Spin AOTD: The Bell

Green Light Go publicity turned me on to The Bell, a haunting new Swedish trio that sound something like the Chameleons while sprinkled with Mew's pixiedust. "Make Some Quiet" is a really incredible album for the winter misery, and you can read my further raves today in my Artist of the Day feature for Spin.com.

Spin.com AOTD: Tigercity

Another day, another Spin.com Artist of the Day feature. This time around, it's by Brooklyn's Tigercity, no stranger to the Boston scene, and perhaps the modern era's answer to Hall & Oates. Yacht Rock now has original material to work with, and it's fucking aces. This is some smooth shit right here. Check it here.

Spin.com AOTD: Midnight Juggernauts

Midnight Juggernauts are a very cool Australian electro trio who toured the US with Justice earlier this year, and will soon headline their own springtime stateside romp. In the meantime, I wrote about them for Spin.com's Artist of the Day series.

Hot Springs

The best part about writing for Spin is being exposed to a ton of bands I'd probably never get to hear until Ticketmaster surcharges are involved. Without getting too deep into the process, we get to hear a ton of shit every week, and call dibs on what we'd like to write about. I've gotten into The Blakes, Grand National and Great Northern this way, and the latest discovery is the blistery punk of Hot Springs, out of Montreal, QC, CA. Peep it here

Spin.com Artist of the Day: The Blakes

So a cool thing happened late last month. I was writing about this band from Seattle, the Blakes, for Spin.com and I told Carl, who does booking at Great Scott, to nail these fuckers down if they ever came to town. I seldom make these requests, but Carl's practically in bed with KEXP Radio out of Marinerland so I figured why not.

The next day, he forwards me a message about the Blakes looking for a Boston date. Some quick negotiations sorted them out, and now they're playing the pill on Nov. 23, the day after Thanksgiving.

So while the gig is still a few months away, check out the Blakes' dirty-ass rock n' roll through my Artist of the Day piece for Spin.com. A line about snorting Keith Richards' ashes was edited out, but it still gets the point across.

A Sunny Day in Glasgow

Earlier this month I profiled Philly's A Sunny Day in Glasgow for Spin as one of their Artists of the Day. Read on if you like well-crafted pop music showered in layers of thick white noise.

I also profiled Grand National and Great Northern last month.