[contextly_auto_sidebar id="xANv3Jjm5ljwdEVoQbaPVK2EMGMYSFMx"] ONE of the most unexpectedly delightful records of the year is the new LP by psychedelic Brit Robyn Hitchcock. The former Soft Boy has been moving in a more romantic and understated direction lately, but the album -- produced by Joe Boyd, known for his work with Britfolk gods and R.E.M. -- took me by surprise. It's a low-key … [Read more...]
The Withering of College Radio
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="seaquox9ilXMg837yigc8XqAWK7RXXeJ"] COLLEGE radio did an enormous amount to power the indie- and alt-rock movements, as well as to create havens on campuses. But is it now being crushed? That's the argument behind a Salon story timed to the loss of music programming at Georgia State's WRAS in Atlanta, as "GSU announced an agreement to hand over WRAS’s 100,000 watt … [Read more...]
Futurebirds Take Flight
ONE of our favorite newish bands, here at The Misread City's sleekly refurbed listening room, is Futurebirds, from Athens, Ga. Some listeners compare them to My Morning Jacket and Crazy Horse -- I certainly here that, too. But to me they're a mix between the two great chapters of Athens music -- the southern shamble of early R.E.M. (especially the echoey Fables-era band) and the neo-psych Elephant … [Read more...]
Robyn Hitchcock and Joe Boyd at Largo
THURSDAY night sees one of the season's most intriguing bills: Joe Boyd, who produced folk-rock gods like Richard Thompson and Nick Drake and wrote a wonderful book about his early years, which I described here, will appear at Largo with neo-psych demigod Robyn Hitchcock. Both will appear -- with Boy's reading and telling stories, Hitchcock playing the songs described -- at the Largo at the … [Read more...]
R.E.M., Britfolk and White Bicycles
A lot of us are excited that Fables of the Reconstruction -- R.E.M.'s most poetic and mysterious album -- has just gotten a deluxe reissue complete with remaster and new material. Much of the weird, echoey Southern Gothic mojo on that 1985 album came from Britfolk producer Joe Boyd, and I'm reminded how great Boyd's memoir of the '60s and early '70s, White Bicycles, is.In fact. I will second the … [Read more...]