Reviews

The Rosebuds: Loud Planes Fly Low

News of their split took many by surprise, but like a number of talented and introspective songwriters that have come before them, Ivan and Kelly have taken their unfortunate circumstances and turned them into a work of great art, emotion, and perhaps even catharsis.  The result is Loud Planes Fly Low, ten bouncy, yet emotionally stark tracks that acknowledge, critique, and examine the delicately affecting emotions that result from a relationship in crisis. 

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Luke Brawner: Flannelgraph Sessions LP

Poor Rich Folk lead singer/songwriter, Luke Brawner worked for over a year researching and writing his debut solo album, Flannelgraph Sessions LP.   The end result is a concept album that involved Brawner researching and visiting locations, stories, and characters of the Bible in an attempt to write songs from those perspectives and offer a fresh take on the Old Testament stories and people. 

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Grooms: Prom

The Brooklyn three piece Grooms sophomore release, Prom, is an entanglement of twists, off kilter timings and hot pop injections.

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Washed Out: Within & Without

In 2008 Ernest Green’s moniker, Washed Out, became a touchstone for the influential “chillwave” micro-genre, known for its tendency to morph lush and hazy atmospherics with 80’s synth pads, mournful vocals, and a hearty dose of modern R&B bump.  With his new offering, Within and Without, Green proves himself capable of moving forward while the expected hype surrounds the release.

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The London Souls: The London Souls

Those who listen carefully and instinctively know when the soul of music has revealed itself.  It’s an honest fabric that can be sewn from a live performance or a single recording and can be sought out behind diverse layers in many different sound forms.  This summer, New York-based trio The London Souls, add to that vibration with the release of their debut self-titled record, produced by Ethan Johns at Abbey Road Studios in London.

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Mimi Page: Love Will Tear Us Apart EP

Fans of down-tempo piano electronica, trip-hop and dream pop will dig this, and if you want to get hip to an unsigned artist who is about to blow up on the dance scene, then you owe it to yourself to check out Mimi Page’s work.

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The Kinks: Face to Face, Something Else, Arthur – Remasters

For the past several months, The Kinks have been in celebratory mode as many of their albums are being re-released in the deluxe format that has been all the rage amongst record companies of late.  The latest installment here presents three of the band’s strongest ‘60’s releases into a repackaged format: 1966’s Face to Face, 1967’s Something Else, and 1969’s Arthur. 

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Sarah Jarosz: Follow Me Down

If her muse is a reflection leading towards her inner self, then Sarah Jarosz is an artist who has found her voice and fully brought it into life.

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Jolie Holland: Pint of Blood

Frustrating, then, is Holland’s newest work, Pint of Blood. So much of the raw building blocks are present for this to be a superb record. Holland’s voice is in fine form, gliding between thoughts and words, melisma intact, bending and caressing notes to forge them into wholly new beings and shapes.  But these songs feel emptier and more hollow than Holland’s previous work.

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