Andrew Thompson keeps things funky with his robot, a kazoo, and some mad drum beats. One listen and you’ll realize why his now out-of-print debut record Egad! has been receiving a steady flow of love from independent critics since it’s release last year. In a brief interview, Thompson tells us what else he has rolled up his sleeve. Continue Reading »
2005 was a year much like any other year except that it hadn’t happened before. This was the mystique of 2005, the magical ingredient that seperated it from 2004 and all those other years. Invisible Limb takes a look back at this wonderful time, through the eyes of our staff and their top 5 albums of the year lists. Continue Reading »
Captain Wild Horse (Rides the Heart of Tomorrow) is the new playfully titled full length from Chicago songstress Shelley Short. The former Portland native took some time out from her busy east coast tour to talk to us about the record and her upcoming projects. Continue Reading »
Max Wood lives in New York, where he makes his experimental, hiphop, electronic, noise music under the name Applied Communications. We talked with him in mid 2005 about his then new album, Uhhh Sort Of, which was released on June 7th on Discos Mariscos Records. Continue Reading »
Chris Staples made a generation of emo kids think when he fronted Twothirtyeight and released a handful of honest and beautiful rock albums. We spoke to him earlier in 2005 about his return to music under the name Discover America. Continue Reading »
Earlier in 2005 we caught up with Jason Groth guitarist for Secretly Canadian’s Magnolia Electric Co. We asked him a few questions about their debut full length What Comes After the Blues and touring. Continue Reading »
With his deep baritone voice, Matt Berninger fronts the rock band The National. We spoke to him earlier in 2005 about their latest record Alligator. Continue Reading »
Belle & Sebastian
The Life Pursuit
Matador Records
My listening relationship with the band Belle & Sebastian is quite odd. While I own and enjoy their recent Push Barman to Open Old Wounds re-issue, I find myself repulsed and annoyed with the overbearing preciousness that defines the band’s career work. The Boy with the Arab Strap and Dear Catastrophe Waitress are the other two records I own and whether it is the former’s fragile and hushed delivery or the latter’s off putting self-indulgence, I am simply not buying into it. Is lowering the master volume of a record really a production aesthetic? I literally have to turn my stereo up a few levels in order to hear what Stuart Murdoch is whispering on The Boy with the Arab Strap. Continue Reading »
Cars Can Be Blue
All the Stuff We Do
Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records
Everyone has a gimmick to set themselves apart from the herd. In the case of Cars Can Be Blue it is their juxtaposition of cute twee pop with crude, uber-sexual lyrics. The Massachusetts two piece have stuffed their latest record, All the Stuff We Do, to the brim with innuendos and dick jokes, each one seemingly more obvious and easy than the one that proceeds it. While some might find the contrasting elements of their music unique or the blunt vulgarity of their lyrics humorous, Cars Can Be Blue’s heavy reliance on the shock value of four letter words makes them more of a novelty than a legitimate commodity. Continue Reading »
Kind of Like Spitting
In the Red
Hush Records
2002 was a significant year for Ben Barnett of Kind of Like Spitting. He released his seminal album 100 Dollar Room, caught the attention of Seattle indie label and former Death Cab for Cutie home Barsuk Records and, under their close supervision, wrote, recorded and released the semi-awkward and glossy Bridges Worth Burning. Despite being only months apart, it was difficult not to notice the striking contrast in approach and execution between Bridges and 100 Dollar Room. The intimate and raw DIY passion that defined his previous work was non-existent, replaced by a more powerful and polished studio sound. With one drop of the hat Barnett had gone from being a distant friend playing his guitar in your living room to a paid musician in a studio recording another guitar or vocal track. The shift was apparent, and it was a cause for concern for the musician. When he returned to the studio in 2003 to record his next record he made a staunch effort to make the album he wanted to make. This firm stance alarmed Barsuk and resulted in In the Red being shelved indefinitely after it’s completion. The musician who had released his prior 5 albums in a span of 3 years would have to wait two long years before his record would see the light of day. Continue Reading »
