song reviews
Yoko Ono, Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon
"Early in the Morning"
This 14-minute track, also on 10-inch vinyl, is a benefit for orphans of the 2011 tsunami and a preview of a forthcoming album by Ono and the Sonic Youth ex-couple. Ono's tremolo cries are set in a guitar paroxysm recalling Youth's feedback monument "Expressway to Yr Skull." Gordon adds eerie alto-vocal comfort, while the John Lennon who played on Ono's "Mind Train" would approve of the guitars' treble stammers and raw-fuzz groans. Related• Yoko Ono Recording With So... | More »
Radiohead
"Full Stop" (live version)
Radiohead have been rolling out fascinating new material throughout their current tour – from the funeral-parlor soul ballad "Cut a Hole" to "Identikit," which suspended one of Thom Yorke's more athletic panic-attack falsetto freakouts over high-def funk burbles. The enthusiasm for this stuff among Radiohead fans is so intense that lyrics and guitar tabs for the most recent new offering, "Full Stop," were auctioned on eBay in March – three months before the band debuted the t... | More »
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
"Baby"
This low-fi popster's new one is a loving cover of the 1979 soul obscurity "Baby," cranking the trippiness in a ballad that was pretty codeine-dream trippy already. Related• Ariel Pink Explores the California Sound with 'Mature Themes' | More »
Passion Pit
"I'll Be Alright"
The latest release from this Massachusetts electro-pop band is a mordant breakup song – not that you can tell. The music is roaring, hyperactive and triumphant, with Michael Angelakos crooning amid glitchy beats, cresting synths and hints of Afropop. Listen to "I'll Be Alright": Related• Passion Pit Take to the Sky in 'Take A Walk' Clip | More »
Superchunk
"This Summer"
There are all kinds of summer jams; this one has heroically mangled guitars and lyrics about a cheapo beach vacation, complete with mixtapes, sweaty seats and sleeping bags. The B side to this seven-inch is a punked-up cover of Bananarama's 1983 hit "Cruel Summer," now with 20 percent more cruelty. Listen to "This Summer": Related• Photos: Random Notes | More »
Grizzly Bear
"Sleeping Ute"
On the first taste of the follow-up to 2009's meticulously gorgeous Veckatimest, the Jay-Z-approved indie band sends a bolt of electric guitar cutting through a summer storm of synths and unsettled percussion. "I can't help myself," sings Daniel Rossen, the higher-pitched songwriting yin to founder Ed Droste's yang, before a ravishing, fingerpicked acoustic breakdown settles in. What's he going on about? Bet you won’t mind listening 10 more times to figure it out. L... | More »
David Byrne and St. Vincent
"Who"
This is a generational genius summit of the first order. Byrne and 29 year-old art-pop wunderkind Annie Clark both share a love of wiry tunefulness and worldly grooves. But the casual chemistry they display on the first song they've released from Love This Giant, their collaborative album due this fall, is still kind of shocking; "Who" has a bit of early Talking Heads' airy minimalism, sharpened by smartly collaged horns, chain-gang vocal samples and noise-knot guitar shots. &... | More »
Frank Ocean
"Pyramids"
It begins in an Ancient Egypt straight out of a doofy prog-rock epic, complete with cheetahs, serpents, "Samson and his full head of hair" – Samson? In Egypt? – and "black queen Cleopatra." It ends up in a titty bar called "The Pyramid" where a stripper named, you guessed it, Cleopatra stalks the stage. In between there are groaning club beats, psychedelic guitar noodling, and lots of vague new-R&B angst. It's never boring – a feat for a song that clocks in at just ... | More »
Beck
"I Just Started Hating Some People Today"
Is Jack White hiding a time machine at Third Man Records HQ? That's the only logical explanation for this White-produced one-off, in which Beck is transformed into a zooted prankster. The A side is a smirking Nashville pastiche ("I just started wanting to punch your face/You might want to wear a helmet just in case"); "Blue Randy" finds Beck sighing sad tales of laser tag over burnt-caramel steel guitar. If the jokes made more sense, they wouldn't be half as funny. Related• Be... | More »
Beck
"Blue Randy"
Is Jack White hiding a time machine at Third Man Records HQ? That's the only logical explanation for this White-produced one-off, in which Beck is transformed into a zooted prankster. The A side is a smirking Nashville pastiche ("I just started wanting to punch your face/You might want to wear a helmet just in case"); "Blue Randy" finds Beck sighing sad tales of laser tag over burnt-caramel steel guitar. If the jokes made more sense, they wouldn't be half as funny. Related• Be... | More »
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Photos & Videos
Random Notes: Hottest Rock Pictures
Gallery: Bush Tour Gallery
