REVIEWS 4
The Like
I stumbled upon Tame Impala as a result of social networking actually working. A friend posted this on another friend’s page, and BOOM! ... new music for Mr. Campbell! Another friend also mentioned this to me the old fashioned way, word of mouth. So, between the two, I had no choice but to check it out. ... Read Review
Frank Bretschneider
Halcyon is the second studio album from British singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding. I had no clue what to expect when starting the journey of listening to this album. Right away you are greeted with a voice. A voice that you have heard before, but only in parts. Her voice is like a complicated algebra equation that is part Tegan and/or Sara, plus Maja Ivarsson (lead singer for The Sounds), divided by Imogen Heap, and multiplied by Sinead O'Connor. It's one of those voices that is honest. ... Read Review
The Flaming Lips & Stardeath
I got to know The Avett Brothers through their album Emotionalism, but I haven't been able to get excited about anything they've put out since that record. What's going on with them? I would imagine their live shows are still great but on record they seem to have lost some of their magnetic pull. Emotionalism felt full of, well, emotion, and infectious energy - scrappy and soulful, kind of a lovable hillbilly crazy quilt of an album. There was something about I And Love And You that just didn't draw me in and on first listen I felt the same way about The Carpenter. ... Read Review
Naam
I finally started to pay closer attention to Bob Dylan's music after seeing the documentary No Direction Home on DVD. I don't know why it took me so long - maybe sometimes a person just needs the right guide, especially when they're traveling in a world as rich and complex as Bob Dylan's (thank you Martin Scorsese). And now here comes Tempest, the first proper studio album since I officially became a Bob Dylan fan - and it was worth waiting for. ... Read Review
Deftones
I'm sure the faithful fans have been there all along, but personally I haven't thought much about Soul Asylum since Clinton's first year in office, when nobody really had a cell phone or an internet connection and a grungy Seattle sound ruled the charts. I was in eighth grade, and I listened over and over to a cassette copy of Grave Dancers Union I'd taped off my older brother's CD. I remember thinking that this was an awesome band. Now I've got a wife and some kids, a mortgage and a bald spot, and here comes Soul Asylum again - they're still around - but are they still awesome? ... Read Review
Paul Weller
"I ran down the road / pants down to my knees / screaming please come help me that Canadian shaman gave a little too much to me and I'm writing a novel / because it's never been done before..." These lyrics, (from "I'm Writing A Novel") might contain some keys to the heart of Father John Misty's Hollywood-soaked Sub Pop debut Fear Fun. Drugged out high-jinx, paranoia, humor, and the irony of schlepping to a sun-soaked southern setting where your artistic ambition and individuality make you just like everybody else. ... Read Review
The Rolling Stones
Exile On Main Street (Deluxe Edition Bonus Album)
And so, nine years after her hit debut, The Soul Sessions, Joss Stone returns with a sequel. In between the two records she has grown from an ultra-talented teenager of just sixteen into an ultra-talented woman with legions of loyal fans. True to the original concept, this is an album of covers, and the song selections are both interesting and appropriate. For the most part these are songs that have enjoyed a life before Joss, but may not be instantly familiar to the average casual listener - and that's a good thing, because for now they belong to Joss Stone and will thus arrive without baggage on the ears of many listeners. ... Read Review
Stone Temple Pilots
I'm new to the Gaslight Anthem. At first listen their new album sounded to me like average rock music with cliché rock lyrics, sung by a passionate, standout rock front man. But between the first listen and the second listen I found myself thinking about what I'd heard, that little snippets were stuck in my mind (a "whoa oh" here, an "oh sha la la" there), and that for some reason I wanted to hear it all again. ... Read Review
Autechre
Ahh, Sinead, Sinead, Sinead...always keeping us guessing, giggling behind our backs as we squirm and hope for your well-being and think perhaps the meds aren't working. The frank, explicit Tweets about your lack of intimate pleasures; the open invitation to apply as your bed partner; the announcement that you were getting married to one of the applicants on your birthday; the break-up a couple weeks after; the reconciliation; the confession that you were "very un-well...and in danger." It all sounded very off the rails, even for someone who always enjoyed stirring the pot with a shovel instead of a spoon. ... ... Read Review
Johnny Cash
What strange brew is this? It fills me with a mixture of metaphors, and if you've ever plugged and unplugged your ears while listening to something (anything) then you've already got a feel for the kind of pulsing hypnosis present on nearly every track of this debut album by Canadian future-pop duo Purity Ring. ... Read Review
Anibal Velasquez Y Su Conjunto
Being one of singer Erika Wennerstrom's bandmates in the Heartless Bastards could be a mixed blessing. They're a better-than-average bar band fronted by the powerhouse vocals of Wennerstrom, who can wail like the second coming of Janis Joplin as easily as dishing up the honey like Lucinda do (I even hear some Amy Winehouse moments in there). The songs?....Read Review
The Black Keys
The ongoing collaborative works by Ryuichi Sakamoto on grand piano and Raster-Noton label founder Carsten Nicolai have certainly been a highlight in this past decade of neo-classical and ambient music. So much so, that I'm not hesitant to recommended the series to even the curious/casual fan of the genre.....Read Review
The Telescopes
Comparisons to Jesus and Mary Chain, Spacemen 3, and Sonic Youth are common for the Telescopes, an English band formed in 1987 and currently active once again. With those contemporaries, it's no surprise that UK labels such as Cheree, Fierce, and Creation (home to My Bloody Valentine, Ride, and others) were involved in their proliferation. ...Continue
Deaf Center
Something of an event in the ambient/neo-classical world, a new Deaf Center album! The Norwegian duo of Erik Skodvin and Otto Totland are back after the lengthy (overlong) six-year gap between their previous release on the UK's Type Records and what is arguably their masterwork in Owl Splinters. ... Continue
Julianna Barwick
I don't often find good enough reasons to force my musical opinion on others, but lately I've been listening to an album that's made me feel inspired enough to have to share it, like for show and tell when I was in 3rd grade. ... Continue
