Islands Pictures

Hype Monitor: Future Islands, Howl, Real Estate

Photo: Allen CordellThe Band: Future Islands The Buzz: Baltimore continues to be ground zero for boundary-breaking musical enterprises. By all surface indications, Future Islands should be a synthpop band, but their songs are far too dinky, and vocalist Sam Herrings brawny, blustering voice and manic stage presence injects healthy doses of danger. For the last three years, they’ve set about the task of adding punishing heft to simple pop melodies, making blippy electropop sound oddly confrontati

Published: 2009-07-16 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Breaking

On the Charts: 3 Doors Down Wind Up at Number One

The Big News: 3 Doors Down, they of “Kryptonite” fame, topped the charts as their eponymous fifth album sold 154,342 copies in its debut week, marking the band’s second consecutive album to reach Number One. UGK rapper Bun B scored the Number Two as his second solo album Il Trill sold 97,597 copies. Nineteen-year-old country singer/Dancing With the Stars contestant Julianne Hough won the bronze with her self-titled debut album, while Frank Sinatra’s Nothing But the Best and last week’s winner Death Cab for Cutie’s Narrow Stairs rounded out the top five. Debuts: Jesse McCartney’s Departure entered at 14, Donna Summer’s first album in 17 years Crayons appropriately debuted at 17 and Green Day offshoot the Foxboro Hot Tubs bowed at 21 with Stop Drop & Roll! On the indie front, Mates of State’s Re-Arrange Us took 140 while Islands’ Arm’s Way just snuck in at 200. Finally, Scarlett Johansson’s Tom Waits tribute disc Anywhere I Lay My Head scored 126th place. Last Week’s Heroes: Outside of Death Cab and the Chairman of the Board, Jason Mraz’s We Sing We Dance We Steal Things fell three to 11 and Duffy’s Rockferry dropped from four to eight. All three divas remained in the Top 10, though, as Leona Lewis, Mariah Carey and Madonna clung to six, seven and nine, respectively. [Photo: Getty]

Published: 2008-05-28 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Chart Roundup

Classic Police Photos: The Photography of Andy Summers: Shots of the band at their prime from the guitarist's new gallery show

Tue, Oct 30 2007 08:23 PDT Sting on Brampton Island, Australia in 1980 "This is a picture of Sting in the water, on Brampton Island, which is up in the Great Barrier Reef. First time we went to Australia, he went down with a throat infection and we were told to take ten days off. So we had this enforced stay on these tropical islands." Photo"> Constructing a set list in Australia, 1980. "I actually shot this picture many times because it was always like a motif, every night somebody would be writing out a set list.. This one worked particularly well as a photograph, closing in on the hand and seeing all the letters. This has been one of the very popular pictures we have exhibited. I think people enjoy seeing the titles of all the famous songs and a hand with a pen in it, writing it out before we go onstage." Photo"> Sting and Stewart resting in Paris, 1982 "We had flown from Scandinavia very early in the morning and done some interviews. I really was just exhausted. After a while, everything just gets to be a grind. I like to play every night, if possible. I get a bit tired of sitting around in hotels. You have to learn how to be centered and find a way through it all without going crazy." Photo"> Sting with indian, Arizona 1980 "The rock industry and touring wasn't at such a sophisticated level [back then]. We live a much more insulated existence on tour now. We're in a hotel suite, into the limo, backstage to a beautiful dressing room, on stage, back to the limo, back to the hotel. You don't meet the fans. I have to purposefully go after that by going out on my own as I document this current tour." Photo">

Published: 2007-10-31 Provider: Rolling Stone

CMJ 2007, Night Four: MGMT and Foreign Islands

One thousand or so bands (give or take a few shaggy haircuts) hit New York City every fall for the CMJ Music Marathon, a five-day band-a-palooza where new acts get noticed (see Arcade Fire) and scores more get drunk at open-bar showcases. For the next few days, Rock Daily will be bringing you reports on the bands we consider most worthy of your time after CMJ has packed up and moved on: The copious bitching and moaning that precedes CMJ — the exhaustive hype, the hordes of bodies, the wristband drama — all but vaporizes once you’re actually at a show, anticipating the goods. And if there’s one up-and-coming band whose songs can send whiners packing, it’s MGMT. They might not be an outright psychedelic band, but there’s no way around the colorful escapism provided on their mercurial electro-pop debut Oracular Spectacular. Friday night’s audience of evenly divided male and female, washed and unwashed attendees was a little worn out by the time the band hit the stage a bit before 1 AM, but bobbed in place to their Flaming Lips-like fantasy jams. MGMT themselves were more timid than expected, and didn’t totally harness their music’s potential to beam listeners out of a dank basement club and into the clouds — but there’ll be plenty of time for that in the coming months. MGMT seem poised to ride excellent track “Time to Pretend” into a realm where they won’t have to visualize success. Prior to entering the land of pretty swirly-pop make-believe, gravity was firmly enforced during Foreign Islands’ furious set. The Brooklyn-based band unloaded post-punk dance tunes that could’ve put a fissure in the earth’s crust — kind of like what Franz Ferdinand would sound like if they were fed nothing but steak and eggs for twelve months straight. The band’s high-energy frontman Mark Ryan kept the audience scared, excited or both. [Photo: Sam Horine]

Published: 2007-10-22 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, CMJ

"Do You Like Rock Music?" by British Sea Power

Yes. Oh wait, that title’s supposed to be a rhetorical question. British Sea Power’s third record intentionally runs the gamut on different alt-rock sounds that have waxed and waned in popularity over the last few years. The album's variety—and willingness to use sounds of the genre that aren't necessarily en vogue—shows that the band is answering their own question with a resounding "duh." That they’re aware of this gives Rock Music/a certain feel of deliberateness, which begs the return question: if they could appropriate whatever sound they felt like, why not push themselves a bit to new, different sounds, or arrangements? Throughout the first half of the record, they riff on the post-punky sounds of Bloc Party and Gang of Four during “No Lucifer,” and there’s some wispy, faux-crecendoing a la Arcade Fire during “Waving Flags” and “Canvey Islands.” As with most current bands, there is the obligatory '80s, Echo and the Bunnymen-meets-New OrderRide or Luna, than the twitchy

Published: 2008-02-25 Provider: Artist Direct

Singles File: Band of Horses, E-40, Future Islands, Bon Iver, Miguel

E-40 featuring Björk: "Spend the Night"

Published: 2010-04-06 Provider: Washington Post

The Real Runaways: Still Rockin' 30 Years Later

From deserted islands to Harvard Law, find out what the groundbreaking girl band's members have been doing since calling it quits

Published: 2010-03-21 Provider: People.com Keywords: Music News, Joan Jett, Kristen Stewart, Lita Ford

Music: Foreign Islands Stranded Again

Brooklyn-based band Foreign Islands was left carrying the crowd at the Mercury Lounge when British headliners Young Knives couldn't enter the U.S. Oddly, the same thing happened to Foreign Islands recently when Canadian rockers Crystal Castle were left cooling their heels at the border.View article "Music: Foreign Islands Stranded Again"

Published: 2007-03-06 Provider: Open All Night Keywords: Music

LISTEN UP: The Rawking Refuses To Stop!

Throughout Marchy March and the Funky Month, we'll be bringing you mp3-enriched Listen Up posts written by some of our favorite music bloggers from the world wide Interwebs. Today, some rawk talk with David from The Rawking Refuses To Stop! See his selections, after the jump! In case you weren't at SXSW last week, Stereogum chronicled every moment of booze-fueled indie hyperbole. Is it too early for an Islands backlash? (Stereogum) They're not from Sweden, but that doesn't stop Massachusetts' Pants Yell! from nailing this cover of Jens Lekman's "Tram #7 To Heaven." (You Ain't No Picasso) Speaking of twee, here's a mix that should satisfy all your jangling and cuddling needs for the next 40 minutes or so. (Skatterbrain) In case you missed it, the best cover of last year was Boston band the Main Drag's frantic, fantastic take LCD Soundsystem's anthemic "All My Friends." (Cokemachineglow) And finally, my blog is celebrating our third birthday with an exclusive new track from indie-poppers Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin. Come help us blow out the candles! (The Rawking Refuses To Stop!)

Published: 2008-03-17 Provider: Best Week Ever Keywords: Entertainment

The Mary Onettes Visit NYC

Sweden's the Mary Onettes are '80s radio playlists raiders of the highest order. On the best tracks from their second LP Islands, the band finds a wistful sweet spot between synthetic swell (everyone from New Order to a-ha) and new romantic swoon (the Cu

Published: 2009-11-10 Provider: StereoGum Keywords: stereogum,indie,rock,mp3,blog

New Islands - "No You Don't"

At the end of September, Nick Diamonds & his shape-shifting Islands are following up 2008's Arm's Way with their third studio album, Vapours. The 12-song collection includes the drum machines and sequencers of Jamie Thompson, who left the band after the

Published: 2009-07-21 Provider: StereoGum Keywords: stereogum,indie,rock,mp3,blog

Ashlee Simpson And Pete Wentz Return From Their Honeymoon At Romper Room

Photos: SplashNewsOnline What in blazes is that hoodie? If there's one thing I can't stand, it's an emo boy acting like an adult baby. Ugh, Garanimals makes hoodies? Not for grown-ass men! Stop. Now. Whimsical has it's place, but it shouldn't be with rich people. Pete Wentz and new wife Ashlee Simpson have returned from a brief honeymoon in the Caribbean. Pete had previously told Ryan Seacrest that they were honeymooning in his basement eating "DiGorno's Pizza", but that was a filthy lie. They were photographed Thursday in the clear blue crystal water of the islands that I should be in. They are now in New York, where Pete is reportedly playing a Sweet 16 birthday party with his band Fall Out Boy for a considerable sum. That's going to be hot on MTV. Can you imagine the brat who's poor bastard of a father took out a second mortgage on the mansion to afford that? Photos: BauerGriffinOnline More photos of Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson arriving in NYC are after the jump.

Published: 2008-05-23 Provider: A Socialite's Life