Year: 2013
Review: Andy Kaufman – Andy and His Grandmother
If this half-hour-long collection of random conversations that Dada song-and-dance comic Andy Kaufman recorded between ’77 and ’79 is the best anyone could do to drum up renewed interest in whether he faked his own death, then I guess no one really cares anymore. … read more
Review: Anoraak – Chronotropic
The three-piece band possesses the stereotypical French nu-disco sound that seems to be rising in popularity these days. This album makes a valiant effort to encapsulate those final moments of summer but I didn’t really fall for it, in spite of the electroshock therapy I felt Anoraak was subliminally conducting. … read more
Review: Akron/Family – Sub Verses
Sub Verses is Akron/Family’s densest, busiest and most undeniably rockist album to date. For these reasons, piled on top of their familiar vocal harmonization and expansive experimentation into the marriage of the limitless boundaries of electronic programming and the gnarled, woody heart of American rock n’ roll, Sub Verses makes the case for Akron/Family being one of the most vital groups working in rock music today. … read more
Review: Alkaline Trio
After 17 years and album after album, it’s likely that you’ve heard of Alkaline Trio, and you know what you’re getting into on My Shame Is True. … read more
Review: Alison Moyet – The Minutes
Usually, it takes the first phrasing from Moyet’s lips to hook me into a specific song, but as Guy Sigworth’s elegant electronics start on “Horizon Flame,” it is apparent that something exciting is at play. … read more
Review: All Pigs Must Die – Nothing Violates This Nature
All Pigs Must Die initiate Nothing Violates This Nature with the thrashy “Chaos Arise”—and it does! … read more
Review: Alison Moyet – Live At Bush Hall & Changeling...
A simple, clean take of “When I Was Your Girl” reminds us what a dynamic live singer Moyet is, while a gorgeously delicate reading of “Filigree”—sans backing vocals—is not to be missed. … read more
Review: Aloa Input – Anysome
The styles the trio of Aloa Input (Cico Beck, Florian Kreier and Marcus Grassl) play with are multifaceted in their variations, but despite such a wide variety between the songs, the common thread throughout Anysome remains positively tropical. … read more
Review: Airstrip
Willing is the debut album of this Chapel Hill, N.C. outfit. It is primarily slow, rhythmic, guitar-driven rock with a few poppy, almost upbeat numbers thrown in. … read more
Review: Adventure – Weird Work
As soon as I stepped into Weird Work’s world, I found an immediate juxtaposition. Adventure hit you with beat-box 8-bit synth atop melodic keyboard and bell contributions. … read more
Review: Age of Taurus – Desperate Souls of Tortured Times
Three years after their promising debut, Age of Taurus return to bring down the heavy hammer of doom. Desperate Souls of Tortured Times might take some time to sink in, but once you give in to the unrelenting rhythm of its leaden dirge, there’s no going back. Very few modern metal bands are brave enough to draw comparisons to doom metal giants Candlemass, and fewer still do justice to the classic sound. Yet Age of Taurus seems to have hit on a unique sound, both heavily influenced by the golden age of doom metal and bravely departing from tradition. … read more
Review: Agrimonia – Rites of Separation
Part neo-crust, part post-hardcore, with a healthy heaping of sludge and doom, is the recipe for Rites of Separation by veritable super-group Agrimonia. … read more
