Indie rock poster children Guided By Voices are enjoying a resurgence of popularity these days with the release of a new album. Coincidentally, I’d recently purchased my first GBV CD, a “two-fer” of the band’s fifth and sixth records, Propeller and Vampire On Titus, originally issued on the Cleveland, Ohio, label Scat Records in 1993. [...]
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I’ve never been particularly fond of the term, “Krautrock.” Aside from the rather derogatory way of referring to something of German origin as “Kraut”-whatever, it also implies that somehow all rock music coming from Germany has a particular stylistic stamp. If we reverse-engineer this notion, we should be able to hear a piece of music [...]
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Sigur Ros – ( ) What do we make of a recording that has no title, no album credits, no song titles, and minimal cover art? This is the product delivered to American audiences by the Icelandic post-rock quartet Sigur Ros in October 2002, and which is commonly known as ( ), a title taken [...]
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Three years ago I picked up a copy of the second release by the group Blackfield, appropriately titled Blackfield II, based solely on hearing the cut “Christenings.” I was really amazed that there was a group with a fresh and intelligent approach to pop music that also owed much to story-teller outfits such as The [...]
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Three Fact Fader is the second full album and third overall release from the band Engineers. The record is available as an import from the excellent U.K. label Kscope. Although in a live setting, Engineers feature a typical vocals/guitar/bass/drums lineup, their studio creations offer exactly what their name describes — an engineering of sound. What [...]
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25 Great Moments in Rock Drumming – Day 13: Nick Mason, “Time,” from Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd “Time” features an extended intro of tape effects and Nick Mason’s percussion. Mason pounds out a series of evolving patterns against Rick Wright’s dream-like keyboards, establishing a dark, brooding table for David Gilmour and [...]
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I have been collecting vinyl records for more than 30 years and am surprised as any to witness the resurgence of LPs over the last couple years. Music lovers who jettisoned their turntables for CD players are coming back to the 12-inch platter and rediscovering what was so great about it from the beginning. A [...]
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In the spirit of the upcoming Halloween weekend, Grand Rapids Press Sound Check writer John Sinkevics has posted his list of scariest rock songs ever. Included are tracks from Pink Floyd, Iron Butterfly and the Velvet Underground. I would add Iron Maiden’s “Murders In The Rue Morgue,”Alice Cooper’s “Halo Of Flies” and Blind Melon’s “Skinned” [...]
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The Internet has opened up a new world market for record and CD collectors, where one can search for any LP by U2, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, or import CDs by Bruce Springsteen, the Eagles or Grateful Dead. If you want it, chances are you can find it. Websites such as eBay, Amazon.com and [...]
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With recent news that Yorkshire, England’s, unintentionally incognito prog-rock ensemble, Parallel Or Ninety Degrees have reformed for live gigs and studio skullduggery, it’s appropriate that we examine their 2008 collection, A Can Of Worms. Released on the conveniently named Progrock Records, this double-CD serves as a compilation of highlights from PO90’s five studio albums with [...]
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