Blogcritics Category: Music: Indie Rock

Best of 2008: Counting Crows, Oasis, Black Keys, Dave Carter, B.B. King, The Bittersweets, Mudcrutch, R.E.M., Coldplay, Gutter Twins, Glen Phillips

Josh Hathaway — Thu, 8 Jan 2009 18:39:57 EST

2008 was a great year for music.
It's become an annual rite of passage in the music business. Every year, the trade papers are filled with stories about how this year was worse than last year. If the music execs were hoping we'd get so tired of reading that story that we'd start to ignore it -- you know, 'the boy who cried wolf' routine -- it hasn't...

Bands to Watch in 2009

A.L. Harper — Thu, 8 Jan 2009 13:47:35 EST

Scouring our Band of the Week database, to re-introduce you to bands that are likely to achieve huge mainstream success in 2009.
Independent music is a very hot topic right now on the music scene. It used to be that indie bands were really only popular within a region and with local fans, but with the internet becoming a dominant force for indie music there are now thousands of bands to choose from. Wading through all those would be a huge chore. But BC is here to help! ...

Music Review: O'Death - Broken Hymns, Limbs, And Skin

Tan The Man — Thu, 8 Jan 2009 09:11:50 EST

Dedicated to Eliza Sudol, the late fianc� of Rogers-Berry, O'Death's Broken Hymns, Limbs And Skin excitedly captures the blending of multiple musical genres.
After self-releasing their first two albums Carl Nemelka Family Photographs (2004) and Head Home (2006), Brooklyn-based quintet O'Death finally release their independent label (Kemado Records) debut for the band's third full-length LP Broken Hymns, Limbs And Skin.O'Death is unique in the sense that it features all of its original...

Music Review: Stars Like Fleas - The Ken Burns Effect

Jordan Richardson — Tue, 6 Jan 2009 16:39:02 EST

Audacious and endlessly beautiful.
Amorphous and calculated at the same time, the music of Stars Like Fleas creates wraith-like music that has no issues burying itself in the listener’s consciousness. Based out of Brooklyn, of course, the band is the invention of Shannon Fields and Montgomery Knott. With components of avant-garde jazz, noise rock, indie rock, and electronica,...

Music Review: Crystal Stilts - Alight of Night

Jordan Richardson — Sun, 4 Jan 2009 18:09:57 EST

Is it possible to be both boring and fascinating? I think so.
Amid fuzzy guitars, awkward and distant vocals, and a hazy sense of boredom, Crystal Stilts’ Alight of Night is quite an interesting piece of work. The band, out of Brooklyn, is sure to polarize listeners. Having dropped out of the sky in a bundle of shoegaze ennui, Crystal Stilts got their shit together in 2003 and released a debut single...

Jayson Harsin's/Djay Indie Eclectique's Top 10 Indie Albums of 2008

Jayson Harsin — Sun, 4 Jan 2009 11:42:38 EST

Critic/DJ Jayson Harsin/DJay Indie Eclectique gives you his Top 10 indie albums of 2008.'
Many of the following are apples and oranges, thus the rankings could be somewhat interchangeable. They're all good, depending on your taste or musical openness. An excellent year in indie rock, pop, folk.1. My Morning Jacket, Evil Urges (Ato Records). As with several of my top picks for 2008, MMJ demonstrates a virtuosity of generic...

Music Review: Larsen & Furious Jane - Zen Sucker

Tan The Man — Sun, 4 Jan 2009 00:50:18 EST

Listening to Larsen & Furious Jane's third LP Zen Sucker is like trying to have a picnic on a partly sunny day.
What began as a matter of convenience for Torsten Larsen and Tore Johansen has become an essential partnership that is now Larsen & Furious Jane. The band initially formed in 2002 because Johansen had the equipment (microphone, computer, and available space) to help Larsen record some songs.Larsen & Furious Jane has varied from being simply a duo...

Best Songs of 2008: Raconteurs, Black Keys, Bittersweets, Dave Carter, Jon Foreman, Glen Phillips, B.B. King, Oasis, Ryan Adams, Phil Keaggy

Josh Hathaway — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 11:33:50 EST

Here are a few of the 2008 tracks that dominated my iPod...
With thanks to the late Layne Staley I try not to plan the funeral before the body has died but there's only one Tuesday left in 2008 and there's nothing I'm in a hurry to go out and buy. Three years down the road I may come across a 2008 album I missed and want to amend this list, but for now, for better and worse these are...

Music Review: Joe Bonamassa - Live From Nowhere In Particular

Lou Novacheck — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 11:08:08 EST

He hasn�t even begun to scratch the surface. � BB King
I’m opening myself to criticism here, but since I dole out criticism, it’s only fair that I should take it. But I'm not sweating it. Very few will honestly disagree.Joe Bonamassa is the best young guitarist in music today.Damn the rotten tomatoes! Full speed ahead! [Apologies to Admiral Farragut.]Joe’s abilities aren’t...

Music Review: The Verve - Forth

Charlie Doherty — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 04:14:27 EST

British rock icons The Verve have made a respectable comeback record. Enjoy it now, before they break up again!
The Verve was without question one of the best British rock groups of the 1990s. But they broke up in 1999 after ten years together and after the most successful period of its career. Singer Richard Ashcroft then launched a mildly successful solo career in the early 2000s. Now, nearly ten years later, the band is back together and has made Forth...