In the middle of a nostalgic discussion of Freddie Mercury and the sadly absent Great Frontmen of today's rock and roll, Spin.com's Abigail Everdell tosses a mild-to-moderate barb in the Fleet Foxes' direction: "Many talented singers today don't have the presence or style to distinguish themselves as lasting personalities. I'd group most honey-throated folk singers in here (think Fleet Foxes' Robin Pecknold singing for thousands while slouching in a chair)..." Zing! See what she did there? The group's eponymous debut full-length has received almost unanimous accolades in the national press, but this Seattlest has remained unconvinced that the Foxes should be granted top-tier, all-time awesome/exciting status--and it looks like Everdell agrees. more ›

If this was politics, we'd be calling spin all over King 5 for their story "Beer and candy booming in struggling economy." more ›

The most important thing we brought away from the EMP Pop Conference was the name Labi Siffre, along with a link to the English musician's blog, Into The Light. This was the fruit of a moving, well-researched presentation from Charles Aaron, music editor at Spin, and we can't wait to dive deeper into Siffre's poetry and musical catalog from the 70s and 80s. Aside from that presentation and a few from the "Liminal Soul" panel, we were underwhelmed by the Conference. more ›