Scissorkick.com was born within the second wave of music blogs in the late 1990s and is guided by a soundtrack to one mode of contemporary living here in NYC. It is proudly genre-agnostic and on a continuous search for new independent rock and electronic music.
Experimentation in music, as in all things, inherently comes with miscalculated risk. A fact of life for adventurous musicians, there’s no shortage of legendary performers who may have misstepped before taking their great leap forward. With a trio of engaging EPs and a storied collective history in bands like Don Caballero, Lynx and Helmet, the four members of Battles know a thing or two about…
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Labels use a variety of tactics to get a writer to notice a record. One of the most effective techniques — especially to the freelancer with a day job and limited time — is the old RIYL package sticker. It’s a quick reference that allows me, within a glance, to determine if I’m about to listen to speed metal, drum n’ bass, or indie rock….
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I am thrilled to announce the second installment of what I hope continues an annual celebration of 21st century music: Scissorsound. Last year, we packed our favorite Brooklyn spot, Studio BPM, as Kudu, 33Hz and Matters & Dunaway absolutely killed it on stage
LCD Soundsystem, Tunng, Plaid, Trans Am and more.
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Although I don’t post too much dub or reggae, today’s post ventures into that much hallowed territory without the least bit of confidence or expertise. Take it from me, if there’s an SK post on the topic, you can guarantee that it’s of the re-edit/mashup variety. The Paris Duo Loo & Placido (Thanks Andre! Fatcity mis-posted. This is not by J*Star) drops this mysterious white…
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Tempe, Arizona’s sibling duo The Lymbyc Systym represent another of the newer Mush Records signings (Bibio is another example) to incorporate both mood and ambiance with a combination of electronic and more conventional means. Like former touring mates The Album Leaf, brothers Jared and Michael Bell use a smart combination of vintage keyboards, analog effects and laptop programming to weave tracks both cinematic and narrative,…
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Ben Mullins, the architect behind the brilliant Midwest Product on Ghostly, returns from a hiatus with that project as one half of PostPrior, a new duo with vocalist/drummer Michael Kuzmanovski. Fans of Midwest Product will absolutely enjoy the pair’s new digital EP, Touched Pilot, available in the iTunes store. I may get in trouble for posting the title track, but I’ll take the risk of…
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Outputmessage, TTC, Amon Tobin, Joakim and more.
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Like a lot of folks, I am in agreement that the abbreviaton IDM (Intelligent Dance Music) is about as pretentious as you can possibly get. Without getting too specific — is it not obvious? — I will admit that there should be a term, perhaps a bit more inclusive, to describe the kind of music being made by Bernard Farley, aka Outputmessage. Farley, who was…
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Today’s post starts a busy week for scissorkick before a short holiday break. Wednesday will mark the introduction of our very first ScissorCast which is basically a pre-recorded hour-long radio show that can be downloaded to the portable media player of your choice. We don’t play favorites here. Then Friday, we will list our Top 25 Records of the Year, which we always look forward…
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