No more silence! Behold!  Spotlights : "The Age of Decay" (via Rarely Unable /  Ipecac Recordings  / YouTube) Via Rarely Unable: Spotlights , the Brooklyn-based band whose music finds “that perfect balance between crushing heaviness and dreamier melodies” (WFPK), release Love & Decay on April 26 via Ipecac Recordings. Spotlights' music is iron tone in a velvet glove. They strike with full force, perfectly balancing the weight and sound spectrum of each instrument. And yet it's a weight that's also sublime in its beauty, with dream-like vocals encased in the mix of subharmonics. A rich and unctuous vibration that melts in your ears, nourishes your brain, and engulfs you with their warmth, like the gravity of a small planet. " The Age of Decay encapsulates everything we do on this record,” explains guitar player/singer Mario Quintero . “Musically, it has some of the heaviest moments as well as the most dynamic and melodic. It shows litt...

I haven't compiled love or "anti-love" songs in tribute to Valentine's Day for quite some time, so I thought I'd spend the day curating some new tracks to consider. I hope I don't repeat any inclusions from playlists I've posted in the past, but you can find those here: 2/14/12  — Valentine’s Day: “Love” is in the Title... 2/14/13  — Valentine's Day: "Love" is in the title... (again, but not really) Some of the links are dead, but there are still some tracks to listen to. Embrace your loved ones today and beyond, everyone. Betty Davis  — “Anti Love Song” Julian Cope  — “Beautiful Love” The Gun Club  — “Sex Beat” Blonde Redhead — "Valentine" Tom Waits : "Blue Valentine" Louis Armstrong : "I'm Confessin' (That I Love You) Henry Rollins : "A Man and a Woman" Liz Phair : "Flower ( Girlysound demo)" Muddy Waters  — “I Just Want to Make Love to You” The Mojo M...