In the middle of the 1980s, Neil Young was having what many people perceived to be a mid-life crisis. Instead of getting himself a red sports car and a mistress, he’d show up one day with a new band and a new persona - one day embracing edgy German electronica, the next turning into Carl Perkins with a slick fifties haircut and sideburns and and the whole bit. Finally around the time he put a cowboy hat on and started jamming with Willie Nelson - “Willie Neil”, his associates called him - Geffen Records decided to stop financing what they saw as a hopeless, self-destructive binge and sued him for not sounding enough like himself, right around the same time that Fantasy was suing John Fogerty for sounding too much like himself. The eighties were a big decade for midlife crises (and lawsuits) among sixties rockers, but Young took the desire to mutate with the times and head into unpredictable territory much further than any of his peers. more ›

Prog rock seems to be the last unexplored outpost for indie musicians, the one remaining genre that hasn’t been plundered to death by previous generations, which may explain its recent resurgence in popular awareness. The last twelve months alone have seen Genesis inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame (though it’s worth noting that the same kind of rock establishment that chose Jethro Tull over Metallica at the 1988 Grammys has seen fit to induct Metallica into the Hall Of Fame in advance of Tull themselves, or any other progressos), American (mostly East Coast) appearances from Van Der Graaf Generator, the Gentle Giant-derived Three Friends and Neu! offshoot Hallogallo 2010, and the first show since the late 1990s by the proggiest progs that ever progged: Emerson, Lake and Palmer. This 4-CD box set compiles live performances from across their history, with each of the first three discs representing a different era (early seventies, late seventies, and their 1990s reunion tours) and the fourth compiling fan-recorded audience tapes across all the eras. more ›

What happens when you trust the Brooklyn experimental ensemble So Percussion's sounds with the electronica innovating masters Matmos? The simple answer is that you get Treasure State, a collaborative album that will be digitally released on June 8th (physical release July 13th) via Cantaloupe Music. more ›

Make no mistake: the eight songs at the core of this reissue are required listening for anyone more than casually acquainted with rock and roll, a declaration of total freedom that has hardly been equalled in the thirty-five years of punk rock that followed it. (And if that sounds like feverish praise, the album that came before it, Funhouse, is... more ›

For over a decade now, Prince has been straddling the line between the mainstream and the underground. He’s a major star capable of rocking the Super Bowl, who still acts like a 19-year old jamming in the garage and posting the tapes on his MySpace page. more ›

"Karo, what the fuck are you doing? There's a code, bro." more ›

Label: Jagjaguwar more ›

Release Date: Aug. 19 more ›

Release Date: June 3, 2008 more ›

Release Date: 10/02/2007 more ›

Release Date: 01/29/08 more ›

After reviewing a few dozen releases this year this is my top ten of reviewed albums plus a few select tracks of items that I went out and hunted down myself. These weren't easy to select out of the great stuff I received so it was a challenge. I'd like to thank the labels and their PR agencies for hunting me down and sending CDs to me. I reviewed everything that I received this year with just a couple of exceptions of items I felt I wasn't qualified to review. [Hint to labels and their agencies: LAist likes getting stuff to review, look for our contact info on the staff page]. In my Top Ten is a band (Tall Pony) that wasn't even signed when I posted the review and I had a few others like that this year but there should haver been more. Also, please note that there are 3 LA bands/groups in my Top Ten (Bitter:Sweet, No Age, The Deadly Syndrome). more ›

Release Date: September 2007 more ›

At the end of each month LAist attempts to review some of the music and musicians that were covered over that four week period. Below is a mix of just some of the month's musical moments: more ›

Release Date: 10/23/07 more ›

Release Date: Fall 2007 more ›

Release Date: 10/23/07 more ›

Release Date: November 6, 2007 more ›

Artist: The Real Tuesday Weld Album: The London Book of the Dead Label: Six Degrees Records Release Date: Fall '07 Listen to the track "Last Words": The Real Tuesday Weld is the recording project of Stephen Coates and The London Book of the Dead is his third release under the name and his second with the Six Degrees label. The name itself is very interesting because at the Six Degrees website refers to "the late... more ›

Release Date: Fall '07 more ›

Ghostface Killah The Big Doe Rehab Def Jam December 4, 2007 "No time...there's never any time," cried a caffeine pill crazed Jesse Spano in that very special episode of "Saved by the Bell." Ghostface Killah laughs at you and your complaints, Spano. While you can't find the time to balance a geometry midterm, getting into Stanford and covering Pointer Sister tunes, Pretty Toney is having no trouble finding time to spit sick verses on 8... more ›

Artist: Tom Middleton Album: Lifetracks Label: Six Degrees Records Release Date: 11/06/07 Listen to the track "Shinkansen": DJ, mixologist, and producer Tom Middleton has put out an album in his own name. You may have heard of some Middleton's other projects of the last 15 years: AMBA, COSMOS, Global Communication, and The Jedi Knights or his remixes of Prince, Coldplay, and Jamiroquai but this is his first release of his own tracks with his own... more ›

Here's the mix: Download or listen to the mix above which contains the songs and their related articles below: - Spoon "Infinite Pet" for show review by Staci Goodner - No Age "Everybody's Down" for a story/show review by Joshua Pressman - Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings "Tell Me" for a CD review by tomdog - MIA "Galang" for a show review by Joey Maloney - Cake "War Pigs" cuz they play on 11/30 at... more ›

Artist: The Most Serene Republic Album: Population Label: Arts & Crafts Listen to their sample track "The Men Who Live Upstairs": The Most Serene Republic play at the Echoplex tonight, opening for Los Campesinos but don't miss them TMSR because they might be the better reason to go to the show. I love how their new album opens, the first track, "Humble Peasants", is an instrumental but I'm a sucker for whistling during songs. TMSR... more ›

Release Date: 10/02/07 more ›

One reason that I like the Six Degrees Records label so much is that it's a high-output label, constantly offering us new artists and music from literally all over the map. Six Degrees is also one of the first labels to truly embrace the web, with digital-only offerings, free downloads, and countless remixes available in almost real-time. Three recent arrivals in Six Degrees web-based Emerging Artist Series are EPs from David Starfire, Alien Chatter, and... more ›

Eskimo Joe, Australia’s most exciting musical export over the past few years, released their third album this summer Black Fingernails Red Wine and its extraordinary. I had never heard Eskimo Joe before listening to this record and the eerie cover art made me assume Eskimo Joe was some sort of dark, brooding, gothic type entity. As soon as the first notes of the opening song “Comfort You” came on I knew never again to judge a CD by its cover. Just books. more ›

Artist: Beirut Album: The Flying Club Cup Label: Ba Da Bing Records Release Date: 10/09/07 Listen to the track "A Sunday Smile": Beirut is the brainshild of the oft-blogged travelling wunderkind 21-yr old Zach Condon. Whereas Beirut's debut release, Gulag Orkestar, was an obtuse and idealized interpretation of Balkan music, this new release is Zach's take on the music of Parisian street minstrels. With multiple vocal and string tracks, in addition to the expected accordion... more ›

Artist: Foreign Born Album: On The Wing Now Label: Dim Mak Release Date: 8/21/07 Listen to the track "Letter of Inclusion" While all of Foreign Born's members may not be native sons of LA, they are emissaries of a Silver Lake music scene with their own, almost classic, West Coast flavor. "Almost classic" because the era of the Beach Boys, and the Mamas and the Poppas (and to a lesser extent the Eagles) is now... more ›

Artist: Herbie Hancock Album: River: The Joni Letters Label: Verve Records Release Date: 9/25/07 I haven't had a chance to review a release from a "living legend" until this album arrived in my PO box. Herbie Hancock seems like someone who has done it all: a jazz icon unafraid of technology, a winner of multiple Grammy awards and an Oscar, and a virtuoso live performer - but he's never been a lyricist, and had never... more ›