Album Reviews

[rating=9.00] There’s something so haunting and dreamlike in Jason Molina’s voice, and when you hear it, you’re left with an inherent understanding that you’ll never be the same again. More than a year since his passing, the music world is still mourning the loss of this brilliant talent through deluxe reissues and touching tributes. Last […]

[rating=6.00] As her career progresses, Zola Jesus continues to turn pop structures topsy turvy. Her early releases, The Spoils, Stridulum, and the darkly drifting 6 track meetup, LA Vampires Meets Zola Jesus EP, were certainly deeper, more progressive affairs, showcasing Nika Danilova’s affection for bottom of the trench synths and gothic overtones. These albums, often commanding and occasionally brutal, […]

[rating=6.00] Listening to any of Ariel Pink’s work requires serious patience. He’s an indie rock oddball, and one of the genre’s most polarizing figures, indeed. On his latest record pom pom, the candy pink colored cover glaring like a big fat warning, he’s toying with a retro, throwback sound. 60s and 80s-inspired, sugary mouthfuls of […]

[rating=9.00] Eight years after his last studio album, 9, Damien Rice returns with a short but powerful collection of emotional folk. Though much has changed in the meantime – everything from musical collaborators to location – all of the core elements that make up a Damien Rice album are present in My Favourite Faded Fantasy, […]

[rating=9.00] Remember Underworld? Though they’ve been around (in various versions) since 1980, they are arguably most famous for 1995’s “Born Slippy,” a dance/rave anthem that featured prominently in the film Trainspotting. Indeed, it was through “Born Slippy” that this reviewer first really discovered Underworld. As for many others, though, “Born Slippy” was merely the first […]

[rating=7.00] The power-pop, punk icons the Buzzcocks are back with their first album in over eight years titled The Way, showing that the band still possess the talent which saw them churn out some of the catchiest 70’s punk tunes. The two original members Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle split the songwriting, guitar playing and […]

[rating=8.00] A lot of people bag on Yoko on the bogus allegation that she broke up The Beatles. But Polly Samson is a rock ‘n’ roll wife far more deserving of your jeers for her role in transforming Pink Floyd into a big puddle of MOR goo that undercut the very fabric of the band’s […]

[rating=7.00] Approaching Neil Young’s new album Storytone, it is well to keeping in mind the iconoclastic artist is no stranger to either strings (his eponymous solo album, Comes A Time) or horns (This Note’s For You). But Young’s either hedging his bets or simply being his unpredictable self by offering the new record in a […]

[rating=9.00] Thank goodness for Eliot Bronson. One of the best releases so far this year, Bronson’s self-titled record is a rock and roll, folk, country mash-up that showcases his strong songwriting and lush vocals. Eliot Bronson focuses on classic country tunes about loving and leaving, with sweeping melodies and addictively sweet hooks. Right off the […]

In contrast to its black and white/sepia tone cover graphics, Trilogy is full of colors, primary, pastel and all shades in between. And that’s not surprising as the three piece group of pianist Chick Corea, percussionist Brian Blades and bassist Christian McBride is that most unusual of units: players of virtually equal technical and improvisational […]

[rating=9.00] Sallie Ford is the ultimate garage rock dream girl, maintaining her effortless badassness and sexy demeanor with every note she sings. Her voice is soulful and quivering, but strong and full-bodied. On her first record without her beloved band the Sound Outside, Ford is joined by a killer all-woman band she assembled as part […]

[rating=7.00] With 2012’s Take the Kids Off Broadway, Foxygen made a bold statement with a debut album that was delightfully quirky while unabashedly derivative. The ambitious release was equal parts a genuine album and a fun game of Spot the Influence. The album was original in its ability to meld so many different musical styles, […]

[rating=7.00] Upon first listen to Sam Amidon, you may feel transported to a sepia-tinged past. There’s always been something really old world about his composition and singing style, and since last year’s gorgeous Bright Sunny South, he’s truly honed this sound even more. On his new record, Lily-O, he collaborates with the legendary guitar player Bill Frisell […]

[rating=6.00] Pale Hands almost have something that could work for them musically as they drift between retro trance and indie pop on their debut full-length album Spirit Lines. The name for the album came after the husband and wife duo was inspired by Navajo weavers who, for symbolic purposes, place intentional errors in their weavings […]

[rating=8.00] The 19 tracks come fast and furious (surprisingly ending up the shortest of all their past albums) touching on all of Rancid’s past influences. There is ska, blistering punk, political screeds, roots reggae and festival ready shout-a-longs that long time fans will instantly recognize and young newbies will devotedly latch onto. After the powerful […]

[rating=8.00] Recording in the studio for albums like Automatic for the People, R.E.M. pushed the boundaries of their readily identifiable style more (and arguably more successfully) than any of their peers. And the Georgia band’s only comparable contemporaries in that regard, Ireland’s U2, never stripped their instrumental lineup down to acoustic basics as presented on […]

[rating=6.00] For starters, the fifth album from Portland’s Horse Feathers was recorded in a combination of studio and…barn. Surely, it is a departure from previous work; Horse Feathers lead Justin Ringle was hoping to move away from his previously darker music, and in this iteration of Horse Feathers, feels he has. In the ears of […]

[rating=7.00] Basically, Betty Who grooved on to the scene last year with her varsity jacket and Chuck Taylors and hasn’t stopped moving. Although radio has yet to latch on to Who and her bombastic brand of 80s-infused anthems, reputable music blogs and Tumblr tweens alike have celebrated her unabashed approach to songwriting and melody. After […]

[rating=8.00] After a year of touring together, husband and wife team Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn decided to record their first musical collaboration. The resulting album, simply titled Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn, is a stripped-down collection of the finest gifts each performer brings to the banjo. Fleck is known for his smooth picking, his […]

[rating=7.00] The final installment of Charlie Mars’ so-called Texas Trilogy, The Money finds Mars taking a small step backward while at the same time continuing along his path of artistic self-discovery. After five albums as a standard singer-songwriter, Mars’ label went out of business and he was forced to go it alone. After some soul-searching […]