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Arcade Fire Cover the Stones, Party Hard at Louisville Tour Opener
The art-rock all-stars deliver on their arty ambitions and emotional intensity in Kentucky
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The Replacements Return to Chicago for Riot Fest
Alt-rockers close out festival with first U.S. show in 22 years
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Regina Spektor: My 'Orange Is the New Black' Theme 'Really Fits'
'It's such a great show and such a cool look,' says singer-songwriter
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81
"81" is the result of Joanna Newsom delving into pop territory and writing a shorter song than her usual ruminative psychedelic folk compositions. "You know, from the beginning, from the very first record, I've always loved great pop music, and I've always held that in my mind as something that would be fun to do, […]
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Raw
In 1987, Big Daddy Kane — who'd just signed with Marley Marl's Cold Chillin' Records — compared himself to a rap "terrorist" on "Raw," a promo single released to introduce the emcee to the world. The underground hit, featuring a sample of the James Brown classic "Hot Pants," was remixed for his debut Long Live […]
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Hey Jane
Jason Pierce of Spiritualized told Rolling Stone that Lou Reed's music — in particular, his 1970 song "Sweet Jane" — influenced this eight-minute-long song. "It was a kind of idea that rock & roll is such a big part of me," he said. "I wanted to write on a thing that reflected the sadness and […]
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In Every Direction
While writing songs for Junip's debut album, Fields, frontman Jose Gonzalez was "brainstorming a lot and getting images in my mind," and as a result he almost turned the record's opening track into a downer. "With 'In Every Direction,' I was trying to get the feeling of a positive attitude of being free," Gonzalez said. […]
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About a Girl
The Academy Is… lead singer William Beckett didn't write the song about one girl in particular. "It's a sarcastic song, not incredibly, but, in certain ways, about not wanting someone to know the way that you feel about them," he told Rolling Stone. "It's about having a crush on a girl and not wanting her […]
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Do the Panic
"Panic" has appeared on two Phantom Planet albums: 2004's Phantom Planet: Negatives and a reworked version on 2008's Raise the Dead, but the latter version had some latent secrets. "There's a few lyrical tasties on 'Do the Panic,' our single, that I didn't realize were a part of the lyrics until after I'd heard the […]
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Hungry Like the Wolf
This indulgent New Romantic group generated their first U.S. hit with the help of what was at the time new technology. "Simon [Le Bon] and I, I think, had been out the night before and had this terrible hangover," said keyboardist Nick Rhodes. "For some reason we were feeling guilty about it and decided to […]
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