As we head into the 4th of July weekend with firecrackers in one hand and a frosty six-pack in the other, the eMusic staff thought we’d help soundtrack your next barbecue by offering some of our favorite reissues and best-of compilations — revolutionary records, if you will — for just $4.99 or less. As the [...]

The only thing better than a metal band is a metal band with a sense of humor. Enter Mastodon and a gaggle of pissed-off puppets. Backstory: Since their inception, the group has gradually drawn out the artier inclinations that were always at the center of their storming songs. Though not everyone agrees with me, I [...]

(hipstamatic obscures amateurism every time) Outside Santos Party House on Wednesday, New York City was suffering through yet another night of bitter winds, frigid temperatures and blinding sheets of snow. Inside the venue there was a different kind of storm brewing — this one not without its own sudden gusts and furious squalls. That bluster [...]

I’m not gonna lie, I have been looking forward to this day for almost a year: Relapse Records returns to eMusic! Relapse is one of my favorite labels running, and in the first batch we’ve got the cream of their recent crop. I’m going to run down a few of my musts, and any other [...]

It was early in their set at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple Tuesday night, and Abbath Doom Occulta, guitarist and primary vocalist for the Norwegian black metal band Immortal, was feeling charitable. “If any of you wandered in here and are wondering who the fuck we are,” he growled, “we are Immortal, the Sons of Northern [...]

We got this a month ago, but I am somehow just getting around to listening to it now and, oh my god, the new Sigh record is throwing me into all kinds of ridiculous, excited spasms. I mean, good god, where the hell do I even start with this thing? By saying it just knocked [...]

(photo by l_c_m_tt_) What is the proper speed for heavy metal? Is it always fast and treacherous? Must is always raze and pillage? Can’t a group just chill out for a few minutes? These were the questions posed by Nadja, the Canadian metal duo of Aidan Baker and Leah Buckareff, over the course of a [...]

(photo by Talie) Finally! An avalanche of new releases today, the first real bounty in what looks to be an extremely exciting autumn. I’m gonna do my best to cover all of them in this post, but I’ll undoubtedly miss a few, so please point out my oversights in the comments! I’m going to break [...]

Brand new on eMusic on a Saturday(!): The Best Metal Record of 2009, Funeral Mist’s Maranatha!. I actually yelped when I saw this in Freshly Ripped today. I have been obsessed with this record for months, going so far as to try to track down the digital distributor to see if we could get it [...]

I have been waiting for this day for a long time. Until now I thought the only celeb with whom I shared a name was Niles’s ex-wife on Frasier, but apparently I was mistaken. Welcome to my world, Maris The Great and the Faggots of Death. A truly remarkable discovery–I love everything about this Maris [...]

Stupido Shop is, to my mind, the best record shop in Helsinki. I visited Finland the week before last and walking into Stupido was like seeing eMusic made physical – all of our favourites were there: Glass Candy on the counter; a vinyl copy of Boxer pinned to the wall and “Paper Planes” coming over [...]

At long last, Southern Lord brings their catalog up-to-date on eMusic. Here’s a quick rundown of what’s what:

Hearing “What You Won’t Do For Love” on the overhead speakers in the deli across the street today absolutely made my morning. Then finding out that we have a significant chunk, if not all, of Bobby Caldwell’s entire discography made my week. And THEN finding these youtube clips pretty much made my whole month. I [...]

In these days of digital downloads and industry turmoil it is so easy to feel disconnected emotionally from the hype and release of any body of recorded music. So imagine my surprise and delight when I was sent into a fanatic FURY upon noticing what had been tagged in two normally unexciting fields of a [...]

So there’s not a whole lot of consistency in this post — just a shout about two records that I’ve really been into lately that I fear will slip through the cracks: EMC’s The Show and Children of Bodom’s Blooddrunk.

I first attended the Plug Independent Music Awards in 2005, shortly after I had moved to New York and joined the ranks at eMusic. I couldn’t think of a better event to mark the beginning of my employment at a company that is so focused on the passionate spirit of music.

So to answer the question on everyone’s mind: the new Stephen Malkmus will be here. Hopefully by tomorrow. We had a slight glitch that kept it from being posted today, but all systems should be ‘go’ for tomorrow’s delivery. In the meantime, here’s a quick roundup of some titles that did arrive today, many of [...]

A relatively quiet day for New Arrivals on eMusic, but the few we do have are noteworthy. Side note: Todd was supposed to write this post, but he’s been camped out since 10am in front of the Best Buy across the street for a Janet Jackson meet & greet (That’s him with the brown & [...]

The California metal band Neurosis played their first New York show in four years last night, and I have the terrible pictures to prove it.

In today’s additions, do not overlook Coptic Light, whose 2005 self-titled record is a modern math-rock classic, and at a bargain price of three tracks (in 45 minutes) to boot. Coptic Light were — they are no more — members of Storm & Stress (a Don Cab offshoot), Antioch Arrow (such a great goddamn band) [...]