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12 items by Ryan Reed Ryan Reed’s Profile on
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Of Montreal's Kevin Barnes on Channeling the Summer of Love in New Album | ARTICLE
As the chief songwriter and creative force behind of Montreal, Kevin Barnes has built a career out of following his own instincts. His band's 11 albums have been full of sometimes jarring U-turns – moving from psychedelic...
May 17, 2013 9:00 AM ET -
Big Boi Thrills With Career-Spanning Set in Asheville | ARTICLE
Asheville, North Carolina isn't exactly a cultural hub for rap music; it's a hippie college town, full of bohemian street buskers and hipster hookah bars. But nobody seems to have informed Big Boi,...
April 20, 2013 9:19 AM ET -
Jim James Spreads the Love in Louisville Tour Kickoff | ARTICLE
As ominous blue lights darted through the expanses of Louisville's ornate Brown Theatre, Jim James and his four-piece band strode onstage to a murky synth drone. James, dressed in a dapper chocolate-brown suit, carried the awkward glow...
April 18, 2013 9:50 AM ET -
Iron and Wine Haunt 'Ghost on Ghost' With Strings and Horns | ARTICLE
Sam Beam, Iron and Wine's eternally bearded songwriter, is responsible for some of his generation's most affecting records, from the intimate folk of 2004's Our Endless Numbered Days to the sprawling psychedelia of 2007's The Shepherd's Dog...
April 16, 2013 12:15 PM ET -
'Weird Al' Yankovic Lets His Pop Absurdity Do the Talking | ARTICLE
For a man of such hammy, spastic brilliance, "Weird Al" Yankovic doesn't speak much onstage. The world's most legendary pop parodist ended his Knoxville gig – the second date of his summer tour – with a...
April 12, 2013 11:40 AM ET -
Fitz and the Tantrums Broaden Their Sound on New Album | ARTICLE
Deep into the recording of his band's sophomore album (and Elektra Records debut), More Than Just a Dream, Fitz and the Tantrums frontman Michael "Fitz" Fitzpatrick suffered through "many, many sleepless nights." Battling a frenetic, air-tight recording...
February 5, 2013 9:05 AM ET -
Nigel Godrich Keeps Busy With Atoms for Peace, 'From the Basement' | ARTICLE
For the past two decades, Nigel Godrich has remained one of alternative music's most influential and sought-out producers, working with high-profile acts Radiohead, Beck, Paul McCartney and R.E.M. But in 2012, Godrich stepped...
December 20, 2012 11:45 AM ET -
Red Hot Chili Peppers Play 'Basement' | VIDEO
Inspired by the intimacy and high fidelity of The Old Grey Whistle Test on the BBC, Nigel Godrich created his in-the-studio concert series From the Basement based on a simple premise: "It's just about having friends and...
December 15, 2012 7:40 PM ET -
Coheed and Cambria's Claudio Sanchez on His Band's High Concept | ARTICLE
With their intricate conceptual sci-fi universe the Amory Wars, Coheed and Cambria and their heady brand of prog have always been a bit out of step with the modern rock scene. Sure, forefathers like Rush and...
October 9, 2012 1:35 PM ET -
Song Premiere: . . . And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, 'Catatonic' | ARTICLE
. . . And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead's explosive indie-prog is defined by the push and pull of Conrad Keely's epic mysticism and Jason Reece's primal punk surge. But when it came...
September 25, 2012 10:00 AM ET -
The Bad Plus Raise a Ruckus on Tour Opener in Knoxville | ARTICLE
A few songs into their lean, heavy-hitting set at Knoxville's Bijou Theatre, during the reflective coda of "The Empire Strikes Backwards" Bad Plus drummer Dave King squeaked an amplified toy duck, while pianist Ethan Iverson bathed the...
September 21, 2012 12:05 PM ET -
Grizzly Bear Conjure Eerie Magic at Tour Kickoff | ARTICLE
As Grizzly Bear glided through "Adelma," an ambient interlude from their new album, Shields, the band's rainbow-hued stage lights faded to black. Light bulbs flickered in glass jars, drifting above the quintet's silhouettes, while multi-instrumentalist Chris Taylor...
September 17, 2012 12:10 PM ET
