Album Reviews Archives - Page 507 of 713

Anais Mitchell/Jefferson Hamer: Child Ballads

Brian Palmer April 4, 2013 No Comments

The pairing of Anais Mitchell and Jefferson Hamer is nothing short of magical on this seven-song collection of tracks. Mitchell’s clear, spritely voice is the perfect complement to Hamer’s thick, rich vocals, and when combined with the simple folk stylings of these traditional ballads from England and Scotland, these ballads are made stirring and beautiful. Child Ballads transports you to another time and place, and in so doing becomes one of the year’s most unique releases.

Robyn Hitchcock : Love From London

Ric Hickey April 3, 2013 No Comments

Like a pirate winking behind his eye patch, it’s hard to tell when Robyn Hitchcock is pulling your leg. Over the course of a career spanning nearly four decades, this visionary Brit wit has carved out a musical path that is purely unique. His work exists in a realm all its own, largely defying comparison to any other songwriter’s work.

The Black Angels: Indigo Meadow

Chris Calarco April 3, 2013 No Comments

The Black Angels' recorded efforts have demonstrated a commitment to an assertive, dense, and kaleidoscopic worldview. While Indigo Meadow stays firmly rooted in these stylistic conventions it also offers some nuanced texture. By downsizing to a four piece the band has granted greater influence to producer and live mixer John Cagelton, resulting in a vibrant, compelling album with fresh production clout.

Grave Babies: Crusher

Shawn Donohue April 2, 2013 No Comments

Wahlfedlt and crew have crafted a layered goth/pop, industrial-light release that could have kids breaking out the black leather and massacre as soon as they spin Crusher.

The Black Lillies: Runaway Freeway Blues

Chris Calarco April 1, 2013 No Comments

Following the dissolution of both his marriage and his first band, The Black Lillies’ founder Cruz Contreras spent a year on the road as a truck driver for a stone company in East Tennessee. Thus, after playing more than 200 shows in 2012 upon the release of The Lillies’ critically acclaimed debut, Contreras has lived a relentlessly nomadic existence. With its mix of pedal steel guitar, banjo, and crystalline harmonies, the melancholic and modern Appalachia-meets-Americana sound of second LP Runaway Freeway Blues is firmly rooted in the wandering spirit of a restless heart on the run.

Josh Rouse: The Happiness Waltz

Brian Palmer April 1, 2013 No Comments

Josh Rouse has delivered a record which plumbs the depths of the ups and downs of love and life with surprising richness and delicacy. While much of the material is more cheery than not, even the more wistful material—namely the closing title track—is imbued with a beauty that evokes tears of joy if anything, rather than sadness. Rouse has a way with melodies that draws you in and The Happiness Waltz is filled with melodies you will likely get stuck in your brain for a long time to come.

Milk Carton Kids: The Ash & Clay

Brian Palmer March 28, 2013 No Comments

The Ash & Clay, the latest album from The Milk Carton Kids, is no-frills, utterly simple folk music, and it is beautiful. Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale use nothing more than acoustic guitars and their effectively intertwining vocals to tell a series of tales that are both timely and timeless. The emotions are expressed subtly, the subjects are deep and the payoff is big. If you long for a return to the old days of folk music, then this is your ticket to happiness.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Push the Sky Away

Ron Hart March 27, 2013 No Comments

After a good decade embedded in electric brimstone both with the Seeds on such masterpieces as Abbatoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus and Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! as well as the pair of aces conjured with his short-lived blues-punk outfit Grinderman, the Australian modern rock icon returns to the tender subtlety of 2003's Nocturama or, better yet, 1997's brilliant The Boatman's Call as songs like opening track "We No Who U R", "Water's Edge" and "We Real Cool" testify.

Puscifer: Donkey Punch The Night EP

Andrew Bruss March 26, 2013 No Comments

Puscifer’s Donkey Punch The Night offers a few unique tunes and a cover worth listening to once, but as a whole, the EP is the most lacking studio product Maynard James Keenan has put out in recent memory.

Billy Bragg: Tooth and Nail

Patrick Flanary March 26, 2013 No Comments

Billy Bragg calls this latest set the follow-up to Mermaid Avenue he never made, and he’s right: a single listen confirms Tooth & Nail tops anything he’s recorded since those 1997 sessions with Wilco, which drew from Woody Guthrie’s poetry archive and yielded 47 songs and a trio of exceptional albums. The difference this time lies in the words, which belong to Bragg and not Woody, though his spirit turns up in a cover of “I Ain’t Got No Home” from Tooth & Nail, interpreted in the way only Bragg has mastered.

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