Month: April 2014
Review: The Honey Trees – Bright Fire
The Honey Trees are more than musicians—they’re enchanters. Becky Flip, Jeremy Larson and Jacob Wick created an album that feels like it was produced in an enchanted forest, much like the one on the album’s cover. … read more
Review: The Forty Nineteens – Spin it
Blasting out with an ‘80s styled, pop-doused, garage-rock assault, The Forty Nineteens bring something different, yet very familiar, to the table. It is almost easy to overlook the notable tracks worth their weight during the initial listen. … read more
Review: Suzanne Vega – Tales From The Realm Of The Queen...
“Black is the truth/of my situation/and for those of my station/In life/all other colors lie,” Vega ominously sings on the thrillingly catchy “I Never Wear White,” one of many highs on this, her eighth studio album. … read more
Review: The Alvaret Ensemble, Kira Kira, Eiríkur Orri Ólaffson, Ingri...
The Skeylja project is a collaboration featuring the Berlin-based Alvaret Ensemble, who traveled to Iceland to practice and play with several prominent musicians in the avant-garde/post-classical tradition (a genre which Iceland seems to foster). … read more
Review: The Apache Relay – Self-Titled
The Apache Relay, despite sporting a pretty badass (I don’t use the term lightly) and foreboding name, are actually twee in nature. As such, they are subject to the usual comparisons: Grizzly Bear, Fleet Foxes, and to some extent, Blitzen Trapper. … read more
Review: Sleepy Sun – Maui Tears
Maui Tears is the band’s finest work yet. It’s a perfection of everything good from Fever and Spine Hits. The record opens with “The Lane”—an angelic little ditty featuring guitars that soar through the clouds and rip through the ether in search of a realm of permanent shapes. … read more
Review: Southern Culture on the Skids – Dig This
For years, Southern Culture on the Skids have been one of those Americana bands that are such a well-built hotrod of a band that, when it comes to any of the genres that they tackle, they can naturally shift from country to surf to R&B and every bit sounds as authentic as it is original. … read more
Review: Spiritual Rez – Apocalypse Whenever
This fourth album, and first album not self-produced, is a huge step for this seven-piece Boston reggae/ska/progressive rock band. … read more
Review: Stefan Jaworzyn – Drained of Connotation
If you consider yourself a noise aficionado, then chances are that you know who Stefan Jaworzyn is. Being a once-prominent member in the ’80s UK experimental underground (with contributions in Ascension and Skullflower) before dropping off the grid, Drained of Connotation is Jaworzyn’s official proclamation of rising from his hiatus to resume his atonal passion. … read more
Review: St. Vincent – Self-Titled
Annie Clark sure knows how to make a statement. In releasing “Digital Witness” as a response to a world that is growing obsessively consumed by technology, Clark simultaneously addresses her own technological dependence in the form of electronica mixed under a funky horn section. … read more
Review: September Girls – Cursing the Sea
This full-length debut album is a DIY-style reverb mash-up of ’60s girl groups and ’80s New Wave, and comes from Dublin noise pop group September Girls. … read more
Review: Reverend Horton Heat – REV
Anyone who knows Jim Heath knows that there’s no greater friend to rock n’ roll. Reverend Horton Heat have been wowing audiences with rockabilly virtuosity that nothing else compares to. … read more
