Mods and rockers. East coast or west coast hip hop. Acoustic Miles and Dylan versus the plugged-in versions of the icons. The seemingly mandatory obligation to pick a side confounds me. I never understood why punk/indie-rock and metal had to be mutually exclusive genres. I love Husker Dü
and Judas Priest, Fugazi
and Van Halen.
That's why bands like
Rodan appeal to me. Rodan's three-year existence ended in 1994, before subgenres like metalcore and mathrock became codified. It's easy to suggest that the members of Rodan were simply in thrall of Sonic Youth and fellow Louisville band Slint, but I hear Rodan's music as a bracing hybrid of metal and punk that contains traces of both the Minutemen and Megadeth.
A press release for
Fifteen Quiet Years notes that "the "collection includes the 1994 BBC Peel session, together with all of Rodan's long-out-of-print 7"s and compilation tracks." It will be released on June 11. A new
interview with the surviving members of Rodan in
The Village Voice provides additional context on the project.
Fifteen Quiet Years is highly recommended to listeners nostalgic for the era in which left-of-the-dial college radio served as a vital lifeline and for a slightly younger audience eager to explore the sounds that inspired bands like the Appleseed Cast and Cursive.
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Marva Whitney's
God, the Devil & James Brown: Memoirs of a Funky Diva was published last month.
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"No Touching" is putting OoberGeek on the map. (Via the
Mills Record Company Blog.)
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The video for Hospital Ships'
"Servants" is messed up (in a good way).
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The Grisly Hand is giving away a live version of
"Chucky".
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I misjudged Rittz. The Strange Music signee sounds pretty good with Mike Posner on
"Switch Lanes".
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Myron & E's
"If I Gave You My Love" is RIYL Northern Soul, 1968, Jerry Butler.
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Howard Reich wrote a
profile of Bob Koester.
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"… but the little girls understand."
I Heart Local Music documents Thursday's sold-out show headlined by Marina and the Diamonds.
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Scout Niblett's
"Gun" is remarkable. RIYL: Heartless Bastards, Liz Phair, Lenny Kaye.
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Wut.
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Chuck D is
angry. (And I like it.)
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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published
here.
(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)
