Even though Marissa Nadler’s most recent offering, the eponymous Marissa Nadler (out on her own imprint Box of Cedars), is her most articulate and sophisticated release yet, it’s exceedingly difficult to define
Were My Sweetheart to Go…, the second album by Austin chanteuse Lex Land, finds the singer continuing to cover themes of loss and unrequited love. A more introspective take on the topics, however, reveals a more confident songstress. The melancholia is still there (“Finally thought something might work out alright, but then it died during the Ides of March”) but Land seems better able to deal with it now.
Throughout this gorgeous collection of music Sykes’ voice crisscrosses the paper-thin rift between deep pain and true bliss, enabling songs to drift into the ether in between. Slower moments build with a creepy, meandering flow before bursts of swirling psychedelic rock attack that would make Comets on Fire proud. This is heavy.
One could argue that trip hop as it stood in the mid-90s simply should stay in the past, and that Karmacoda is an evolution of that sound. However, other bands disprove that point: to wit Halou and arguably the Thievery Corporation, and others have beautifully picked up the trip hop banner, regardless whether they carry it explicitly.
There is an air of authenticity lent to Field Songs, William Elliott Whitmore’s second full-length release. Growing up and residing on a farm in rural Iowa, Whitmore has worked on and reaped the benefits of the land that he praises and exults throughout the album’s eight tracks.
Vek is still young, but the six-year gap between releases raises flags about his long-term growth and development as an artist. Leisure Seizure offers much to get excited about and a great deal of potential from which to build. However, there is just as much material to skip over, which on the other hand raises concerns about Vek’s DIY mentality.
There’s something endearing about a handwritten note in a promo or review album copy. And that’s what this writer found in Old Californio’s Sundrunk Angels. Some might see it as currying favor, but when an album is this strong, no note is really necessary.
Rabbits on the Run is unequivocally Carlton’s best effort yet; a beautiful culmination of years of soaring highs and devastating lows, rolled into an elegant, thoughtful collection of ten songs.
Deep inside an electronic jungle there lies a creature with a personality that is characterized by the unique sounds that it spews into the atmosphere. It’s those individualities that make up the sound of Swedish electro-jazz-pop quartet Little Dragon and the subtleties that keep their sound ever evolving within itself. The band, whose identity was discovered through creative frustration, returns with their third album on Peacefrog Records titled Ritual Union, an album that works within the structure of diverse beats, yet explores beyond those boundaries extensively.
The same year Tapestry appeared Carole King recorded a concert at Carnegie Hall, but it wasn’t released until 1996, when it came out on CD. Mobile Fidelity has now put out a remastered 2-LP version of the concert on 180-gram vinyl. As audiophile releases go, this is the flip side of such sonic spectaculars as Dark Side of the Moon, Sgt. Pepper’s or Close to the Edge.
