INTERVIEW: HEYMOONSHAKER (UNITED KINGDOM)
Today, Riley comes to us with her wonderful interview of beatbox blues sensation, Heymoonshaker. Riley Beggin (her lovely website) is a Minneapolis-based writer with a penchant for great music and Dairy Queen Crunch Cones. She likes to learn about social justice, travel, and pepper conversations wi
LIMELIGHT: JOHNNY FOREIGNER (BIRMINGHAM, UK)
Time and time again, I’ve professed that Johnny Foreigner know more about Midwestern music than most Chicagoans, Badgers or Twin Cities people. It’s stunning, since they’re from England-far flung from Reckless and Electric Fetus land. The quartet is back Stateside, having released th
INTERVIEW: ALT-J (CAMBRIDGE)
Back at one of the [PIAS] Nites here in Paris, Alt-J was sold out. Every disc. They weren’t even performing. Nor there. Sold out. All of them. Since the video of “Breezeblocks” began circulating, the Leeds/Cambridge group’s album An Awesome Wave has been the talk of F
Interview: Johnny Foreigner
“Champagne Girls I Have Known” off the 2007 Arcs Across the City EP was searing and swerving. Alexei’s carefree (or less?, you can’t even distinguish-but who cares seriously-it’s just brilliant) vocals and Junior’s precision, hyperactive drumming screeched the musical ADD iron horses i
Interview: Sky Larkin
Leeds’ trio of Nestor, Katie and Doug have formed one of the top indie pop trios a few years back, breaking in with their stellar The Golden Spike prior to 2010’s follow-up, Kaleide. Most recently, their Year Dot EP came out, featuring a jittery, key-driven melody punctuated with “one pil
Review: Sky Larkin – Kaleide (2010)
In the age of brazen and brash in the land of bangers and mash, Sky Larkin took the sneaky route in this listener’s ears. The rambunctiousness of Los Campesinos! was absent, as was the pure folksy beauty behind Noah & The Whale. The video for “Fossil, I” saw its fi
Review: Mumford & Sons – Love Your Ground EP (2008)
Up until recent, Mumford & Sons has been that still, crystal clear water. After their recent touring stints, people have taken to the band so that they’re starting to take their course into the currents of music. The London-based folk and bluegrass outfit, briefly, is on the heels of
Review: Noah & The Whale – Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down (2008)
Should you have only been exposed to Noah and the Whale’s single, 5 Years Time, through the Saturn Outlook commercial or a few cursory listens, it may be too catchy to be taken seriously. The Twickenham, London four piece (including Laura Marling at times) has been stirring up excitement for w
Review: Johnny Foreigner – Waited Up Til It Was Light (2008)
The wait was definitely longer than expected, but Johnny Foreigner’s debut album Waited Up ‘Til It Was Light (Best Before Records/Nettwerk, 2008) finally hit digital stores in the United States today. How’s the ‘wait’ to ‘well worth it’ ratio? Shortly: !!! T