Alternative Music Talk

Alternative music, experimental songs, grunge lyrics, and your favorite alternative rock bands

The Cave Singers

Seattle's ancient-sounding darlings.

The Cave Singers’ sound takes a bit of getting used to. Lead singer Pete Quirk’s vocals are shaky and shrill, often a tiny bit off-key. The band uses quite cyclical repetitions as their standard, as well as perhaps excessive tambourine licks and vocal wailing. But once you get over these idiosyncracies, you’ll start to realize that you’re really addicted to The Cave Singers' music. Pete Quirk’s voice begins sounding raw and timeless, the cyclical music, wails and tambourines begin sounding like they're part of some old-fashioned, whiskey-filled revival. I’ve fallen hard. Read more about The Cave Singers

Influential Chinese composers

The Cultural Revolution in China was a period dominated by anti-western and anti-capitalist sentiments. However, that attitude has completely flipped and now, Chinese musicians who’ve grown up post-revolution are flooding both Chinese and western music conservatories and introducing their own styles of music, fusing Chinese traditions with modern sounds. While in the midst of the Chinese New Year, I think it’s appropriate to highlight some of these composers who are working to bring their works to American listeners, as well as audiences around the world.

Blind Pilot's "We Are the Tide"

A rollicking sophomore album.

I have been a fan of the band Blind Pilot since their debut album 3 Rounds and a Sound, which was released back in 2008. The Portland, Oregon-based band has a perhaps unusual advantage in alternative rock bands popular today: a lead singer, Israel Nebeker, with a gorgeous voice. Their sophomore album, We Are the Tide, was released this past September, and the band is touring extensively throughout the U.S. to promote it. Read more about Blind Pilot's "We Are the Tide"

Radical Face's "The Family Tree: The Roots"

I have never seen Ben Cooper aka Radical Face aka Electric President in concert. He has never been in my neck of the woods as far as I can tell, and now he’s going to take a fancy tour around Europe, without any domestic tour dates as of yet. His atmospheric, lyrical and conceptual records are some of the most interesting being made these days, so note to Cooper: we’d like to see you someday! Read more about Radical Face's "The Family Tree: The Roots"

Protest songs influence Arab Spring in 2011

Maybe one of the greatest events in 2011 were the protests and revolutions sparked in North Africa and throughout the middle east. Many of the protesters participating in the Arab Spring were fueled by songs denouncing their country’s regime and their brutal practices against the people. Here’s a look at a few of these influential songs.

A Very Unauthoritative List of Favorite Records from 2011

Rankers gotta rank

Ugh, I know. I just did this whole ranty thing about how year-end best-of lists are mostly stupid, yet here I am talking about the music I thought was the best of 2011. I can't help myself. I love lists, reading and writing them, and the sincere ones are great. I can't help being suspicious of most big blogs and their nearly identical top albums lists, but I also can't help compiling my own selection of favorites. So I'll preface this one with a big fat disclaimer: I got nowhere close to listening to all of the good music released in 2011. I didn't even cover the majority of the buzz bands that everyone else seems to be talking about. Also, there will be no Bon Iver on this list, so if you're in that camp, you'll probably be disappointed. Sorry.

That being said, here are some dudes I think did amazing things with this year of music. I feel pretty good about a lot of the records that happened in 2011, and here are the ones, in no particular order, that give me the nicest feelings inside.

Sufjan Stevens - 'Hey Guys! It's Christmas Time!!'

GUYS.

It's Christmas time.

Notable bands from 2011

Here are a few of NPR’s notable bands from 2011. Check out their site and listen to each groups’ popular singles.

Four Historical Bands with Utterly Confounding Names

Band names that only sound cool now because we've grown used to them

There comes a point in a band's lifetime where they get so famous that their name enters into the popular lexicon and nobody thinks much about how weird it sounds anymore. Even the weirdest, silliest, or most obvious monikers take on a life of their own once the music has gained enough momentum. Rarely do we look at them for what they are past that point, but at one instance or another a decision must have been made to adopt a title and keep it for good. While most famous bands pick good, solid names--you can't really argue with the logic behind The Beatles or The Who--some must have sounded awfully bizarre in those first few years before they got big. These are the ones I'm really curious about. These are the ones whose naming discussions I'd give anything to sit in on.

Dude Rock Bands from the '90s

The continuation.

The other day I started a post about alternative dude rock from the ‘90s that aren’t really popular anymore. My three examples didn’t even begin to cover the scope of these were-cool bands. Here’s the continuation.

Alternative dude rock was the thing in the ‘90s. The guys in these bands usually had long, stringy hair and wore flannel in-and-outside Seattle, singing songs about lost love or broken hearts or drugs. The songs were usually epic ballads, sung with lyrical simplicity on top of angst-ridden chords. We loved it.

But where did these bands go? Even the biggest of them seemed to fall to the wayside as soon as 2000 came around. And that’s saying nothing about the imitators and the one-hit wonders. Let’s take a look at some of the ‘90s biggest bands, their hits and what happened to them in the fateful ‘00s: Read more about Dude Rock Bands from the '90s