THE ITHACAN

In Memoriam: Jet

March 27, 2012

We knew this day would come eventually. This week, Aussie rockers Jet announced their termination as a musical entity. The group had been producing some unabashedly shallow—and catchy—tracks since 2001, but even the greatest bands finally call it a day. Jet had been laying low since the release of their 2009 album, Shaka Rock. …

Rebranding The Morning Benders

March 26, 2012

What we have here is a classic case of branding failure in the global market. What happens when your brand—or band—name means something in one cultural context and a completely different thing in another one. This is what happened to American indie rock band The Morning Benders. Last night, the band posted to their…

Song of the Week: “Green Grass”

March 25, 2012

I’ve seen Tanlines before. The Brooklyn electro-pop duo opened for Julian Casablancas, frontman of The Strokes, during his solo tour. The show I went to was at one of my favorite venues, Paradise Rock Club in Boston. The problem is I can’t really remember much about their set. Maybe I was distracted was because…

Discovery, Discovery: The Big Sleep

March 24, 2012

Lately, I’ve really been getting into this band called The Big Sleep. The Brooklyn bunch packs some serious power with their discography. My area of focus is primarily on their latest album, Nature Experiments, which just dropped at the end of January. As is true with most modern LPs, synthesizers play a significant role,…

Lana-palooza Fizzles Out

March 24, 2012

Back on January 14th, the indie media firestorm that had been brewing since the latter half of 2011 unleashed its relentless fury. I speak of Lana Del Rey’s Saturday Night Live performance. A girl who had zero serious stage experience and lacked a full-length album was playing in the big leagues. I will readily…

Song of the Week: “Can’t Mind My Own Business”

March 13, 2012

At long last, Brit rockers Kaiser Chiefs have released their latest album, Start the Revolution Without Me, in the United States. The LP, originally called The Future Is Medieval, has been available for purchase in the United Kingdom since June of 2011. Back in June, the band shook-up the traditional sequence of album releases…

Spring Awakening

March 11, 2012

It seems as though many bands have caught cabin fever after shacking up in the studio for the fall and winter months. Good thing they’re ready to come out of hibernation and share some of their new tunes! Here’s your forecast for notable album releases. Canadian rockers Metric are ready to put forth their…

Do You Take Requests?

March 8, 2012

We’ve seen what happens when hecklers taunt performers from their seats. Most of the time, it winds up with some unfortunate rant that gets plastered all over YouTube. But what happens when the artist strikes back and flips the script? One unfortunate (or deserving) gentleman found out the hard way at an Atlas Sound…

Song of the Week: “The Kids Were Wrong”

March 5, 2012

I have to say, I’ve been very impressed with Spotify since I first acquired it over the summer. It hasn’t quite reached an oh-my-God-how-did-I-live-without-it level, but it’s getting there. I brought up the homepage this week and as usual, I browsed through the What’s New tab. And, as usual, nothing really interested me…aside from this…

Discovery, Discovery: SBTRKT

March 4, 2012

I’ve been hearing the name SBTRKT quite often over the past year. So I finally took the time out to discover just what the deal was with the hype. SBTRKT is the stage name for London music producer Aaron Jerome. His music is part of what is now becoming the post-dubstep movement. It seems…

Chairlift Gets Adventurous

March 3, 2012

Another innovation in music videos?! No, it doesn’t come from Arcade Fire this time. Electro-pop outfit Chairlift has released a brilliant new music video for their song “Met Before” off the new album Something. If you didn’t get a chance to read my album review in the print edition, you can get familiar with it…

Google’s On Tour

February 26, 2012

Google is out to get me. They have aligned with concert promoters across the country to further drain my wallet. This week, they announced that they will be providing concert listings for artists that listeners search for. This can really streamline the process of looking up shows. Usually, you’d search for the band (unless…