The Vines have fallen a bit below the radar of the rock media kind of since Craig Nicholls was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, and I completely missed their 2008 release Melodia. They are one of the few bands out there keeping rock fun, and again there are some good and loud songs here… in the first half of this album at least. There are stories about a new album in the works, so here’s to that.

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Here’s one I’ve been playing on repeat lately. Pantha du Prince aka Hendrik Weber constructs music with minimal electronic bass and beats, bells, claps, wooden percussions, synths. These textures sound like the uncaught music that could be around us, in our subtle moments  of walking, working, or being together. I just love this album. Einfach fantastisch.

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To be honest, I was a bit afraid of what I might hear on this album. Baby 81, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club‘s previous album did not age well for me. I was excited about it in the beginning, but in fact I did not play it not even nearly as many times as the first three albums.

This time Nick Jago is really out for a while, and the Raveonettes‘ tour drummer Leah Shapiro (what a cool name) is in.

The sound is somewhere between the B-sides of Take them on, on your own and Howl. Yeah, songs like War Machine and Mama Taught Me Better would in the old days be B-sides. Which is still good, if you’re a fan like me, you probably liked those too. BRMC have always been capable of mixing great songwriting in a unique sound of distorted drone and reverb, and they still shine in seducing Evol, screaming Aya or the intimate Sweet Feeling. We also get another epic closer, Half-State, a song that is over ten minutes long, yet you hardly realize: it just shows how capable musicians the boys have become. The riffs are more diverse, layers are thicker, the beats actually louder, and it all fits the vintage feel of the cover. Hoping it will grow with time.

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The new solo effort from Bradford Cox, lead singer of Deerhunter, is a sincere album filled with little gems. When Panda Bear makes a guest appearance, it’s like an Animal Collective lullaby played backwards. With Laetitia Sadier, it’s very similar to Yo La Tengo’s slow songs with Georgia Hubley singing. Otherwise, it’s like a daydream on a sunny day. Fortunately you can repeat the songs to remember it. Like good old mr Spaceman, he says “shine a light on me“.

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Whatever it is that you do while listening to The Dark Knight soundtrack, composed by Hollywood veterans Hans Zimmer and James Howard Newton, will feel like the most important undertaking of your life.

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Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, The Edge of U2 and Jack White of The White Stripes and The Raconteurs come together in this documentary to have a chat, jam, talk about their beginnings and evolutions as guitar players.

If you think that this sounds interesting then you definitely should see this movie.

To me I was personally looking forward only to the pieces of Jack White. I just like his kind of eccentricity and love for simplicity. Very inspiring guy. Comparing to him Page and Edge appear a bit dull.

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Booker T. Jones (born November 12, 1944) is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known for fronting the band, Booker T. and the MGs.

Perhaps you wouldn’t guess, but this is one very good album. Booker plays funky organ keyboard, while Neil Young and Drive By Truckers accompany him with power chords and southern rock jams. It’s all instrumental. They even cover Outkast’s Hey Ya and Tom Waits’ Get Behind The Mule along the way, and it all feels good.

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I’ve been into RJD2 a lot in the last couple of months. He’s a hip-hop producer and I definitely recommend that you start from Deadringer, his debut album. To me his music is quite upbeat, going between trip-hop, old school hip-hop similar to DJ Shadow’s and more quite mixes of lonely piano and soul, but a friend of mine commented on it as “the music they play after a murder in the movies”, so go figure. But Ghostwriter can get me dancing in the street at any time.

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There are many bands today that get compared to My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus and Mary Chain, yet few actually have the sound that could have a similar impact today like those bands had in their day. A noise that is not an occasional motive, but constantly present and striking, layered above a foundation of good songs and power chords. Well, A Place To Bury Strangers have that. Exploding Head is an album that is beautiful. And heavy – it takes me an effort to listen to it from start to finish. I wouldn’t expect it after years of listening to all kinds of stuff: my ears hurt a bit. But man, it is good. Sometimes it’s even danceable, sometimes it’s new wave going evil. But mostly it is interstellar overdrive.

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• Eels – Hombre Lobo
• Fever Ray
• The Bronx III
• The XX – XX
• Arctic Monkeys – Humbug
• The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – s/t
• Vetiver – Tight Knit
• The Raveonettes – In and out of control
• DJ Shadow – The 4-Track Era
• Sonic Youth – The Eternal