The presentation of music has come full circle. It used to be that artists would record a great song and a pretty good song, slap it on two sides of vinyl and call it a single. Pile up enough singles, and you have yourself an album.

Elektra rethought this concept in the 1960s and decided we'd be better off starting with the album and releasing the good cuts as teasers. Before long, the idea of a single seemed ridiculous. The songs got longer and albums morphed from collections of singles to masterpieces that hardly allowed radio to lift individual cuts. Think Pink Floyd, the Who, Yes--concept rock, rock opera, rock as art.    more →

It's easy to overlook detail, both as a listener and an artist, but detail is what makes Nicholas Megalis shine, and it's what makes I Find It Sexy How You Mislead Me rise above being relegated to a cast-offs and demos EP. Fans need not worry: The tracks still showcase the same sneering vocals and cantankerous lyrics, edging along anger even as Megalis smiles around memorable melodies, but the dimension he manages to pull from what is mostly an acoustic release catches your attention—assuming you notice it. And that's sort of the point—you may not notice it, but the songs would suffer without the detail.    more →

Bands are like children in some ways: They grow by leaps and bounds while you aren't looking. Take the Rails, for example: Parallel Movements feels like their freshman release, Life's A Lonely Road, all grown up. While the earlier release seemed to stand on wobbly legs as a collection of good songs, Parallel Movements stands tall without quivering, as a unified album. The songs sound not only like they were recorded and engineered in the same session, but they're closed up and woven together with threads of optimism, melancholy, and nostalgia, and just a touch of anger. Some of the tracks are maddeningly addictive ("The Next Life" or "How Did He Die?"), while others are contemplative ("One by One").    more →