Rain Machine - Rain Machine: Review

It’s difficult to extract yourself from a great machine once you’ve become an integral cog in its everyday workings. A case in point: Kyp Malone, the heavily bearded, high-haired lover of the soaring falsetto, was a late addition to the ranks of TV on the Radio, who are now unthinkable without him. Rain Machine is his first solo venture, and this release is a carefully curated selection of songs that have lit up dark corners of small clubs during downtime from his relentless schedule. Malone is often successful at disconnecting from his main power source, although the specter of that other band is always hanging on the shoulder of this album, which has been birthed from a deep pool of emotions. Rain Machine will make you laugh, cry and pause for thought.

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The Battle For Your Eyes

It’s been a long time since anyone instinctively turned on their TV set for a music video fix. Waiting patiently in the hope that something good might appear has been made redundant in the age of ultra-fast streaming online video, and MTV knows it; the network has steadily reduced its music video content to such an extent that it’s a surprise to find they haven’t shunted the annual VMAs ceremony to one of their smaller outposts. YouTube is now the place where most people get their music video kicks, and statistics compiled by TubeMogul indicate that these short promotional clips are dominating viewing habits on the site. TubeMogul estimates that 76.5% off all views in the Top 25 uploads on YouTube have been provided by major music companies.

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ATP New York 2009: Review

It’s perpetually 1972 at Kutsher’s Country Club, the utterly perfect location for the New York incarnation of ATP. The event may attract several generations of indie rock fan, but for the people who run the resort this is no different to a local wedding or bar-mitzvah. So Jim Jarmusch and David Cross stalk the corridors while high haired ladies staff the cosmetics counter and a lovely old man performs Patsy Cline covers on his organ. Imagine Steve Albini walking into the department store in Are You Being Served? while Mrs. Slocombe carries on regardless, and you’re somewhere close to picturing the bizarro world of ATP New York.

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ATP and the New Festival Experience

The music world has ushered in some radical innovations this decade. The preeminence of iTunes, the iPod, and MP3 files has caused us to fundamentally alter the way we listen to music. But this has also been the decade when the music festival grew up and branched out into previously uncharted territories. A typical scene from a ‘90s festival featured concertgoers caked in mud, sword-swallowers and jugglers, and unhappy camping experiences for all concerned. The lineups had certainly improved, with forward-thinking festivals such as Reading in the U.K. and Lollapalooza in the U.S. mostly shedding the hippie jam-band ethos that had prevailed, instead bringing in alternative rock and indie acts to entertain the masses.

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Euros Childs - Son of Euro Child: Review

There’s something to be said for Euros Childs’ bloody-minded determination to foist his music on the world. To the casual listener he may appear laid back, in-thrall to the easy life, happy to let his unorthodox words and somber pop tunes land in the laps of a small band of devotees. The reality is quite different. This is Childs’ fifth album in three years, released for free on his website after various dalliances with major record companies and high profile indie labels came to an end. A lack of commercial success and dwindling resources have been swept aside, with the former Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci frontman picking up keyboards from car boot sales to get the job done.

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Rock Music and the Battle to Go Green

In 2007, a series of concerts took place across the world under the Live Earth banner. The aim of the shows was to alert people to the damage being wreaked on the planet by climate change, a hot-button topic that was facing resistance and scorn from the George W. Bush administration. Madonna, Genesis, Bon Jovi and Spinal Tap were among the eclectic lineup of performers who played on the day, sparking many jokes that hairspray bills and expensive lighting were causing irreparable damage to the environment despite the good intentions of everyone involved. The organizers refuted these claims, saying the events were carbon neutral and promising to purchase carbon credits to offset any damage done.

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