The current electronic music climate is in a unique place. New acts are booking entire tours and playing major music festivals before the release of a debut album. Critics and fans alike have begun to call foul on music bloggers, claiming them responsible for over-hyping every act that PR agencies send their way and breeding a music culture where being new takes precedence over being established. It seems we've long forgotten a time when electronic groups were successful based on talent, not press. more ›

Tuesday night at Metro, The Faint attempted to answer the question, "What the hell have you guys been doing for the past three years?" With no new album to promote, they gave an hour and a half of non-stop greatest hits and debuted a couple of new songs. The new material was not as well received, as it was more stripped down, emotional and of the type of sound one would expect from a band on the Saddle Creek label. Even so, the surprisingly young crowd bounced and sweated and pumped their fists for the entire set, and although songs from The Faint's most popular album, Danse Macabre, seemed to be favored, songs such as "Worked Up So Sexual" from 1999's Blank Wave Arcade were still received with fits of full-body freak out dancing. more ›