HUMDRUM – Individual Man

Sometimes you’ll hear a track, and your toes start tapping (think “September” by Earth, Wind and Fire). Perhaps the glossy mystique of an artist is so attractive you can’t look away (David Bowie). Maybe it’s so jarring you feel physical pain (Paula Abdul?).  In rare cases, you’ll be drawn in by the sheer authenticity of the sound: to listen is to know the creator, and crave to learn more.

These types of albums require you to invest in a relationship: to listen again and again, studying the music until it integrates with your own experience. Good albums work their way into the framework of your life… captured in a falling-type love at first discovery, then mellowing out into a sustained affection over the years.

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This entry was written by Nelda Kerr, posted on November 5, 2009 at 12:57 pm, filed under New Music and tagged HUMDRUM, Individual Man. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

Matisyahu @ The Pageant, 11/2/09

Photo by Nathan Burrell. More on Flickr »

Still touring with his the original guitarist, bassist  and drummer from his breakthrough album, Live at Stubb’s, Matisyahu’s show at the Pageant was very diverse and featured many of new cuts from his new album, Light. With the addition of keyboards, a Hammond b3, and a second guitarist, Matisyahu brought an updated, developed sound to the Pageant.

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This entry was written by Alex Jones, posted on November 4, 2009 at 11:59 am, filed under Live and tagged Light, Matisyahu, The Pageant. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

Q+A: Sissy Wish

Hot off the release of her latest album, Beauties Never Die, electro-pop Norwegian artist Sissy Wish refuses to limit her sound to a single genre.  Her album combines rock stylings with pop sensibilities – this translated superbly to an energetic live set at Cicero’s last month.  Before her show, ELEVEN spoke to Sissy Wish about American audiences, the music police, and defining European pop.

Sissy Wish – DWTS

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This entry was written by Jesse Gernigin, posted on November 3, 2009 at 12:26 pm, filed under Q+A and tagged Beauties Never Die, Sissy Wish. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

Forge Your Own Chains – Compilation

Psychedelia is an impossibly slow language to the soberer audience. It’s from the other side, communicating after reaching the brink of aphasia. In the translational effort of this often distorted language, Forge You Own Chains is the final presentation of an international dig for 15 psychedelic escape-artists once left behind, welcomed back neatly and preserved in vinyl reverie. Their wise jives from 1968-1974 are intimate signals that were saved from blaring acoustic towers of the psychedelic heyday. With beats too heavy to let wayward guitars wander in the clouds, these Ballads and Dirges revere the good Earth from its every corner, honing their trip rather than inflating it.

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This entry was written by Kent Szlauderbach, posted on November 2, 2009 at 10:23 pm, filed under New Music and tagged Forge Your Own Chains, Heavy Psychedelic Ballads and Dirges 1968-1974, Now-Again Records, Stones Throw. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.