Indie Shango

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Vampire Weekend released their new album today.
The indie rock band from New York has once again impressed me by embracing the eclectic feel.
Considering the ferocious objections to Vampire Weekend’s self-titled debut, “Horchata”, and the rest of Contra, is brave music. It’s like they’ve spent the past two years building a bionic version of the band– not only brighter and tighter, but weirder. The group nurtures its eccentricities and the result is a record full of them: Ezra’s stretchy, dynamic voice; Rostam’s fussy but colorful arrangements, packed with lots of orchestral confetti; and a sound that spans an increasingly multicultural array of genres, from American synth-pop to reggae, ska, calypso and Afro-pop. By comparison, Vampire Weekend sounds monochromatic and restrained.
You can listen to the entire album for free by clicking here

Portishead follow up their marvelous Third LP with this one off track that is actually quite amazing.  You can purchase this track at 7digital.com or you can listen to the song for free here

Back in October of 2009, Radiohead guitarist Ed O’ Brien told the media that his award winning band was planning on visiting the studio sometime in the winter… (check pitchfork.com for details)
Who knew that he could possibly be predicting the future correctly…
A follow up album to In Rainbows is currently in the works.
The guitarist wrote on his Dead Air Space blog in December:
“The vibe in the camp is fantastic at present, and we head off into the studio in January to continue on from the work we started last Summer. I am so genuinely excited about what we’re doing, but for obvious reasons I can’t divulge anything more…anyway we all love surprises don’t we? 10 years ago we were all collectively (that’s the band) in the land of Kid A…and although hugely proud of that record, it wasn’t a fun place to be…What’s reassuring now, is that we are most definitely a different band, which should therefore mean that the music is different too and that is the aim of the game…keep it moving.”

Ed O’ Brien also gave a little more away with a Rolling Stone interview:
“We feel way more empowered in terms of our art and what we’re doing. We have been rehearsing for the last four weeks, for this new record. And we are in a very different place, a very new place. I don’t know if this is relevant, but I was talking with [drummer] Philip [Selway] three days ago about this. We were saying, ‘What’s different?’ And one of the things is we do things without fear. [...] The thing that is different about In Rainbows is that it was an album from the heart. It was a lot warmer. And from what I’m making out in the rehearsal room now, there are still elements of that. [...] I’m an eternal optimist, but I truly believe we can shift massively on this [next] record. That’s the thing we all know, that we feel in our bellies as we’re rehearsing– we’re on a big move here”

My opinion of In Rainbows was not great.
For the first time ever I actually remember choosing The White Stripes over Radiohead since they came out with an album around the same time
We can only hope for the best and I definitely look forward to see what Thom Yorke and the boys can do.

I have listened to this song about a hundred times by Bruce, and found this moment very moving as Bruce looks on while Eddie Vedder performs his song “City of Ruins” at the Kennedy center honors

Fans of Soundgarden woke up to find that quite possibly their new years wish came true.
I am very excited to announce that after a 12 year hiatus, Soundgarden have decided to reunite
“The 12 year break is over & school is back in session. Sign up now. Knights of the Soundtable ride again!” Chris Cornell wrote via twitter
and linking to a new Website, Soundgarden World. As of now, the site only offers fans a place to provide their contact information for updates on the reunion.

Cornell and other members of Soundgarden spent most of 2009 hinting that the long-awaited reformation was on the way. In March, all of the band but Cornell rocked together onstage during a Seattle stop on Tom Morello’s Justice Tour. As Rolling Stone reported, Kim Thayil, Ben Shepherd and Matt Cameron were joined by Tad’s Tad Doyle for a run-through of “Nothing to Say,” “Spoonman” and “Hunted Down.” The following month, Cornell told a reporter, “If I was there, I probably would’ve gotten up onstage.” As for reunion prospects, he added, “You never know.” Thayil revealed the genesis of that special set in an exclusive Rolling Stone interview, where he said, “It was a blast. Playing with Ben and Matt carried a lot of sentimental weight.”

In July, Cornell revealed to RS that the band was talking about putting together a release of Soundgarden B sides and a box set of unreleased songs. “We all feel it’s time to do that, and we have a lot of fans out there, and we have a lot of new fans discovering our music, and I think the catalog and the legacy of the band has been ignored by the record label and previous management, so we decided to get together, and start working towards putting something like that out,” he said.

And in October, Cornell was clearly in the Seattle-legends-of-the-’90s spirit when he participated in a Temple of the Dog reunion at Pearl Jam’s Los Angeles gig. He joined the band for a rendition of their 1991 hit “Hunger Strike,” and RS learned Thayil and Shepherd were in the house to check out Cornell back onstage with drummer Cameron. As of now, it’s unclear how Cameron’s duties in Pearl Jam will be affected by the Soundgarden news.

source: http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2010/01/01/soundgarden-reunion-is-official-school-is-back-in-session-writes-chris-cornell/

Hey guys,
Hope everyone had a merry xmas… Things are finally coming together for the new year and I’ve already got a few new albums on my new years wish list.
I have decided to start my project from scratch and deal with ALL music news rather than that based on indie music.  But unfortunately  you won’t be hearing about relationship faults or who is sleeping with who… this site is based on music.  if you are looking for tabloid journalism, get out is what I say, that stuff is not welcome in my home.

The new site will be up and running in January 2010… I hope that you will be willing to check out some new stuff and some new features.
Have a safe and happy new year.

ciao

-Shango