When I heard that Ryan Adams was putting out three albums this year, I rolled my eyes and thought, “this guy needs an editor.” And it’s true, he does need someone to tell him when to stop…but not right now. Jacksonville City Nights is a lovely, stunningly evocative country-tinged album, and it makes me want to thank god that alt-country is finally regaining the popularity and attention it deserves.
Track by track, it’s easy to see why Adams & The Cardinals at one time considered calling the album September; seventy-five percent …

“Band Seeks Guitarist…”
Or: “No, seriously — why isn’t there a Fantasy Band League?”
So I was noticing a trend over the last few years of indie rock. In 1999, Sonic Youth completed their sixteenth full-length, SYR4: Goodbye, Twentieth Century. In doing so, they collaborated for the first time with Jim O’Rourke (himself not discographically inconsiderable) on the record’s rearrangements of 13 new music hits. Clearly, the band needed him: 2000′s NYC Ghosts & Flowers more or less sucked. With O’Rourke officially on board, however, 2002′s Murray Street was the best thing …

You might never have heard of Drywall – but if you’ve ever watched one of VH1′s ’80s alternative marathons, chances are you’ve heard of Stan Ridgway. As chief singer and songwriter of neurotic L.A. new-wavers Wall of Voodoo, Ridgway is best known today for one quirky hit (“Mexican Radio”). Not that it matters: the hour-plus of music on Barbeque Babylon, the third release by Ridgway’s Home Depot-monikered side project, is likely to catch even the most avid Left of the Dial listener by surprise.
Subtitled 15 Choice Cuts for Your BBQ …

It’s easy to see why the indie community has embraced The Constantines. Personally and politically, the Ontario five-piece embody the same kind of earnestness grass-roots musicians and fans alike can rally behind: no complacency for these guys, no Clear Channel radio or wishy-washy mainstream politics. Tournament Of Hearts, like the two Constantines records which came before, is music that means Something – it almost doesn’t matter what that “Something” is. Opening track “Draw Us Lines” is nothing short of a call to arms, Doug McGregor’s drums pounding out a tribal …

2012
Old Time Relijun
(K)
I would say that out of all of the Modern Pea Pod staff, I am the most likely to go dancing. Actually, there’s no doubt about it: I am the token dancing girl. If there is music with a rhythm playing, my ass wants to start shaking. That’s just how my world is. But, in all of my quests for danceable music, did I ever think I would find myself wanting to dance to Old Time Relijun? Hahahahha… No.
Old Time Relijun’s previous albums have all sounded like the …

A little history: I’ve been waiting for this movie for about three years. That’s a long time, especially when the movie in question comes from one’s favorite director, but thankfully my expectation still hadn’t bloated to anticlimactic levels before I went to see 2046. When I walked into the theater I had the anxiousness of something long waited for; what followed was elation. So what is it? And what’s it about? As many other critics have noticed, the answers to these questions are either too simple or too complicated. Both …

Infiniheart
Chad VanGaalen
(Sub Pop)
Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the indie singer-songwriter. Yeah, you know the type: plaintive, high-pitched vocals, unorthodox guitar chords. Probably all recorded on a four-track in the artist’s own bedroom. Let’s toss in a quirky album cover, too, with hand-drawn artwork and typeface just to seal the deal. Think Slanted and Enchanted, or the promo art for that Thumbsucker movie. Put it all together and it’s the stuff the Myspace set have wet dreams over, whether they admit it or not.
So good news for Chad VanGaalen: he is, and …

(A disclaimer: Because Ms. Apple did not decide to officially release the Jon Brion version of this record, I will not be discussing the Jon Brion version. This review is only about the official Epic release. Sorry to anyone who wanted to discuss the comparative merits of Jon Brion to Mike Elizondo as a producer of Fiona Apple.)
It’s been six long years since we last heard from Fiona Apple. Seriously, the last time I thought about Apple was when I was still in my wistful teenage years: a haze of …

You Could Have It So Much Better
Franz Ferdinand
(Sony)
Oh, Franz Ferdinand, if only all of you could have been my prom date. I spent my senior year prom with a bunch of chicks who, fun as they were, just weren’t shaking their asses and talking in adorable Scottish accents. To put it simply, a party isn’t a party without some sausage. And on You Could Have It So Much Better, Franz Ferdinand prove one thing: these guys can party.
The much-awaited sophomore record opens with “The Fallen”, a hedonistic plea to cut …

Apologies to the Queen Mary
Wolf Parade
(Sub Pop)
Reviewed by Megan Giddings
Last March, I was initiated into the brotherhood of the wolf. No, this is not a secret cult in the ’80′s movie/Ivy League sense. It was in the midst of a Guitar Wolf show in Detroit, where I was cowering next to my boyfriend amidst flying beer bottles and the biggest, most dangerous mosh pit I have ever seen. Seiji – the Guitar Wolf himself – stepped up to his microphone and told us that we were all part of the …