Kenneth Partridge's work has appeared in such publications as USA Today, the Village Voice and the Hartford Courant, as well as online at MTV Hive and HowAboutWe, among other sites. He's helped to edit two encyclopedias -- one on Latin music, the other on reggae -- and penned biographies about Louis Armstrong and the opera singer Marian Anderson. He lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., with his beloved wife and slightly less beloved record collection.
Kenneth Partridge
Somadrone, ‘Bests’ – Exclusive Video Premiere
Somadrone is prepping for a "dramatic excursion through indie-influenced electronica," as a press release describes the Irish producer's latest album, 'The First Wave,' and he's created visuals to match. In his new 'Bests' video, the longtime Redneck Manifesto member seemingly takes a blurry, slo-mo look back at some quasi-remembered special occasion...
Okkervil River Release Second ‘Stay Young’ Video, Continue Celebration of Youthful Idiocy
A sentiment as quintessentially rock 'n' roll as "stay young" deserves a great song. Oasis wrote one back in the '90s, and Okkervil River mastermind Will Sheff has followed suit, penning a so-titled single for his latest album, 'The Silver Gymnasium.' Yesterday, Sheff rolled out a totally tubular video for the tune, featuring crazy New Hampshire kids raising hell on motorized vehicles, a
Geoffrey O’Connor, ‘Jacqueline (World’s End Press Remix)’ – Exclusive Song Premiere
Never precious about his music, Australian singer, songwriter and frequent remixee Geoffrey O'Connor has once again offered up one of his tracks for tinkering. This time, fellow Melbourne musicians World's End Press do the rejiggering, transforming O'Connor's latest single, the lush and slightly lude synth-pop ballad 'Jacqueline,' into the choppy, hyped-up dance cut streaming below.
Kirin J Callinan’s ‘Landslide’ Video Gives ‘Down Under’ New Meaning
Kirin J Callinan can play weirdly beautiful folk music standing on his head, and he proves it, more or less, in his new video for 'Landslide.' For five minutes, the Australian singer-songwriter hangs upside down over land and water, and neither that nor the fact he's completely caked in mud stops him from strumming his guitar and singing in a deep Bowie-esque bellow about the woes of the world.
Re
CMJ 2013: 5 Lessons Learned
Now that CMJ 2013 has mercifully come to an end, diehard New York City music fans can stop complaining about overindulging in live music and alcohol and get back to their normal routines (of overindulging in live music and alcohol).
Arcade Fire in Brooklyn: Indie Superstars Preview ‘Reflektor,’ Start Anew With Funky Jams
And the award for best new band at CMJ 2013 goes to ... the Reflektors. This dozen-strong art-disco ensemble managed to fill the giant warehouse space at 299 Meserole Street in Bushwick, Brooklyn, on two consecutive nights, and they even convinced fans to follow a mandatory dress code of formalwear or costumes. Most folks opted for both, and last night (Oct. 19), there were masquerade masks and bl
Pure Bathing Culture Perform ‘Only Lonely Lovers’ Live at Diffuser.fm [Exclusive Video]
Among Pure Bathing Culture's many talents: They make rock critics sound like, well, rock critics. Describing the band's full-length debut, 'Moon Tides,' journalists reach for words like "glassy," "sparkling" and "glistening," and indeed, their songs have a crystalline loveliness seldom heard in the indie scene, even among fellow bands sidled with the dream-pop tag.
Re
U.K. Post-Punk Up-and-Comers Eagulls Pick Their Top 10 Party Tracks
If that seething open letter to nostalgia-loving "beach bands" they posted earlier this year made them seem a touch persnickety, British post-punk fivesome Eagulls are actually a fun-loving lot. That sort of translates in their music, as the recent single 'Nerve Endings' has a wild-eyed vitality that offsets the darkness and anxiety of the lyrics, and it's even more apparent in the playlist of party jams bassist and sometime DJ Tom Kelly made especially for Diffuser.fm.
Star & Dagger’s Sean Yseult Picks Her Top 5 New Orleans Rock Bands
Star & Dagger simply had to form. It was mandated by none other than Lenny Kaye, the legendary guitarist and rock journalist responsible for co-founding the Patti Smith Group and compiling the insanely influential 1972 garage-rock anthology 'Nuggets.'
Dirtbombs Leader Mick Collins Big-Ups Bubblegum, Disses Today’s Manufactured Pop
Never purely a "garage band," even though they hail from the genre Valhalla of Detroit and feature Mick Collins, former frontman of Motor City crud-punk pioneers the Gories, the Dirtbombs are students of music with wide-ranging tastes. They made their name with 2001's 'Ultraglide In Black,' a record of soul and R&B covers, and in 2011, following two albums of mostly originals, they d