Karen O lets her inner child shine throughout the soundtrack to the film adaptation of classic children’s book Where The Wild Things Are

The start of Karen O’s career led us all to believe that this badass rock chick probably didn’t even know about the existence of an acoustic guitar, but this soundtrack finds her diving head first into the world of laid-back folk textures. The lead singer of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, O’s voice can be as raspy and whiskey damaged as Lemmy; yet for the ballads she has the ability to summon a silky smooth, [Read more]

The North Carolina trio keep roots music alive with their Rick Rubin produced new disc.

For most bands, change in musicianship can be frightening, but not for the Avett Brothers. Starting out in early 2000’s as a hard rock band, they made the impossible transformation to an acoustic-oriented roots music group. While this could have meant the end for most bands (can you imagine System of a Down making an album of Woody Guthrie covers?) the Avett Brothers have prevailed and released the superb I and Love and You.

On their last album Emotionalism the first track was entitled “Die Die Die,” but this one starts off with the gorgeous ballad that shares its name with the album. The song starts off with a solo piano and vocals, which starts a song-long crescendo with instruments and volume being added throughout. This track leads into the pleasant little number “January Wedding” which displays the group’s undeniable ability to sit down and play an enjoyable piece of music. After this song is when it becomes more obvious that the band has just been signed to a major label, as elements like string sections start to make their way into the songs. Just when you think that the album could suffer as a result from over-bloated arrangements is when they fire back with their stripped-down sound and win you back again. “Kick Drum Heart” is the most fun song on the album, and it has the perfect balance of those strings and the live band playing and it leads to the band re-uniting with their rock n’ roll roots.  The second half of the album finds the Avetts rocking a little harder with tracks like “Tin Man” and the sing-a-long worthy “Slight Figure of Speech.” The album then ends with what seems like a mockery ballad “Incomplete and Insecure,” which does not leave you wanting more as much as the end to Emotionalism did, instead it makes you feel sorry for the dudes who made an album which has an overwhelming majority of enjoyable music.

Although I and Love and You can feel uncomfortable at times with too much production, there is top-notch songwriting involved. “The Perfect Space” could just as easily be called “The Perfect Song,” and it doesn’t take ten thousand words to describe how good the song “Ten Thousand Words” is. But I and Love and You finds the Avett Brothers as comfortable musicians who are still on a quest to improve and grow doing what they love best, and if this album is any indication as to where they are going, let’s hope they keep it coming. — Kenny Pirog, Contributing writer

R.E.M. says, “This is Not a Show”

R.E.M.’s latest concert film, This is Not a Show, is disorienting, jarring, but most of all, simply beautiful. As part of Sound Unseen–a Minneapolis film festival now in its 10th year that focuses on music documentaries, concert footage, and interactive cinema, all while also showcasing live music–This is Not a Show had its world premiere on September 29th. The film will be released worldwide on October 27th as part of a deluxe edition of R.E.M. Live at the Olympia, which was recorded in June and July 2007 during R.E.M.’s live rehearsals in Dublin.

The film, directed by Vincent Moon–whose guerilla filmmaking style was first made famous in his “Take Away Shows,” which are short videos of bands performing in odd places for La Blogotheque–and Jeremiah begins on Day 5 of the rehearsals: the last day. From there, it is obvious that chronology is unimportant in the film, as moments and songs are shown completely out of order; however, this is only one way in which This is Not a Show is disorienting.

“Accelerate,” from the 2008 album of the same name, starts the film off and includes sudden swings and shakes of the camera. Most of the film is also shot in black and white–except for the songs from R.E.M.’s earlier albums, Murmur, Reckoning, and Lifes Rich Pageant and the backstage shots, which are all in color–but it’s also exceptionally heavy on the blacks, which is necessary to, according to Vincent Moon, who was in attendance for a Q&A after the premiere, “lose some of the information of the shot,” yet another technique which to some extent serves to confuse the viewer.

This is Not a Show captures the vulnerabilities of R.E.M.’s self-described “experiment in terror,” seen in the apprehensive performances of the songs that would be released the next year as Accelerate. Michael Stipe is often seen reading the lyrics from sheets on a guitar stand, and the band seems genuinely anxious about the songs’ reception. Yet, despite Stipe’s continued insistence that “this is not a show,” once the band begins to dive into their back catalog, the confidence of 20+ years of playing together resurfaced and for those few songs, it was, in fact, a show.–Cassie Traun, Contributing Editor

“This is Not a Show” trailer on YouTube

“Drive” from “This is Not a Show” on Myspace Video

Embryonic… The Flaming Lips Journey to Mastery

In the expansive three disc set fittingly titled FINALLY THE PUNK ROCKERS ARE TAKING ACID The Flaming Lips collect their first releases as well as outtakes chronicling their time together from 1983 – 1988. [Read more]

Monsters of Folk release a Monster of an album

Four of the coolest cats in the game have come together for a super group of epic proportions, Monsters of Folk. [Read more]

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