Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe hit the ground running on their most relevant album in fifteen years or so with “Living Well Is The Best Revenge”- possibly the rawest and punkiest they have sounded since Chronic Town back in ‘82 (Alternate descriptions: 1. It really puts the “rapid” back in rapid eye movement, 2. Accelerate indeed!). Things slow up to more traditional R.E.M. speed with the Monster-ous...

Here, I’ll just come out and say it: Consolers Of The Lonely by The Raconteurs is the worst album that Jack White of The White Stripes has ever been associated with. That being said, it’s really not that bad. The Raconteurs, if you’re not familiar with them, feature Mr. White and softy solo artist Brendan Benson, along with Patrick Keeler and Jack Lawrence from The Greenhornes, a fine band from Detroit. The ’Teurs...

On her third and latest album, Canadian country girl Kathleen Edwards confesses that “choosing my words carefully has never been my strength.” It can only be assumed that she is singing about her private life and not her artistic persona, as her first two albums were winners for their lyrical content as much as their music. Her previous record, 2005’s Back To Me, seemed like a let-down only because her debut,...

Let’s begin with some obvious things about The Black Crowes: 1. They are led by brothers Chris and Rich Robinson- one is a loudmouthed beanpole, the other is cool as hell despite having chick hair. 2. They seem to be influenced exclusively by early 70′s Rolling Stones and The Faces. 3. They really love the wacky tobaccy. Keep Reading

In 1999, The Magnetic Fields released an ambitious three disc set called 69 Love Songs that, true to its name, contained 69 canciones de amor. Critics swooned over the Fields’ twisted Brill Building sensibilities and the sheer moxie of Magnetic mastermind Stephin Merritt, launching 69 onto many “Ten Best” lists that year. While hipster chubs everywhere have finally started to soften, Merritt and Co....

Athens, Georgia and the 1980′s seem inextricably linked in the minds of many rock fans. Athens is the boho/college town that birthed the B-52′s, R.E.M., and many other pleasant-but-not-so-ultimately-memorable jingle-jangle bands of the Reagan age (Guadalcanal Diary, anyone?). Sure, Athens hasn’t done much for rock music since, oh, 1988 or so, but it’s a charming cultural outpost in a state that...