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ALBUM REVIEWS
  • A Fine Frenzy<br /><i>One Cell in the Sea</i>
    Wednesday, July 25, 2007

    A FINE FRENZY
    ONE CELL IN THE SEA

    ...click here to read more...
  • a hawk and a hacksaw <br /><em>delivrance</em>
    Thursday, August 13, 2009

    A HAWK AND A HACKSAW
    DELIVRANCE

    Stumbling on A Hawk And A Handsaw can feel like finding a precious antique from distant lands and generations past, tucked away in your grandmother's attic behind a dusty sewing machine, wrapped in threadbare handkerchiefs. AHAAH is the result of is the result of drummer Jeremy Barnes (formerly of Neutral Milk Hotel) and violinist Heather Trost traveling the world, invoking heavy Eastern European influences, traditional Balkan folk with gypsy sensibilities put together with the help of the sage muses hiding in the deserts of Albuquerque. Their fifth full-length album, Delivrance has fleshed out and furthered that sound, and the result is intricate and exotic, a vivid tribute to the duo's far-foaming adventures.

    ...click here to read more...
  • a place to bury strangers <br/><em>exploding head</em>
    Friday, October 23, 2009

    A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS
    EXPLODING HEAD

    When the New York based ear-shattering trio A Place to Bury Strangers released their self titled debut album back in 2007, the general response was we love all that crazy sound and reverb but stripped down there's much there. Frontman Oliver Ackerman could easily argue well that's the point, I mean the man sells customized pedals out of his Brooklyn based business Death By Audio for a day job. But in two years the band has done some growing and with the release of their much anticipated sophomore album, Exploding Head, the spaced out noise attack is still there, but something new has defiantly been growing underneath.

    ...click here to read more...
  • A.A. Bondy <br/><i>Believers</i>
    Thursday, October 06, 2011

    A.A. BONDY
    BELIEVERS

    A.A. Bondy is constantly evolving. After founding Alabama-based grunge band Verbena, he moved on to enchant indie folk crowds with sorrowful solo albums and earnest performances that sound far removed from Nirvana or Pixies. His latest album, Believers , has just been released via Fat Possum Records to an eager throng of admirers, and it continues to boast a new and improved Bondy sound.

    ...click here to read more...
  • A.A. Bondy<br /><i>American Hearts</i>
    Friday, August 24, 2007

    A.A. BONDY
    AMERICAN HEARTS

    The few, who remember AA Bondy from his days with the now defunct punk band Verbena, will be in for a surprise when they spin American Hearts (Superphonic Records). Lush acoustic guitars and spine tingling harmonicas lay the foundation for Bondy’s soulful twang. Athough never really establishing himself as anything different from the new collection of troubled troubadours like Ryan Adams, Jesse Malin, or M.Ward, Bondy does create an album that is beautiful in tone and harmony, while desolate and heartbreaking in subject matter.

    ...click here to read more...
  • A.C. Newman <br/><i>Shut Down the Streets</i>
    Wednesday, October 10, 2012

    A.C. NEWMAN
    SHUT DOWN THE STREETS

    For his third album, Carl "A.C. Newman" took to the solitary Upstate woods of Woodstock, NY and, like the album's cover, immersed himself in the forest of his work. What he ended up with was Shut Down the Streets, his most confessional, prismatic album to date. This time around, one can imagine Newman reckoning himself as a sort of woodsier version of Brian Wilson -- the obsessed perfectionist, adding more and more to the sound, creating as many layers as possible until it is actually sublime. Unfortunately, not everyone can be Brian Wilson.

    ...click here to read more...
  • aa bondy<br /><em>when the devil's loose</em>
    Tuesday, September 01, 2009

    AA BONDY
    WHEN THE DEVIL'S LOOSE

    AA Bondy's latest is deliberate, and cohesive; an album that demands an immediate opinion or reaction from listen one. Whether your relationship to the tunes will change over time? That I just can't say. But The Devil's Loose is certainly ready, steady, and true...an immediate imagination sparker that leaves plenty of room for visions, dreams, and every day mystery.

    ...click here to read more...
  • abe vigoda <br/><i>crush</i>
    Wednesday, October 06, 2010

    ABE VIGODA
    CRUSH

    Abe Vigoda's manic style, in all its complexity, has always been characterized rather simply. The mess of interlocking, chiming, delayed guitars that made up the songs of their last album were characterized as "tropical punk", a label that did and did not give an indication of how seriously talented these guys are.

    ...click here to read more...
  • active child <br/><i>curtis lane</i>
    Thursday, July 29, 2010

    ACTIVE CHILD
    CURTIS LANE

    Active Child is doing everything right with the Curtis Lane EP, but the boundaries are too well-defined to be excited about. Pat Grossi interviewed with Pitchfork and talked about his time in the Philadelphia Boys Choir and his experience with cassettes... for a young dude he has the right aesthetic and the chops to back it up for sure. But this summer has seen a whole lot of the rinse and repeat of his ambient vocals and simple arrangements, a technique that is starting to feel like old hat instead of crazy new style. This EP is more about potential than anything worth gushing over, but that future is still worth discussing.

    ...click here to read more...
  • Active Child <br/><i>You Are All I See</i>
    Tuesday, August 30, 2011

    ACTIVE CHILD
    YOU ARE ALL I SEE

    With Active Child's debut, it's easy to see the progress of Pat Grossi's indie-pop computer project, blossoming from minimalist beauty to fully functioning monstrosities of sound. Light years and many multi-tracks ahead of last year's Curtis Lane EP, Grossi leaves no sound uncurled in his burgeoning constructions. You Are All I See is full of gorgeous waves, but it's anything but chill—In many ways it's the anti-chill, an engrossing, in-your-face wash of sounds that instead of mellowing the mind, encourages listeners to engage and inflate expectations.

    ...click here to read more...
  • adam green <br/><em>minor love</em>
    Wednesday, February 17, 2010

    ADAM GREEN
    MINOR LOVE

    In music there are a few of acts that can throw a lot of weird stuff together to make something that when judged by the sum of its parts should not work, but does. Inexplicably, because of a strange finesse, a genuine enthusiasm, and dumb luck an artist or band can make something bizarre and wonderful. Adam Green's Minor Love might fall under that category.

    ...click here to read more...
  • adele <br/><i>21</i>
    Friday, March 04, 2011

    ADELE
    21

    In her sophomore full length, 21, Adele shows the world of pop how talent is crafted as she sings through raw emotions with a soulful drive and unashamed openness. Impressively, the title of 21 represents the age at which she wrote the album, yet despite her youth, Adele seems to exude more of a timeless truth within every chord and cleverly expressive lyric. She effortlessly represents a wisdom that travels far beyond her years through a dissection of pain and both emotional and musical growth. This talent is undeniably present within the album, which lives up to her Grammy award winning debut 19, with the acoustic simplicity of ballads, jazz-infused grooves, and an admirable devotion to love within each track's every lyric.

    ...click here to read more...
  • Admiral Fallow<br/> <i>Tree Bursts In Snow</i>
    Wednesday, January 09, 2013

    ADMIRAL FALLOW
    TREE BURSTS IN SNOW

    The first reaction you have to Tree Bursts In Snow might be, "There's no way this is only their second album." A mature poetic voice, pop harmonies, and orchestral arrangements add up to a more polished sound than most groups' third or fourth record.

    ...click here to read more...
  • Air <br/> <i>Le Voyage Dans La Lune</i>
    Friday, February 10, 2012

    AIR
    LE VOYAGE DANS LA LUNE

    As any fans of 90s alt rock should know, back in 1996, the Smashing Pumpkins released a music video for their hit "Tonight, Tonight" which paid tribute to the classic and ground-breaking 1902 science fiction film Le Voyage Dans La Lune directed by French film pioneer George Melies. French electronica duo Air have decided to pay their tribute to this landmark of the silent era with an album, Le Voyage Dans La Lune, named after the film and with music inspired by its story/visuals. While the album certainly has its moments where it scratches our omnipresent itch for well-composed ambient music, it mostly remains soporific, and Le Voyage Dans La Lune may find more life as a sleep aid than as a worthy follow-up to Air's still-remarkable Moon Safari.

    ...click here to read more...
  • air <br/><em>love 2</em>
    Monday, October 26, 2009

    AIR
    LOVE 2

    Love 2 is a sequel to nothing. Air shows it's age with an existential crisis bigger than an obsession with moog and ear friendly diet-pop. The schmaltz seems to be in season with the French electro-pop veterans, who dabble in just enough twinkle to hook, and not enough risks to enthrall.

    ...click here to read more...
  • air waves <br/><em>air waves</em>
    Monday, September 14, 2009

    AIR WAVES
    AIR WAVES

    The Air Waves' self titled five song EP is quite simply a lovely collection of melodic tunes, upbeat guitar, and endearing vocals. The album feels earnestly clean and elemental (the band cites clouds and water as influences and it actually comes through). But the Brooklyn based trio embodies more than just a few naturally occurring compounds; their vibe is something along the lines of Beach House and Neil Young with some Pixies thrown in the mix.

    ...click here to read more...
  • akron family<br /><em>set em' wild set em' free</em>
    Friday, April 10, 2009

    AKRON FAMILY
    SET EM' WILD SET EM' FREE

    After releasing what was their fourth studio album back in 2007, original Akron/Family member Ryan Vanderhoof quit the band for personal reasons, leaving drummer Dana Janssen, guitarist Seth Olinsky and bassist Miles Seaton behind to try and assemble the pieces that remained. Rising to the challenge, the remaining trio are soon set to release Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free (Dead Oceans); an album that, in this case, suggests less just might be more

    ...click here to read more...
  • Alabama Shakes <br/><i>Alabama Shakes EP</i>
    Friday, January 06, 2012

    ALABAMA SHAKES
    ALABAMA SHAKES EP

    Recently it seems that everyone is making a fuss about the Alabama Shakes. From blog aggrandizing to a successful run at CMJ last fall, the band is enjoying quite a bit of preaching about their merits. The music is undeniably fun-- Brittany Howard has the naturally soulful croon that Jack White has spent his entire life trying to emulate, and her band is proficient at riffing appropriately bluesy schmaltz behind her. The band's four-track EP garnered much love for its soul, including a Zales commercial placement (that many of the older generation probably mistook for some obscure, decades-old b-side). A few fortunate turns (and no publicist), and the name is somehow on the tip of everyone's tongue. A year ago, nobody outside of Athens had ever heard of them.

    ...click here to read more...
  • Alabama Shakes <br/><i>Boys and Girls</i>
    Friday, April 13, 2012

    ALABAMA SHAKES
    BOYS AND GIRLS

    Well, that was quick.

    At the beginning of the year, Alabama Shakes were only known for their brief and promising EP (released last summer). Now, with their first full length Boys & Girls the quartet has taken off in a big way-- and in this case, the music absolutely backs up the hype. Boys & Girls is centered around the voice of Brittany Howard, so soulfully worn that it seems impossible that she's only 23 years old. Her vocals are reminiscent of Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross and Janis Joplin, with a performing style that's happily familiar to Otis Redding. Her voice is the crucial ingredient in the band that makes these tried and true chord progressions and melodies new again-- it makes you rock, swoon, and cry, leaving your vital organs like putty in her hands.

    ...click here to read more...
  • albert hammond jr. <br/><em> cmo te llama?</em>
    Wednesday, July 30, 2008

    ALBERT HAMMOND JR.
    CMO TE LLAMA?

    The second time around for Strokes guitarist and all-around rocker Albert Hammond Jr. has bigger sights, and bigger ambitions. The general public had the same ambitions, and we're only meeting Al halfway: the good and the bad mesh on the album to create something enjoyable and very non-esoteric, if not slightly disappointing.

    ...click here to read more...
  • Alberta Cross <br/><i>Songs of Patience</i>
    Tuesday, July 17, 2012

    ALBERTA CROSS
    SONGS OF PATIENCE

    One thing the folksy rock band Alberta Cross has never been guilty of: copping to the heavy grips of inertia. Ever since meeting at a London pub, founders Petter Ericson Stakee and Terry Wolfers have been on a perpetual road trip that has brought them to Sweden, LA, performances with greats like Bat for Lashes and Oasis, festivals like Bonaroo and Coachella, and finally, the little artist's haven called Brooklyn. That sense of restless energy bounces through their latest installment, which, though called Songs of Patience," is anything but placid.

    ...click here to read more...
  • Alt-J <br/><i>An Awesome Wave</i>
    Thursday, September 13, 2012

    ALT-J
    AN AWESOME WAVE

    They say that all children have an incredible capacity for creativity before the age of three, as well as an incredible cognitive predisposition for art, and all of this gets lost as you get older and there is nothing you can do about it unless you're a robot or you grow up in a different society. Or maybe they don't say that, maybe Im making it up or distorting some factoid I heard out of a PhD-toting friend, or something. My point is, Alt-J sounds like a bunch of guys who never grew out of that incredible, youthful, creative freedom. Their music is terribly odd, but somehow it feels right, and instantly accessible. Lead singer Joe Newman wields his voice like it's an elastic string, bending and hammering on, feeling no obligation to pronounce any of the brilliant lyrics clearly. It's nega-pop, music that's so catchy it freaks you out.

    ...click here to read more...
  • Amadou and Mariam <br/><i>Folila</i>
    Thursday, April 12, 2012

    AMADOU AND MARIAM
    FOLILA

    When you're a blind Malian husband and wife duo playing a fusion of traditional African music alongside rocking Western influences (blues, electronic music, soul, classic rock), you probably won't have to try very hard to attract the attention of world music fans who eat up everything from artists like Beirut or Toumani Diabate. Amadou and Mariam, however, have more than earned the loyal following that has amassed around their music since Dimanche a Bamako and Welcome to Mali knocked our socks off. Their brilliant amalgamation of pop from around the world into something that anyone, anywhere on the planet could appreciate and fall in love with. Their latest album doesn't find the band breaking new ground but simply re-confirming our belief that few other artists have the same ear for the core of rock and pop as Amadou and Mariam.

    ...click here to read more...
  • Amy Winehouse <br/><i>Lioness: Hidden Treasures</i>
    Wednesday, December 14, 2011

    AMY WINEHOUSE
    LIONESS: HIDDEN TREASURES

    Lioness: Hidden Treasures is a short (45 minutes) and overall lacking posthumous collection of Winehouse rarities, covers, and deflated demos-- not so hidden or secretive, after all. This revelation comes tinged with a heavy side of guilt wrapped up in sadness as it points to the reality that Amy Winehouse, in her last years, was more taken with addiction than realizing her talent could inspire millions. As a portrait of a woman who did it to and for herself Lioness shows how she loved peril, loved love, and merely had to release herself in her own music.

    ...click here to read more...
  • an horse <br/><i>walls</i>
    Monday, May 02, 2011

    AN HORSE
    WALLS

    A couple of years back, Kate Cooper and Damon Cox were mere work buddies, punching the clock at a record store in Brisbane Australia, lackadaisically shooting the shit, and spending afterhours in the real life pursuit of rock and roll under the name An Horse. Later, as if shot from the heavens, the two would benefit from the kind of fortune for which most bands would happily trade a vital organ. Cooper plugged in the band's demo during a fateful in-store visit from Tegan and Sara. Soon after, An Horse would be booking a flight bound for The States. Seems T&S were impressed. They invited the band to come on as support for a lengthy, North American tour.

    ...click here to read more...
  • Andrew Bird <br/><i>Break It Yourself</i>
    Thursday, March 29, 2012

    ANDREW BIRD
    BREAK IT YOURSELF

    What separates an album of genre-fusing ambitions (Dear Science by TV on the Radio) from a characterless jumble of sound (Pink Floyd's The Division Bell)? TV on the Radio may incorporate everything from funk to post-punk to garage rock to soul to hip-hop to electronica, but when you listen to Dear Science or Return to Cookie Mountain, you know you're listening to music that only Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone could come up with. Chicago baroque pop artist Andrew Bird never ventures into characterless territory as his classically trained musicianship and meticulous ear for detail always shines, but on his latest record, Break It Yourself he spends far too long straddling the line between a genuinely novel combination of rootsy folk/baroque pop and the type of silly pretensions that cause people to not take music like this seriously in the first place. There are many moments of brilliance and beauty on this album, but you have to deal with an unfortunate number of duds and Bird's inconsistent lyricism to get there.

    ...click here to read more...
  • andrew bird<br /><em>noble beast</em>
    Sunday, January 25, 2009

    ANDREW BIRD
    NOBLE BEAST

    Youth and energy has its' definite place in music. Young, gun slinging musicians exuding careless confidence and shit pots of stamina for their booze infused, sexually motivated lifestyles will always be a necessary cog to keep the spirit and vigor of rock and roll cranking along. But as fun as goofing off at the kid's table with these punks can be, breaking a bit of bread with some honest to god adults is often beneficial behavior as well. It's there, after all, where life's more profound themes are discussed at length. It's there where people try and define what their lives are, or what they should be. It's there where "soul food" is generally the cuisine of choice. It's also there where listeners get the chance to pull up a chair with Andrew Bird on his latest release, Noble Beasts.

    ...click here to read more...
  • Andrew Bird<br/> <i>Hands of Glory</i>
    Monday, December 24, 2012

    ANDREW BIRD
    HANDS OF GLORY

    One of the most appealing reasons to turn to Andrew Bird is to bare witness to a process; an intricate array of drums, guitar, violin and, of course, that wily way he whistles, all looped into lofty, semi-symphonic wonders that dare his listeners to tap into their imaginations, if only for a moment or two. But after all those years of sonic sophistication, Hands of Glory, billed as a companion piece to the very fine, recently released album Break It Yourself, which sounds like a quest to cut away the extras and find simplicity in his home recording studio in Western Illinois.

    ...click here to read more...
  • andrew bryant <br/><em>galilee</em>
    Tuesday, January 05, 2010

    ANDREW BRYANT
    GALILEE

    A man at the crossroads: it's an oh so common theme to music of a Southern distinction. But what awaits on the other side? What kind of push and pull does a choice bring with it, after it's been made? It's a question that lies at the heart of the personal narratives that inhabit Andrew Bryant's fifth release, Galilee.

    ...click here to read more...
  • angus and julia stone<br /><em>a book like this</em>
    Wednesday, March 04, 2009

    ANGUS AND JULIA STONE
    A BOOK LIKE THIS

    It is amazing what siblings can do when they come together to make music. No I'm not talking about the Jonas Brothers or Hanson (as good as Mmm Bop was). But think about bands like the Beach Boys, the Kinks and AC/DC. Or how about some more contemporary bands, like Kings of Leon and Radiohead? The fact is siblings (usually) make good music. Now we can add to that distinguished list a brother/sister duo from Sydney, Australia. They go by the name of Angus and Julia Stone.

    ...click here to read more...
  • Angus Stone <br/><i>Broken Brights</i>
    Tuesday, July 31, 2012

    ANGUS STONE
    BROKEN BRIGHTS

    Up until now, Angus Young has mostly come to us as part of package deal, one half of the duo Angus & Julia Stone. Well, unless you count Lady of the Sunshine, Young's first solo effort, which was an odd mixture of the soft, acoustic-based songs that Angus & Julia Stone fans were used to and hard-hitting rock songs in the vein of The White Stripes or Rage Against the Machine. Now Young is using his real name for his latest foray into the world of solo artist: a new album entitled Broken Brights.

    ...click here to read more...
  • animal collective - <br /><em>Merriweather Post Pavilion</em>
    Monday, January 19, 2009

    ANIMAL COLLECTIVE -
    MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILION

    There isn't a whole lot to say about Merriweather Post Pavilion that hasn't already been said. As a product of a hyperactive blog culture, the latest full-length album from Brooklyn/Baltimore based Animal Collective is as divisive an offering as they come. On one hand, you have the obsessives who approach every Animal Collective related project with wide-eyed acclaim and suffocating enthusiasm, while on the other side you have the tunnel vision pundits who hold firm that the band and all its byproducts are a vacuous representation of a vampiric hype culture. However, to say that the answer lies somewhere in between would be way too easy-- the truth is, Merriweather Post Pavilion is an accurate representation of both sides of the argument with very little wiggle room in between. In short, yes, it is overhyped beyond reasonable measure, however, it's also very, very good, and is without a doubt worthy of the polarizing dialogue it inspires.

    ...click here to read more...
  • animal collective <br/><em>fall be kind ep</em>
    Friday, December 11, 2009

    ANIMAL COLLECTIVE
    FALL BE KIND EP

    Animal Collective creates music with specific seasons and moods in mind. "Summertime Clothes" off of 2009's Merriweather Post Pavilion is what comes to mind first (that song has a special place in my heart after surviving my first Brooklyn summer sans AC).

    ...click here to read more...
  • Animal Collective <br/><i>Centipede Hz</i>
    Monday, September 10, 2012

    ANIMAL COLLECTIVE
    CENTIPEDE HZ

    I like Centipede Hz, because it brings Animal Collective back down to the Earth they built for themselves. It's really weird sonically, like seriously weird, and kind of inaccessible to people unfamiliar with the band's previous work. It makes Congratulations sound like The Fame. And tracks like "Today's Supernatural" and "Rosie Oh" are fun and flighty.

    ...click here to read more...
  • anna ternheim<br /><em>halfway to fivepoints</em>
    Friday, July 18, 2008

    ANNA TERNHEIM
    HALFWAY TO FIVEPOINTS

    On Anna Ternheim’s American debut Halfway to Fivepoints (Decca), fans with discerning musical tastes may notice a couple immediate objections upon first inspection. 1) There is a rather major kind of record label staring back at you from the cover; a definite red flag for many fans of independent rock. 2) These songs could very easily end up on an episode of One Tree Hill. That’s right…I said One Tree Hill!

    But a funny thing happens to those who are resilient enough to overlook such “offenses”, and give Halfway to Fivepoints a proper play through.

    ...click here to read more...
  • anna ternheim<br /><em>Leaving on a Mayday</em>
    Friday, August 07, 2009

    ANNA TERNHEIM
    LEAVING ON A MAYDAY

    Leaving on a Mayday, the latest from Anna Ternheim, is a different sort of record, with a new sonic twist, though I'm not sure that's entirely Ternheim's doing. No, I suspect Mayday's new approach comes (mostly) courtesy of hit maker extraordinaire Bjorn Yttling; a producer who, along with his band Peter, Bjorn, and John, just might be nurturing an entire crop of stark, moody, Swedish pop (see Shout Out Louds, Lykke Li, Sahara Hotnights) under his guidance and general knob turning. Here her previous album's stay at home song craft gets traded in for a different sort of nocturnal activity. Dancing.

    ...click here to read more...
  • anni rossi <br/><i>heavy meadow</i>
    Thursday, April 28, 2011

    ANNI ROSSI
    HEAVY MEADOW

    As a follow up to 2009's Rockwell, Heavy Meadow maintains and perhaps even expands Rossi's use of quirky eccentricities as she shifts further into a lightly synthesized production. Every song operates with a soft, seemingly unassuming rhythm. The effect is very pleasant, yet as a whole, the album does not explore much progression among the eleven tracks. It favors simplicity, but perhaps too much so. While the tunes are all digested quite easily, the completed result suffers the threat of becoming lost within a blur of eccentricities that make it difficult to pinpoint the finer moments. The album is certainly packed with charm, but the focused direction may hinder Rossi's ability to expand her audience. It is doubtful, however, that this was her aim; therefore, in terms of achieving a specific sonic expression, she certainly has found a unique voice.

    ...click here to read more...
  • annie <br/><em>don't stop</em>
    Thursday, December 10, 2009

    ANNIE
    DON'T STOP

    Simplicity and accessibility are often cited as the foundations of pop. But at this stage of the game, using the 2009 archaic musical classification system, "pop" doesn't really mean anything except "could be featured prominently in an iPod commercial." Reaching for real boundaries means taking pop and defining it as songwriting with synthetic instruments, or that sounds synthetic, and/or a dance beat, with a good hook. Lady GaGa, for example, is probably the best example of modern "pop," with fringe examples being like Beyonce (boarderline R&B), Taylor Swift (boarderline Country), and The Black Eyed Peas (boarderline retarded).

    ...click here to read more...
  • annuals <br/><em>sweet sister ep</em>
    Monday, March 29, 2010

    ANNUALS
    SWEET SISTER EP

    Adam Baker has drastically revamped his six piece pop outfit to a sound he is more keen on producing... and it shows in both quality and creativity. The Sweet Sister EP abandons the quaint organic threads of Such Fun for a partly sci-fi electro-exploration, one which ironically sounds like it was more fun that its predecessor to record and mix. The resulting collection is a mix of classic foot-stomping pop and the futuristic lazer-sharp noises that made Odd Blood such a triumph. It is great to hear a band from Raleigh that sounds like alt-country from the year 3000.

    ...click here to read more...
  • antlers <br/><em>hospice</em>
    Tuesday, December 08, 2009

    ANTLERS
    HOSPICE

    Hospice is an album derived from and all about isolation, and thus comparisons to Justin Vernon's melancholic Bon Iver abounded (including from P4K). But I'd disagree terribly; The Antlers are the ugly side of Emma. While Bon Iver paints loneliness as a fragile tear drop or something pretty and weak, Antlers take it to more of a disturbing imagery kind of place, hard and desolate. Nearly every track is unsettling in one way or another; piercing silence, the smack of singer Peter Silberman's lips, uncomfortable chord progressions, and melodies that cry more than sing.

    ...click here to read more...
  • antony and the johnsons <br/><i>swanlights ep</i>
    Wednesday, April 20, 2011

    ANTONY AND THE JOHNSONS
    SWANLIGHTS EP

    Antony Hegarty, in service of Record Store Day, released Swanlights, a four-track EP. A bit confusing considering his previous LP was under an identical heading, but the latter contains a remix of the title track performed by Oneohtrix Point Never, as well as two new B-sides.

    ...click here to read more...
  • Apollo Heights<br /><em>White Music For Black People</em>
    Monday, December 24, 2007

    APOLLO HEIGHTS
    WHITE MUSIC FOR BLACK PEOPLE

    Back in November I read an article in the Village Voice about a band I had never heard of. I was intrigued by the word used to describe their sound: soulgazing. It essentially means a mix of soul music, shoegaze and indie rock with hip-hop style looping and drum programming. We’ve all had that moment when you’re immediately, irrationally sold on a product before seeing it or hearing it. This became my moment, but of course I had to check out some songs to make sure that my preconceptions were true (MySpace can sometimes be used for the forces of good).

    Let's just say you wouldn’t be reading this if I was disappointed in any way.

    ...click here to read more...
  • apollo sunshine <br/><em>shall noise upon</em>
    Friday, August 08, 2008

    APOLLO SUNSHINE
    SHALL NOISE UPON

    Nostalgia can sometimes be a good thing, especially for an era of happiness, harmony and love. Certainly a good reference point for a band to point to, especially one as well versed in pyschedelics and near-comical throwback songwriting. Thus Apollo Sunshine succeed and fail at the same time: here is an album of music we already knew we loved, but don't need to survive. It's good music and well written, it's fun to listen to, but it's nothing that the children of the 60's didn't already dream about.

    ...click here to read more...
  • Arbouretum<br /><i>Rites of Uncovering</i>
    Wednesday, February 28, 2007

    ARBOURETUM
    RITES OF UNCOVERING

    ...click here to read more...
  • arcade fire <br/><i>the suburbs</i>
    Monday, August 02, 2010

    ARCADE FIRE
    THE SUBURBS

    Is it a masterpiece because we really, really want it to be a masterpiece or is it really a masterpiece? The 'M' word gets thrown around an awful lot in the rock and roll world and frequently it has more to do with the moment than the music. Sometimes it happens right out of the box, like the 2008 Fleet Foxes debut. But more often than not, it's the third or fourth record for a band that's slowly been building momentum, gaining the approval of its elders, getting great press and finally breaking out, selling out stadiums and actually selling records. In the post-classic rock era, it's happened to The Clash, U2 and Radiohead in that order and really that's about it.

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  • Arcade Fire<br /><i>Neon Bible</i>
    Friday, March 09, 2007

    ARCADE FIRE
    NEON BIBLE

    ...click here to read more...
  • Architecture in Helsinki<br /><i>Places Like This</i>
    Tuesday, August 07, 2007

    ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI
    PLACES LIKE THIS

    ...click here to read more...
  • arctic monkeys <br/><em>humbug</em>
    Friday, August 28, 2009

    ARCTIC MONKEYS
    HUMBUG

    The Arctic Monkeys have taken a step forward (or backwards?) from their spunky punk to more delicate, dirty rock with several layers, requiring multiple listens to nod to, or even understand. The complication is welcome, but questionably an evolution as much as it is a transformation. Are we deceived by this Humbug?

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  • Arctic Monkeys <br/><i>Suck It And See</i>
    Wednesday, June 08, 2011

    ARCTIC MONKEYS
    SUCK IT AND SEE

    The Arctic Monkeys are known for an explosive success handled with diffidence. In their early days, the restless, young band had to carry the weight of public expectation, being deemed the British indie rock band of their generation after releasing only one single. They met expectation with Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not and further proved their legitimacy with their sophomore album. In what seems an effort to remain perpetually unconventional and unpredictable, they opted for a grungier, more hard-edged third album (Humbug). After garnering a tepid response, the Monkeys assured us their forthcoming album Suck It And See would be more poppy, and perhaps, as the album title hinted, stay truer to earlier Monkeys conviction.

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  • ariel pink's haunted graffiti <br/><i>before today</i>
    Friday, July 09, 2010

    ARIEL PINK'S HAUNTED GRAFFITI
    BEFORE TODAY

    A catchy beat, a simple progression, and a clear transition from chorus to verse all help to make the mainstream accessible, and Rosenberg doesn't seem to care. Songs found on Before Today often take dramatic turns, building and squandering momentum by whim, shifting from mellow to utterly frantic, as on "L'estat", while a vast array of samples range from theatrical to pornographic. If pop staples offer solid ground to lead us through the artist's world, Rosenberg expects us to plunge headlong.

    ...click here to read more...
  • Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti <br/><i>Mature Themes</i>
    Wednesday, August 22, 2012

    ARIEL PINK'S HAUNTED GRAFFITI
    MATURE THEMES

    When two of the lines in the very first song of an album are "Crib notes pacifistic polymonogamasturbator's a whore (that's right!)" and "Suicide dumplings dropping testicle bombs (bombs, bombs)" you should probably know right away that any conventional analysis of the album will be an exercise in futility. After 2010's breakthrough Before Today, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti exploded onto the indie rock scene with the anthemic "Round and Round." Although it still featured Pink's (nee Ariel Rosenberg) ability to marry 60s acid rock with 80s synth pop which was highly visible on past releases like House Arrest or The Doldrums, it seemed like nearly every track on Before Today stuck -- even if the album suffered from a severe lack of focus. Pink's newest record, Mature Themes, finds the crew fully embracing the avant-garde side of the Haunted Graffiti equation. And while Pink's musicianship has never been better or more cohesive, his lyricism is total word salad nonsense that sees Pink abandoning hooks to simply make the record as transgressive as humanly possible.

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  • arms <br/><em>kids aflame</em>
    Tuesday, November 03, 2009

    ARMS
    KIDS AFLAME

    Kids Aflame is a bit of a roller coaster of emotions and attention span. The Harlem Shakes put out one of the most promising records of the year, only to break hearts everywhere with their hiatus. Living in the shadow of an ambitious and promising group of musicians can be a blessing and a curse; the stage is set for certain expectations, connotations, and judgments. For the most part Goldstein answers the supposed nose-turns with poise; his album has highs and lows, missteps and successes, the way an artist's solo record often emerges.

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  • art brut<br /><em>art brut vs satan</em>
    Friday, June 05, 2009

    ART BRUT
    ART BRUT VS SATAN

    Some bands like to sing about lofty topics such as angels and God, death and the life pursuit, or at least the hood and the government. Not Art BrutThe modern day's answer to the Modern Lovers' Jonathan Richman, Art Brut frontman Eddie Argos is content to speak-sing about public transportation, comics, chocolate milkshakes, summer jobs, and having songs stuck in your head. However, where Richman was straight-edge and somber, Argos gleefully bookends Art Brut vs Satan with two of the most triumphant hangover songs ever recorded.

    ...click here to read more...
  • Art in Manila<br /><i>Set the Woods on Fire</i>
    Wednesday, September 05, 2007

    ART IN MANILA
    SET THE WOODS ON FIRE

    ...click here to read more...
  • as tall as lions <br /><em>you can't take it with you</em>
    Wednesday, August 19, 2009

    AS TALL AS LIONS
    YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU

    Crafting 'respectable pop' means assembling a buffet of bubbling hooks and catchy melodies, a tough pillar to erect and support for today's image conscious rock band. Where is the firing line between weird and innovative? Catchy and pastiche? "Indie" and "poseur?" These blanket terms aren't usually mutually exclusive, either. Half pop-ish, half slowed, and always inflated, As Tall As Lions run a tight gamut on their third LP; a risky attempt. The elite may dismiss them for being too mainstream, and the mainstream may dismiss them as too far fetched for "radio friendly," And where does that leave them? Bouncing from Bloc Party falsetto drum-driven movers to slow-dancing-in-a-jazzy-room ballads, As Tall As Lions are a crock pot of the last decade of indie-to-major successes.

    ...click here to read more...
  • asobi seksu <br/><i>fluorescence</i>
    Thursday, February 24, 2011

    ASOBI SEKSU
    FLUORESCENCE

    Asobi Seksus fourth full length album release lives up to the strikingly vivid meaning behind its given name: Fluorescence. This New York based pair of Yuki Chikudate and James Hanna have once again entranced their audiences with a shoegaze-driven compilation of tracks that offer a contrasting engagement of dreamlike depth and enthusiastically tempered distortion. This latest installment conveys a strengthened improvement of their admired ability to merge together such a layered blend of distinct sounds, but at times this talent can be consumed by the disorganized affectation.

    ...click here to read more...
  • atmopshere<br/><em>when life gives you lemons, you paint that shit gold</em>
    Wednesday, August 06, 2008

    ATMOPSHERE
    WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS, YOU PAINT THAT SHIT GOLD

    When "Like the Rest of Us", the first track on Atmosphere's latest release When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold (Rhymesayers), arrives at your eardrums, you expect to hear the very articulate and highly emotional intensity that Slug and Ant are known for. Instead you get resignation. The stories about broken people, down on their luck, and Slugs personal struggles are all still there. However, this time they're told from the perspective of people who have accepted their position in life and have stopped dreaming of a better future for themselves.

    ...click here to read more...
  • Au<br /><i>Au</i>
    Tuesday, July 10, 2007

    AU
    AU

    ...click here to read more...
  • audrye sessions<br /><em>audrye sessions</em>
    Wednesday, January 14, 2009

    AUDRYE SESSIONS
    AUDRYE SESSIONS

    Forget responding to that offensive invitation to your 10th anniversary, high school reunion. On their soon to be released, self-titled LP, Audrye Sessions seem more than happy to take you screeching back to those awkward, lovesick days when, chances are all you ever really wanted to do was disappear deep inside a deafening soundtrack of Siamese Dream, Vs., and The Bends. Unless of course you just so happened to actually get the itch to strap on one of those electric guitars for yourself. Then mimicking your early '90's idols was how you dreamed your days away.

    ...click here to read more...
  • avey tare <br/><i>down there</i>
    Wednesday, November 03, 2010

    AVEY TARE
    DOWN THERE

    Down There is a noir record. Dave Portner (Avey Tare) has publically expressed that his solo record is an expunging of demons, and he does not wish to perform it, two red flags if you're looking for Miley Cyrus worthy pop tunes or even the sprightly abstractions of his day job in Animal Collective. Add the fact that Portner is obsessed with crocodiles and you've got Down There, a record that wouldn't be any murkier if it was played underwater in a black hole. The obvious conclusions, that "Down There" refers to Portner's subconscious, or more literally the underwater dwelling of his animal of choice, are just liner notes for a deeper experience. This is not a one spin wonder.

    ...click here to read more...
  • avi buffalo <br/><i>avi buffalo</i>
    Friday, May 14, 2010

    AVI BUFFALO
    AVI BUFFALO

    Avi Buffalo are just a couple of 19ish year olds, and their debut record sound is sort of mirror-like in it's reflection of the fact; scratchy voices that are obsessed with identity and spacial boundaries both physical and emotional.

    ...click here to read more...
  • avril lavigne <br/><i>goodbye lullaby</i>
    Tuesday, March 08, 2011

    AVRIL LAVIGNE
    GOODBYE LULLABY

    The fourth studio album to come from Avril Lavigne, entitled Goodbye Lullaby, strips down past years' theatrics and focuses primarily on the emotional origin of the musical content. Because of Lavigne's need to express the personal journey she has undertaken since 2008's The Best Damn Thing, her musical growth is left overlooked as the acoustic-based instruments take a back seat to her powerful vocals. The title Goodbye Lullaby is definitely an accurate depiction of the album's tone both instrumentally and lyrically. Almost every song reveals a desperate attempt at holding on to something that is no longer in her life, and consequently describes the loneliness and forgone magic of losing relationship security. These seem to be obvious reflections of the personal losses that she has experienced within the last few years during her divorce to Sum 41's Deryck Whibley. With this knowledge, one is slightly more inclined to forgive the repetitive theme and mediocre lyrics within most tracks, and rather embrace the emotional honesty of a girl who so rarely lets down her guard.

    ...click here to read more...

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