Alec Hanley Bemis's blog

In the overmediated age we find ourselves in, I have a kind of kneejerk negative reaction to the entire notion of the recluse.

Say what you will about Kanye being a douchebag occasionally.

The short answer to that question is: "Yes, yes it is."

Last week there was something of a rights controversy over the cover photo used on Vampire Weekend's recent album "Contra." The model came forward saying they did not have proper permissions to use a Polaroid picture of her snapped by family members in the '80s.

The National, Dirty Projectors, Sharon Jones & St. Vincent all shared a stage earlier tonight (Central European Summer Time) at Les Nuits de Fourvière, a two-month long, multidisciplinary arts festival that happens every year in Lyon, France, about four hours Southeast of Paris by car.

Recently I had reason to reminisce about hardcore, a music very close to my heart. Want proof? Pictured below is the wall of my bedroom.

Why oh why are our best artists always so contrarian, so complicated?

As a brief preamble to this piece of writing about The National's new album "High Violet," I should offer this full disclosure: I've worked in close association with the band since 2001 when I put out their first album on my label Brassland.

A few weeks ago the august and (by some accounts) curmudgeonly classical music critic Alan Rich

Two quick recommendations of younger artists I've been enjoying of late. What they lack in polish or a full-on musical philosophy they more than make up for in terms of freshness.