“I never, never, never saw so many people in my whole life.”This is what Jenny Lewis said after singing “I Never” about halfway through Rilo Kiley’s set Saturday night, and yeah, it makes sense. The last time the L.A. natives played their hometown was the summer of 2008, for what turned out to be their…
In this series, we highlight independent radio stations across America which are keeping alive the dream of human DJs, unpredictable playlists, and free airwaves. “Raised By Sound” is WYXR’s tagline, but it could also be the mantra for Memphis, Tennessee as a whole. This is a city best known for being home to Beale Street,…
Esteemed singer/songwriter Yusuf/Cat Stevens will tell his fascinating life story in the memoir Cat on the Road to Findout, which will be released Sept. 18 in the U.K. through Constable and Oct. 7 in North America through Genesis Publications. After a decade of massive success thanks to such generation-defining songs as “Father and Son,” “Wild…
Måneskin frontman Damiano David is the latest guest on the SPIN Presents Lipps Service podcast, during which he joins host Scott Lipps for a discussion about his May 16 solo debut album, FUNNY little FEARS, which he will support with a global tour and appearances at such festivals as Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza. David also talks about recruiting his Måneskin…
To commemorate one year since the passing of beloved musician/engineer Steve Albini, his estate has launched a web site dubbed Steve Albini’s Closet to sell highlights from his vast collection of vinyl, CDs, original art and books, plus yet-to-be-detailed books, zines, t-shirts, posters, “enthusiasms” and “mysterious bargains.” “Steve pursued many fields of interest, and most…
Pearl Jam have extended their association with The Last of Us video game and HBO series by releasing a four-song EP of their songs that have been used in both. In tandem with game developer Naughty Dog, the band rounded up the studio versions of “Future Days” and “All or None,” a 2024 take on…
San Francisco’s Portola Festival will once again boast a drool-worthy lineup of electronic music favorites when it sets up shop Sept. 20-21 at Pier 80 with headliners LCD Soundsystem and Dom Dolla, plus an undercard loaded with Christina Aguilera, the Chemical Brothers, Peggy Gou, Blood Orange, Rico Nasty, Moby, Underworld and the Prodigy. Portola will…
Sam Beste has played with Amy Winehouse, Beth Orton, and MF Doom, but as the Vernon Spring, the British pianist-composer-producer takes a more experimental route. On his second album, Under a Familiar Sun, Beste layers, loops, and strings together field recordings, vocal samples, spoken word, and spare piano melodies, forming an allusive/elusive collage. Beste keeps…
“See if you can spot this one,” Eric Clapton told the small audience in a Windsor television studio in January 1992, just before he began playing a dramatically different arrangement of one of his signature songs. Three seconds into the slower but still somewhat identifiable version of the opening riff of his 1970 Derek and…
It has been 50 years since CBGB birthed the New York rock explosion led by Patti Smith, Talking Heads and the Ramones — a legacy that will be honored Sept. 27 at the first CBGB Festival. The event will be headlined by Iggy Pop and Jack White and will take place at Under the K…
