Tag: Elvis Costello

Unusual tactics and disruptive strategies make for some fine sounds from Courting.

It’s inevitable — I hate it, but it happens every few years. I’ll forget my headphones at home and have to use the station’s pair. The show must continue. And here is The Sonic Dawn to kick it off in style with some of that hard-hitting punchy punch rolling mayhem thing they do.

The matchup of pub-rock king Nick Lowe and masked instrumental raiders Los Straitjackets might seem like a weird one-off joyride, but Lowe's wise croon has intersected with their sparkling backing many times, and this may be their best effort yet.

Every six years or so, Valentine’s Day lands on a Tuesday, and it’s a grand excuse to update and refine the Fight Night playlist, featuring two hours of music about verbal, physical, and emotional aggression. Why go the opposite way? I’m sure those with dates have better things to do than listen to the radio, and those without might appreciate the theme. Tonight’s Final Hour is a replay of tracks from another Final Hour from about a year ago, with all-new live commentary from yours truly.

Why had I not heard of this Zach Hill (Death Grips, Hella) side project before? The I.L.Y.s hit a lot of my targets — noisy, harshly pop, and completely willing to blur the line between the analog and the digital. The video for tonight’s feature track is also something to behold, though I’d avoid it if you have a thing about bugs. Lots of bugs.

Exploding out of upstate New York, The Bobby Lees have returned with a their third outing, titled Bellevue, and it delivers more of that biting, can’t-you-see-I’m-in-the-middle-of-an-episode post-rock blues energy. Tonight’s Mixtape closes out with Escape Mechanism’s “Being,” sampling William S. Burrough’s unmistakable reedy voice into an existential mantra.

The lush instrumentation and arrangements carry the incisive lyrics like a deep blue velvet cushion holding a surgical scalpel. The songs on this concept album seem to be coming out in real time, making more sense tomorrow than they did yesterday.

Here is something different — a brief collection of music I consider "dub", though some may want to argue that point. Nonetheless, the intent is clear: tune in and zone out.

It's Member Drive time, and nothing says "support your community radio station" louder than three hours of Dub Night. Not a whole lot of funding was raised, but no matter! Three hours of heavy bass rhythms were played.

The sound of Star Feminine Band is born of Benin, brightly colored patterns, and wild abandon, young carefree voices skipping over liquid guitar and intense percussion.