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(03/18/13 2:48am)
The title of country singer-songwriter Kacey Musgraves’ new album, “Same Trailer Different Park,” comes from her acclaimed country hit “Merry Go ’Round,” which was released in September 2012. It was a surprising masterpiece, displaying a blunt kind of cynicism rarely seen in country music. It was such a contradiction to the genre’s rural obsession that it might as well have called “Miserable in a Small Town.”
(03/14/13 1:22am)
Loretta Lynn may not be the greatest country performer of all time (though she’s definitely up there), but she seems to have had the greatest influence, as the genre’s recent years have shown. Without Lynn, Miranda Lambert, Elizabeth Cook and Kacey Musgraves probably wouldn’t be performing. Even if they were, they’d probably be influenced more by a lesser performer, and their music might not be as powerful.
(02/28/13 3:24am)
While researching this list, I had a stunning realization: The music-buying public is not stupid. This was a hard list to research, mainly for that reason. When an artist stops being good, they typically stop having hits. This list, however, is about the flukes—the strange instances where an exceptional artist’s biggest hit on the Billboard Hot 100 was one of their worst songs. These are the 10 greatest artists (whose greatest hits suck).
(02/25/13 3:27am)
It’s interesting to look into what happened to all of the ’90s indie bands after the ’90s ended. Pavement broke up, of course, while Modest Mouse’s success continued to grow. A lot of them lost much of their popularity, but how their later discography held up varies from band to band. R.E.M.’s later music never held a candle to their older stuff, while The Magnetic Fields released many great albums after their 1999 classic “69 Love Songs.”
(02/21/13 4:30am)
Sonny Moore, also known as Skrillex, is in a very convenient position in his career. He may not be making the most money in the music industry, he doesn’t have the most Facebook fans and he definitely isn’t the most critically acclaimed artist. Still, there are few musicians who are in the same spot he’s in; the spot where he can do practically whatever he wants because nobody’s going to change their mind about him.
(02/18/13 4:31am)
If you were to look at a list of my favorite instruments, you would see a lot of diversity. Saxophone and steel drum are my top two, and also high up on the list are the bass guitar, combo organ, violin and ukulele. What you won’t see on my list, however, is the flute. On Christopher Owens’ solo debut, “Lysandre,” the first sound heard is that of a flute. And I have never heard the instrument sound as horrendous as it does, opening this record.
(02/14/13 3:47am)
Through the ages, many artists expressed their love for their respective hunnies through song. Being one of those universal feelings and all that, love songs are something most people can relate to, so understandably, there is a metric crapton of them swimming about out there. Music writer Carmen Bojanowski, music critic Matt Rice (of Matt on Music) and life editor/resident music major Jess Salisbury weighed in on their personal favorites.
(02/11/13 4:25am)
For their current tour, Yo La Tengo is splitting shows into two parts. The first part is mainly acoustic, and the second is electric. Knowing this, I was pleased when they opened their show at the Michigan Theater on Feb. 8 with an acoustic version of “Ohm,” the opening track from their new album “Fade.” I was even more pleased when they played the song again for their electric set.
(02/07/13 4:25am)
Last year’s “Armor On” EP wasn’t Dawn Richard’s first release. It wasn’t even her first solo LP. In 2005, before she was ever a member of Danity Kane (whose hit “Damaged” is among the greatest pop songs of 2008) or Diddy-Dirty Money, she released “Been a While,” an album that has been almost completely forgotten.
(01/31/13 3:24am)
In 2009, I became a Tegan and Sara fan after being introduced to them through a friend. They stand alongside TV on the Radio and Vampire Weekend as one of the bands most responsible for my fascination with indie-rock after being exclusively classic rock-oriented for so many years.
(01/28/13 4:00am)
Post-punk revival is a genre that should have worked well. Bands influenced by Wire, Gang of Four and The Psychedelic Furs? How could you go wrong?
(01/24/13 4:39am)
I make no secret about Wussy being my favorite band, possibly of all time and definitely right now. Every new release increases my admiration of them, even if it’s something as simple as an acoustic re-recording of their first album or a cover of Dusty Springfield’s “Breakfast in Bed.” They’re just fantastic, and have an almost inhuman ability to make magic happen during every performance.
(01/21/13 3:46am)
Listening to “Lady from Shanghai,” the new album from Pere Ubu, one might come to the conclusion that band leader David Thomas doesn’t read a lot of Pitchfork. We should all be this lucky, but if you’re going to try to record weird music, it might be helpful to know what is considered the norm these days.
(01/17/13 1:28am)
“Sometimes the bad guys come out on top/Sometimes the good guys lose” is the line that opens “Fade,” the new album from Hoboken-based indie-rockers Yo La Tengo. The line that ends the same song, “Ohm,” is “It’s been fun.”
(01/14/13 2:10am)
The first and most memorable hook on the new Dropkick Murphys album, “Signed and Sealed in Blood,” goes, “The boys are back, and they’re looking for trouble.” That says it all, really. The album’s only hook that you might be able to remember when the music’s shut off is a cliché line that may or may not be ripping off Thin Lizzy.
(01/10/13 1:55am)
Here are my top 10 songs of 2012. The full top 100 will be appearing on my Echo blog soon.
(01/07/13 2:18am)
Here are my top 10 albums of 2012. The full list of 50 albums will be up on my blog, Matt on More Music, at www.easternecho.com in the coming weeks.
(12/15/12 3:03am)
I appreciate album covers in an artistic manner, almost as much as the plastic inside of them. From the minimalism of “Beatles for Sale” to the complexity of Talking Heads’ “More Songs About Buildings and Food,” album covers give every album its own identity before you even put it on. This year has brought many good album covers. Here are my five favorites.
(12/13/12 4:06am)
The opening track on an album is intended to get the listener’s attention, and to make them want to listen more. The closing track should insure they finish satisfied, although, as many albums this year showed, artists often cop out when it comes to delivering the finale. Satisfying opening and closing tracks never seem to be celebrated enough, so here are the best of 2012.
(12/10/12 1:11am)
I’ve listened to a few hundred albums this year. That means I’ve listened to thousands of songs which, in turn, means I’ve listened to too many lyrics to count. Therefore, a list of my favorite lines of 2012 can hardly be official. Still, these are just the lines from this year that have hit me the hardest, that I just couldn’t get out of my head, and that made me want to quote them on Facebook.