Email Author Mikael Wood

2009 Stories by Mikael Wood

• SWEET DREAMS

  published September 8, 2009

  Watching this Brooklyn band play unplugged, as they’ll do tonight, at first seems utterly besides the point: Asobi Seksu are known for... More >>

• The Proclaimers

  published September 8, 2009

  These bespectacled Scottish bros have a new album out called Notes & Rhymes, which is precisely what it contains. Last I checked, the new... More >>

• Kings of Leon

  published September 8, 2009

  It took 'em four albums and nearly a decade, but Tennessee's Kings of Leon finally broke through to middle American rock fans with 2008's Only... More >>

• Sanjaya Malakar

  published September 8, 2009

  You knew him first for his ponyhawk. . . and you probably know him, still, for his ponyhawk. But since his stint on American Idol, Malakar... More >>

• BLK JKS

  published September 1, 2009

  These South African art rockers have been burning up the blogosphere all year, thanks to a string of widely circulated MP3s and a hot little EP... More >>

• Emanuel & the Fear

  published September 1, 2009

  Remember when indie rock was about stripping down and freaking out? The kids in this genial, 11-piece Brooklyn outfit don't: They found their... More >>

• BEAR HUG

  published August 25, 2009

  Local Grizzly Bear fans haven't hurt for opportunities to see their favorite band play this year. At the end of May, the celebrated... More >>

• Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros

  published August 25, 2009

  Sharpe is actually Alex Ebert, whose name should be familiar to people who scour the liner notes of CDs from record-store dollar bins. He used to... More >>

• SWEET ‘N’ LOW

  published August 18, 2009

  Juana Molina, from Buenos Aires, has been playing music for longer than she has worked as a comedic actress, yet nearly everything written... More >>

• Heaven & Hell+Coheed & Cambria

  published August 18, 2009

  Heaven & Hell are Black Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio filling in for Ozzy Osbourne. Earlier this year, they released their first studio album... More >>

• Islands

  published August 18, 2009

  Islands' forthcoming Vapours (due out Sept. 22) heralds Jamie Thompson's return to the art-pop group he and singer Nick Diamonds formed in... More >>

• Bat for Lashes

  published August 11, 2009

  Recently nominated for the UK's high-profile Mercury Prize, Two Suns—Natasha Khan's sophomore disc as Bat for Lashes—is the best... More >>

• Brendan Benson

  published August 11, 2009

  These days, he's best known as Jack White's foil in the Raconteurs, but this amiable Nashville dude has been making top-shelf power-pop records... More >>

• Boys Noize

  published August 4, 2009

  He hasn't quite broken out of Hipsterland the way his peers Justice and Simian Mobile Disco have, but German producer/DJ Alex Ridha (a/k/a Boys... More >>

• Incubus+the Duke Spirit

  published August 4, 2009

  Not unlike Pearl Jam, but with about half the respect, California's Incubus have spent the last few years making increasingly arty records for an... More >>

• Ryan Leslie+Lyfe Jennings+LeToya Luckett

  published July 28, 2009

  Three mid-level r&b acts, each performing with a live band, for less than it'd cost you to see one top-level star: Not a bad way to spend a... More >>

• Bela Fleck+Toumani Diabate

  published July 28, 2009

  Banjo whiz Fleck recently traveled to Africa to find out where his instrument came from; filmmaker Sascha Paladino went along with him, and they... More >>

• Dredg

  published July 28, 2009

  These California psych-metal dudes were supposed to blow up Deftones-style earlier this decade—see 2005’s Terry Date-produced Catch... More >>

• Junior Boys

  published July 22, 2009

  This Canadian electro-pop duo has spent the last five years trying to duplicate the ample charms of their terrific 2004 debut, Last Exit.... More >>

• YACHT

  published July 22, 2009

  Newly signed to DFA (and newly a duo), Portland's YACHT tonight celebrate the release of their excellent new See Mystery Lights, which was... More >>

• Donavon Frankenreiter+Gary Jules

  published July 22, 2009

  California-based Frankenreiter is a charter member of Jack Johnson's extended folk-pop crew; his most recent album, last year's Pass It... More >>

• Chris Brokaw & Geoff Farina

  published July 8, 2009

  Both of these guys are brainy-indie royalty: Brokaw's played in Codeine, Come, the New Year, and Consonant, among other bands, while Farina used... More >>

• WEATHER UNDERGROUND

  published July 8, 2009

  For a guy who seems pretty convinced that an iPhone might steal his soul, Jack White sure is a busy little multitasker. His newest side project,... More >>

• EASY DOES IT

  published July 1, 2009

  Might as well admit it right at the top: The imaginatively titled new Wilco album, Wilco (the Album), is kind of a snooze. As... More >>

• Juana Molina+Curumin

  published July 1, 2009

  Molina, from Buenos Aires, began her career in showbiz as a comedic television actress; now she makes very beautiful, very serious electro-folk... More >>