmering soundtracks to weird hovercraft races and love gone technological. Julianna is towering stacks of vocal loops twisted and pulled every which way, [...]

That DOOM. So unpredictable. You never know where he’s going to turn up. You can, however, make a pretty accurate guess as to where he’s not going to turn up: DOOM concerts, DOOM videos, DOOM in-stores, and so on. Here’s a joke: What’s the quickest way to get DOOM out of your living room? [...]

Tomorrow will bring two new releases from eMusic Selects, our in-house, personally run record label. This month’s artists are Altair Nouveau — sci-fi disco, was on the Selects compilation — and Julianna Barwick — dreamy vocal loops, otherworldly sounds, previous record beloved by everyone. Both releases are EPs (five tracks for Altair, six for Julianna), [...]

Ok, so clearly the time for doombient is over. I’m about to embark on a bit of a road trip, and the forecast is SUNNY. Proto-summer, in Joe-speak. Obviously a summer’s day road trip jam is much different than a winter one (or even a night drive), but here are some things on the top [...]

Random show, random image
This week’s EVR show was a “crazily eclectic assortment of jams,” as I say in the beginning of this one, which I guess is sorta my M.O., but this one was even weirder than most. In a good way, I hope…tho you all will be the judge of that one. Starts out [...]

Reason #5,034,0234,293 why we love this band, and will for eternity. Buy their album here.

An orange encased in a green apple. My mouth involuntary waters every time I see that image. This happens to me a lot because that tart apple/orange hybrid happens to be on the book jacket of Freakonomics, the ubiquitous pop economics sensation that both you and your dad can enjoy. And now you can hear [...]

For better or for worse — and, let’s face it, it’s most likely “for worse” — one of the records I’m most looking forward to this year is Raekwon’s Only Built for Cuban Linx II. I was trying — and failing — to justify my anticipation to Alex and Jayson a few months ago, when [...]

I’m here listening to the second Syd Barrett solo album and figure it’s a perfect time for a UK-focused edition of New Arrivals. Some of these are available elsewhere — I will make note of territories for albums that are more than just “UK-only.” It’s too interesting a batch to let it slide under the [...]

I have to confess, I was never a big Jeffrey Lewis fan. I had a kind of respect for what he did — I thought he was sharp and clever — but they were never the kinds of records I felt especially drawn to. That opinion changed after reading the insightful Q&A Mark Kemp conducted [...]

It ain’t summer yet, at least in New York. Today, it’s not even very spring-like — although I suppose April showers are part of the deal. Point is, if you’ve got any glum residue left, any room in your psyche for a few more ruminative, mournful, moody, drippy musical moments, then I have the album [...]

Over the weekend, the new Breeders EP, Fate to Fatal, hit the site (a total surprise to us) and OMG is it incredible. I count Pod and Pacer among my all-time favorite records (they certainly rank among my most-listened), and Fate to Fatal scratches that itch exactly. The title track is Amps-y, a little fuzzy [...]

My show this week really is about my “youthier” times (thank you for that term S. Marbury, I use it often.)  I got mega nostalgic pulling the songs to play and even more so playing them in order. Technical issues prevented me from playing fully hard core to twee back and forth, but you get [...]

John Wesley Harding, with dummy
This is the kind of thing Le Poisson Rouge is soooo good at. The (sometimes terminally) hip downtown Manhattan club that has, in its less-than-one-year of existence, provided a home to Mos Def, Simone Dinnerstein, Hun-Huur Tu, Steve Reich, Deerhunter, and Afrika Bambaataa (often on back to back nights), recently gave [...]

He makes it soooooo easy. When someone is this good at this many things — and things so wide-ranging in scope, you can’t help but be shocked in spite of yourself — it’s damn near impossible not to tumble down the rabbit hole.
The Arthur Russell story is well-chronicled amongst music obsessives, the gist being: quiet [...]

Two days ago a good friend of ours named Jess — an impeccable source for new music (it was through her that we found Port O’Brien, por ejemplo) — sent us a link to a band called the Generationals. Very quickly, we have fallen hard. Their record will be coming out in July on Park [...]