December « 2010 « Knox Road

Letting Up Despite Great Faults remix Silver Swans

Knox Road favorites, Letting Up Despite Great Faults, recently remixed a lulling Silver Swans song, which, knowing Letting Up, obviously resulted in something super whimsical.

You know our feelings about remixes, we practically say it every time we post one (which is rare), but the good ones are too hard to ignore. Especially when it […]

Lee

[MP3] The Western States Motel: “Country and Western Song”

The Western States Motel provide an eclectic mix of sound in their music, with a sort of alt-folk synth style. It’s different, aesthetically, but it has a familiar appeal. The vocals are very much reminiscent of acts like the Eels, or even Wilco. “Country and Western Song” has a steady rhythm, and even […]

Lee

Songs I slept on! [MP3s] Y La Bamba: “November” + Birds of Avalon: “Invasion”

Two completely different songs; two completely overlooked bands (at least on my end). We received an email with both of them, so I figure why not put them together? Sometimes we look for a specific sound in posts, but diversity never killed the cat.

Y La Bamba – “November” [MP3] (Sweet female psych […]

Lee

Snow Kite

I’m going with Snow Kite‘s label’s (Denmark’s Kanel Records) theme of telling us little to nothing (erring on the side of nothing) about the band. They also wished us a “roady” kind of weekend, the “knoxy” way. Aw, thanks, guys!

Snow Kite, from New York, demands you listen to the EP in full. So […]

Lee

RadioSeed

RadioSeed is the moniker for one Peter Wikstrom, out of Sweden (which means I’m obviously covering the music). He’s set to release a new album, There Has To Be More, in January of 2011 via Japanese record label, Quince.

Is it too early to consider 2011 Albums of the Year? Hmm. Conundrum! There Has […]

Jamie

[Hype Hype Hooray] The Death of a Music Blog or Why I Need A Warmer Coat

Every [two weeks?] Jamie Hale takes a long, hard look at the music industry and the blog scene that feeds it. Here, he releases those findings and makes snarky, sarcastic remarks. Admittedly, both Jamie and Knox Road are a part of this scene. So sue us.

Pennsylvania can get very cold in the winter. […]

Lee

[MP3] Shake The Baron: “Zodiak Name”

Shake The Baron, from Connecticut, make soaring pop that was meant to be released in the early 2000’s – their songs hold much of what we’ve been dearly lacking in music throughout these past couple years. It’s, dare I say it, lighthearted. Old school (…like, a few years ago) kicking guitars and melodic […]

Jamie

Knox Road’s Top Albums of 2010

If 2009 was the year for brilliant young rookies to make unique, interesting albums, 2010 is the year for the veteran sluggers. We saw releases from Sufjan Stevens, The Arcade Fire, Kanye West, The National, Broken Social Scene, The New Pornographers, Belle & Sebastian, Wolf Parade, The Black Keys, Spoon, Robert Plant, Neil Young, Tom Petty, Gorillaz, Girl Talk, Big Boi and even Brian Eno. All this in addition to a host of young talented bands on their second or third albums and fresh new artists making their debut. So how do you choose?

Well, although it might be popular to eschew big names for small ones, one can’t critically ignore the heavy-hitting releases. As with any list, we’ll be ignoring a few of your favorites from 2010 but that’s just how it works. You can’t make a cake without cracking a few eggs, or something like that. What it comes down to is the fact that 2010 was a REALLY good year for music. With dozens and dozens of amazing albums to choose from, Lee and I break down which 25 are (in our very humble opinions) the absolute best.

Continue reading Knox Road’s Top Albums of 2010 →

Lee

[MP3] Little Comets: “Joannacapella”

Little Comets, from Newcastle, are set to release their new single “Joanna”, off their forthcoming debut album, In Search of Elusive Little Comets, January 17, 2011. The album itself will be released January 31. In the meantime, they’ve provided a flavorful, tribal-sounding a cappella version (with simple piano and light percussion mixed in) of the […]

Jamie

Grammy nominations are slightly less terrible this year!

It’s no secret that the Grammy awards are useless and irrelevant and horrible. I mean, when you give awards to Kings of Leon and Green Day, what do you expect? But this year (THIS YEAR) the nominations are a leeeedle bit better! Taking my notes are you, Grammy people? […]