We made it a verb. Oh hey, look, a new and good song, “It Happened Today,” by those old war horses from Athens. Though Joe is our resident R.E.M. sage (if you haven’t, you really ought to read his profoundly great, hyper-informed late-period Icon piece from last year), I find myself strangely rooting for this [...]

I am totally stealing from publisher St. Martin’s Press here. Today on their Twitter page (@StMartinsPress) they posed a fascinating question: What songs make perfect short stories? TANGLED UP IN BLUE? SPIRITS IN THE NIGHT? Others? I immediately thought about The Mountain Goats. I always felt that John Darnielle’s best records are ones that feel [...]

Last night, eMusic Selects alum, Hayley Williams BFF and nationwide heartthrob Best Coast played Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. And she was good! She has grown leaps and bounds since eMusic and ABC’s Amplified interviewed her years ago, and her rapid rise is well-deserved. The performance begins at the last little status bar in the [...]

So the thing about the Aislers Set is that they were one of the greatest bands ever. Amy Linton & Co. cross-wired shoop-shoop girl group melodies with buzzing C86 guitars long before your Best Coasts or Wild Nothings were out of Jr. High School. For a test run, you owe it to yourself to download [...]

By Yancey Strickler As they branded themselves in a deserved fit of future-pique, the Rolling Stones are the world’s greatest rock ‘n’ roll band, with singles too numerous to name dominating our hearts and loins from 1964 on. Though that burst of dangerous, sexual charge that impregnated “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” “Let’s Spend the [...]

By Barry Walters According to reports, Teena Marie died peacefully in her sleep the day after Christmas. To Top 40 followers, Marie was primarily the voice of 1984′s Prince-like hit “Lovergirl.” Although she was recovering from a recent grand mal seizure, this 54-year-old Californian was scheduled to perform in Atlanta on New Year’s Day. To [...]