Slingshot Dakota has become one of my current obsessions ever since I reviewed their latest album Their Dreams are Dead but Ours is the Golden Ghost! I recently had the pleasure of interviewing the two-piece band and needless to say, our interaction was nothing short of delightful!John Berry (JOHN): To start things off, I know Slingshot has had kind of a jaded history. How did Slingshot Dakota come to be a two piece band?TOM: I\'m not sure where you got that we had a jaded history.... it hasn\'t been jaded at all. Pat left the band to put all of his time into playing drums for Latterman. I then joined the band as his replacement. In late 2006, Jeff left the band because he wasn\'t interested in bei...

 The first song conceived for West Texas originated in a moment of solitude while Jim Ward was waiting to soundcheck on what turned out to be the last At The Drive In tour.  Fast forward seven years, and Ward is set to release a full length album chock full of Americana rock inspired by all things West Texas and influenced by the likes of The Old 97’s, Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen. The songs explore different uses of rhythms, voices and moods, allowing Ward to be more diverse with the compositions.  West Texas has a lot of strength and expansive depth, creating a sprawling, beautiful sound.  The sounds of the instru...

HEAD OF FEMUR is the willfully weird orchestral pop brainchild of pop auteurs Mike Elsener and Matt Focht (former Bright Eyes drummer). GREAT PLAINS, Head of Femur's newest, is the band's third chapter in the journey that started on the brittle badlands of Nebraska, continuing in the urban jungle of Chicago, transforming the band from a wieldy pop collective into a tight-knit rock band. With GREAT PLAINS, Head of Femur sheds the excessive glory of past efforts and focuses on immediate melodies and whip-smart song structures to produce the band's best set of songs to date. As much as it represents a major leap forward, GREAT PLAINS is also a return home: to Portland's Greyd...

The Dub Pistols formed about a decade ago when Barry Ashworth got together with Jason O’Bryan in west London. Jason had been half of Wall Of Sound act Ceasefire with Derek Dahlarge, while Barry was in ‘indie-dance’ band Déjà Vu who had a hit with the old Woodentops song ‘Why Why Why’ back in the day. Finding they shared a love of The Clash, The Specials, Andy Weatherall, King Tubby and Public Enemy the band launched with a string of party-rockin’ singles like ‘Cyclone’, ‘Westway’ and ‘There’s Gonna Be A Riot’ and landed a million dollar record deal with major label Geffen. “It...

Hailing from the idyllic small town of Hollis, New Hampshire, the prodigious newcomers Our Last Night have arrived as the fresh new face of rock with their explosive debut, The Ghosts Among US. Scene kids across the world are taking notice of ,Our Last Night's skillful ability to craft brilliantly catchy songs while maintaining credibility with their astounding technicality and talent for finding an exceptional balance between the heavy and the melodic. Our Last Night formed in 2004 as a result of a few highly gifted friends who knew automatically that music was their calling....

Inspired by new wave and 70's punk, the third full-length from the world's bravest space band has just landed. A call to arms to defenders of science and honor across the galaxy, The Phenomenauts new album, For All Mankind deals with the serious implications of science fiction, science fact, and offers new perspectives on Earth life as we know it. The album folds out to form a space ship and comes with a die-cast metal Phenomenauts pin.In an effort to spread this discovery of Science and Honor throughout the galaxy, The Phenomenauts will be orbiting the planet with comrades The A.K...

Success in the music business requires a magical combination of talent, perseverance and opportunity. The six young rockers in Dallas, Texas band Forever the Sickest Kids easily possess all this and more. They’re unquestionably gifted, ambitious and hard working, and in the eight months since they formed, they’ve repeatedly created their own opportunities – sometimes accidentally.Five days after their official formation, singer Jonathan Cook was flipping through the Pure Volume web site when, with a click of his mouse, he inadvertently spent $350 the band didn’t have on a front page song placement. Worse still, Forever th...

A muscular clatter of pulsing guitars, head-spinning percussive thuds, and harmonic, brotherly vocals provide the backbone to a rich throng of giddy, excited ideas and ageless, wry lyrical themes. Truly, Young Knives are a band for our times, and all times. It's been quite a spell for this distinctive trio of respectably dressed men. Based upon a tight, irreplaceable unit, comprised of brothers Henry and Thomas "House Of Lords" Dartnall, and school-friend Oliver Askew, (who all met in Ashby De La Zouche near Loughborough), their formative years were spent making rather rubbish music and ironic cover versions before anything partic...

Following one of the most well-received 16 minutes of music in recent history (2006's A Lesson wing one of the most well-received 16 minutes of music in recent history (2006's A Lesson In CrimeEP), Newmarket, Ontario's Tokyo Police Club confirms the release of its debut album Elephant Shell, due out April 22 on Saddle Creek.Elephant Shell lands roughly a year and half after A Lesson In Crime (with last year's Smith EP and "Your English Is Good" digi-single bridging the gap), which has sold over 30,000 copies and garnered accolades from Entertainment Weekly("Wecan har...

Taken from www.wikipedia.org In their youth, Ihsahn and Samoth met at a rock music seminar. The two young men began playing together under various names; first Dark Device, then Xerasia, then Embryonic. The group soon evolved into the now well-known band Thou Shalt Suffer. Soon, however, Samoth began to write music outside of Thou Shalt Suffer, and together with Ihsahn and a new bass player called Mortiis (later of his own eponymous band Mortiis), Emperor was formed. After a short while together, the band released a demo entitled Wrath of the Tyrant. It quickly gained popularity in the underground and attracted the attention of the then-start-up label Candlelight. Soon afterwards, a record contract was...

 Tool is an American rock band that was formed in 1990 in Los Angeles, California. The band consists of drummer Danny Carey, bassist Justin Chancellor, guitarist Adam Jones, and vocalist Maynard James Keenan. Tool has won three Grammy Awards, hosted worldwide tours, and produced albums which have performed well on international music charts.The band emerged with a heavy metal sound on their first LP at a time when the genre was dominated by thrash metal, and later reached the top of the alternative metal movement with the release of their secon...

Sex, subversion, style, humour, songs: great pop music's greatest components. And Goldfrapp have always known it.Through pioneering electronics, crystalline vocals, visual theatrics and glam-sex decadence, they've moved through the ambient shadows into the technicolour thrill that is the hallmark of classic British pop music. After 'Felt Mountain' (2000), their glacial, Mercury Award nominated debut, the second album - the Brit nominated 'Black Cherry' - was the benchmark of 2003. Here was the sound and vision of Art-Pop-Now; the crack of Marlene Dietrich's stiletto on Donna Summer's back, a thundering, sweat-lashed, discotronic soundscape which...

Phones ring and field recordings follow: footsteps in a friend’s backyard, getting drunk at a bar in Chicago, screaming kids at an indoor pool, and Kenyan rug makers singing. All of these sounds churn within tidal tape manipulations. Relating to a small, solitary sea bird on the opening track of Sea Lion, Ryan McPhun sings, “The great Pacific can connect you with your relatives.”McPhun was born and raised in the seaside town of Ventura, CA. Eventually his hunger for travel and new experiences led him to his newfound home away from home. New Zealand has offered Ryan its mountainous South Island, rugged beaches and the North Isl...

Jesse Malin is set to release his first ever live album June 3rd on Adeline called Mercury Retrograde. The record was recorded over two nights at the Mercury Lounge in NYC right around Christmas 2007 and captures Malin at his best, telling tales of New York City life and playing all the fan favorites. Here's what Malin himself has to say about his Mercury Retrograde: "Leaving the house and going out to see live shows is a ritual for me - a physical experience that I can't get at home just listening to a studio album. For my first ever live album, I wanted to record the songs differently by going back to the origina...

Back in 1996, Kid Koala became the first North American artist signed to UK label Ninja Tune. In the years that followed Kid Koala released a string of remixes and toured North America with fellow Ninja artists: Coldcut, DJ Food and DJ Vadim. But it was not long before his skill, innovation, and performance style led him to attract attention from those outside the club community. In 1998, he was invited to join Money Mark’s band, and then went on the road to open for the Beastie Boys on their "Hello Nasty" world tour....

When California based She Wants Revenge released their debut album back in early 2006, it fast became apparent that they had created the soundtrack for the dark and debaucherous on many-a-dance-floors across the nation.Much like their Electronic Rock fore-fathers; Dave Gahan, Rob Smith and Ian Curtis had done so before, She Wants Revenge offered a voice and a rhythm for scorned lovers, bored housewives, jaded hipsters, gender-benders and club-kids across the nation, all seductively swaying their hips and pouting along to the undeniably catchy tunes such as These Things, Out of Control and the instant cross over hit Tear You Apart.By retracing the musical footsteps of their childho...

It’s been a fast ride for Pittsburgh based band The Morning Light. In no more than a year, the band formed, started touring, and signed a record deal. With the release of their highly anticipated debut EP The Sounds of Love in March 2008, the band shows no signs of slowing their climb to celebrity. After spending years on tour with the likes of MXPX, Reel Big Fish, and The Rocket Summer, Transition bassist Harrison Wargo realized that he would need to make music he truly loved if he was going to spend his life doing it. Harrison and fellow vocalist Bobby Garver began jamming in a friend’s studio, eager to create their own distinctive sound that would be...

Somewhere back in the mid-90\'s a fresh faced Brazilian ex-pat living in the UK decided he was going to put down his harmonica, pick up a sampler, and name himself after a Stephen King novel. The resulting album, Cujo\'s \'Adventures In Foam\' (released on Ninebar records, later reissued on Ninja Tune) signaled Amon Tobin\\\'s entry into the world of music. Well actually there\'s a pre-Cujo project also, but everybody knows not to talk about it... but if you get Amon really drunk... actually no, even then he won\'t play it for you....

Slingshot Dakota is a two piece band consisting of a pianist/vocalist in Carly Comando and a drummer/occasional vocalist in Tom Patterson.  Having just parted ways with their former third member, Jeff Cunningham, the two musicians decided to put out their newest album, Their Dreams are Dead But Ours is the Golden Ghost featuring a pop sound that resonates in the heart and soul of every one who is willing to give it a listen.The band hails from Easton, PA and Brooklyn, NY and continues to tour diligently anywhere that they can.  Their albums can be found online in classic DIY fashion as they aren't signed by any record label.  If you're looking for a fu...

Outside of Philadelphia I was born and raised, and in the playground I spent quite a few of my younger days.  At the time I had a preference for brunettes but years pass and we change.  When my tendencies turned toward blondes I began to hear the call of the big rotten apple and at eighteen, away I went.  Gone were the lonely, sweaty summer nights of PA.  The crickets were still cricken’ but not in my ears.  I was in New York and I was looking for action.  Some crave love, some seek danger but I was on the hunt for open mics and not to brag—I found ‘em.  In a section of the city once referred to as alphabet on the lower east side there lurks a lot of white guys with acoustic guitars....

I had the opportunity to have an email conversation with Joey Eppard from 3 recently. Below you will find the transcript. Make sure and check out the story from their Porcupine Tree tour. It's creepy. First off, why '3'? Why not '5' or '8'? What is the premise behind naming your band after a prime number? I've always had a 'thing' for the number 3. It was a source of inspiration as far back as I can remember. We live in a 3 Dimensional physical space experiencing time as past, present and future in a form that consists of a body, mind and spirit. Musically we strive to be a 3 dimensional band, we have more than one...

Montreal’s Ghislain Poirier is obsessed with big, dirty beats, an affliction that causes him create some of the most out-of-control ragga riddims and deconstructed abstract hip hop to date. In the past Poirier has collaborated with MCs and DJs from across the globe, working with NYC’s resident Large cats MC Beans (Warp) and DJ Rupture (Tigerbeat6), as well as Parisian heavyweights TTC (Big Dada) and London’s Lotek Hi-Fi (Big Dada) amongst others. Poirier has become renowned globally for his bass slammin’ remixes that continue to further solidify his title as “king of the bounce&...

Sleep Station is the alter-ego of one David Debiak, a man who is notorious for writing some of the most groundbreaking concept albums of our generation. Over the past seven years he's released albums about a robotics engineer falling in love with a robot he created, two astronauts being abandoned by ground control and left to die in outer space, the love story of Dr. Carl Von Cosel (a famous necrophiliac who fell in love with his deceased patient, Elena Hoyos), and a first person drama taking place in World War II. Also the creative force behind New London Fire's epic I Sing The Body Holographic in 2006, Debia...

Virginia Coalition is a band that has made its reputation with the blazing energy of its live shows and ability to play almost any style of music. Home This Year sees the band moving in a new direction. They've blended their diverse influences into a sound all their own with a maturity and attention to detail that shines on every track.Virginia Coalition Presents Home This Year Diverse Influences Come Together with a New Heartfelt SoundVirginia Coalition is a band that has made its reputation with the blazing energy of its live shows and ability to play almost any style of music. Home This Year sees the band moving in...

The men of BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME have once again charted an expedition into undiscovered country. Colors, BTBAM’s fifth and newest release, is a continuous, sonic labyrinth of savage metal, lush prog-rock and uninhibited emotion. Matching the brilliance of PINK FLOYD, KING CRIMSON, TOOL and MASTODON, they show how a band can create music that is crushingly haunting and technically challenging all at once. “It’s the ultimate BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME record,” says vocalist Tommy Rogers. “It’s definitely the most musical thing we have ever written. It goes through so many...

Thomas Alva Edison gets a lot of cred for inventing modern essentials. Likewise, Phillip Glass is well known for composing modern masterpieces. Less known are the numerous failures and scrapped projects of the two geniuses. While ultimately their contributions are highly lauded, it's perhaps more amazing that they didn't just say "to hell with it". I mean, inventing the light bulb had to have been a little frustrating. In much the same way, it's notable that the four-piece rock band, Edison Glass, has stayed its course throughout its nearly ten years. In an age where flavor-of-the-week bands come and go and the term "indefini...

The sky was cold-fire sunrise, the clouds alive in wild paint, but all of it blurred in the dynamite crescendo.Reading Richard Bach's brilliantly illustrative turns of phrase in Illusions, it is almost impossible not to be moved by the vivid imagery he uses in the exercise of his craft. So, in kind, it seems only fitting that one of music's most promising young groups find the inspiration for its moniker in the words of such a talented writer.In fusing together transplants of Terminal and Goodbye Tomorrow, Alive In Wild Paint's four members (frontman Travis Bryant, guitarist Matt Grabe, bassist David Roat, and drummer...

The old saying goes, “If it doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger.” That adage certainly applies to Bury Your Dead.The Massachusetts band, featuring drummer Mark Castillo, vocalist Mat Bruso, guitarists Slim and Eric Ellis, and bassist Bubble, have broken up, gotten back together, gone through 14 band members and 9 tour vehicles (including buckets of bolts like a Hyundai Accent and a Kia Sefia), but they’re still together and their stronger than ever on their new album, Beauty And The Breakdown, which is easily their most focused effort to date. In the Bur...

A few highlights of singer-songwriter Sera Cahoone’s early musical life: Her first stage performance came in a suburban Denver bar, where, at the tender age of 12, she played drums behind a bunch of bluesmen on open mic night. She first picked up the sticks in junior high band class, after bumrushing the kit to show the percussion students how to play. And her earliest instrument was saxophone, though she busted her own reeds to keep from practicing.Unorthodox beginnings surely, but Cahoone has often plotted an unorthodox route on the way to Only as the Day Is Long, her quiet...

He was born Steven William Bragg in Essex around the time Tommy Steele was climbing the singles charts with Happy Guitar and the Soviet Union was launching Sputnik 2 into space. Today, on the verge of the release of his eleventh and best album, Mr. Love & Justice, he is known as Billy Bragg by his loyalists worldwide yet he is still called Steven by his Mother and still referred to as the Bard of Barking by the press. He has worked, and worked is the operative verb here, alongside British parliamentarians, unskilled unemployed workers, member...