Authors: Ryan Michael Painter
Review: Charmparticles – Sit Down For Staying
CHARMPARTICLES SIT DOWN FOR STAYING Childstar Sit Down for Staying is supposed to be an updated variation on the shoegazer theme. It is full of guitars taken from Ride records, blue prints from Slowdive and given a touch of warmth that reminds me of current popsters The Stars. It does however lack the delicate balance
Review: Blow Up Hollywood – Fake
BLOW UP HOLLYWOOD FAKE www.blowuphollywood.com I never cared for the band Live. It wasn’t so much the music as the band itself. They always came off as pretentious and never achieved the sense of artistic creativity they seemed to think they had achieved. Blow Up Hollywood sound a lot like Live, only they’ve got the
Review: Black Tape For a Blue Girl – Halo Star
BLACK TAPE FOR A BLUE GIRL HALO STAR Projekt Often regarded as innovators in the ethereal/darkwave genre, Black Tape For A Blue Girl return with an album that is dominated by male vocals rather than the angelic female approach that has been found on the majority of their recent releases. It is, however, not a
Review: Billy Idol – Devil’s Playground
Billy Idol Devil’s Playground Sanctuary Having placed himself in a self-imposed exile, the majority of the last decade was decidedly Idol-less. Billy was off losing himself in cyberpunk culture (rather prophetic, considering The Matrix was far from view) and the excesses that defined him as one of the 80s most reckless superstars. Then there was
Review: Bella Morte – As The Reasons Die
BELLA MORTE AS THE REASONS DIE Metropolis If you’re intent on categorizing bands into genres, you might want to ignore Bella Morte’s existence. Caught somewhere between industrial and synthpop with a touch of something gothic, Bella Morte again prove that creativity is a whole lot more interesting than the paint-by-numbers approach by flowing seamlessly between
Review: Bella Morte – Songs For The Dead
BELLA MORTE SONGS FOR THE DEAD Metropolis I’ve never bought into the idea that Bella Morte were a traditional goth band; they always seemed a bit more based in punk rock and Songs for the Dead emphasizes that by turning down the keyboards and upping the guitars for a sound that is more representative of
Review: Augie March – Strange Bird
Augie March Strange Bird Spin Art When Elbow’s vocalist Guy Garvey sings the praises of Australia’s Augie March, you can’t help but feel like he’s being narcissistic. It isn’t that Strange Bird steals from Elbow as much as it implements the same mumbled vocals over a down-tempo atmosphere that dominates Elbow’s recordings. While many might
Review: Amateur God – Around The Corners Of Our Minds
AMATEUR GOD AROUND THE CORNERS OF OUR MINDS Black Rain Perhaps it isn’t a fair fight, but it’s on anyway. Attrition’s Martin Bowes and whatever cohorts he decides to bring along have been making dark electronic music since long before anyone thought up the phrase “dark wave.” Amateur God? Really, I haven’t a clue. They’re
Review: A Northern Chorus – Bitter Hands Resign
While many might find the pacing of Bitter Hands Resign cumbersome, they’d be missing the intricate details that make this melancholy release unique and beautiful. … read more
Review: Solid State Soul – Solid State Soul
Solid State Soul = Mesh + Tin Star + Dave Gahan … read more
Tarantula Troubadour: Gene Loves Jezebel’s Jay Aston to play acoustic...
It’s refreshing to be able to see Jay Aston perform, but what caused the extended absence and what changed in more recent years? … read more
The Alarm @ The Complex 08.08 w/ Jay Aston’s Gene...
In a perfect world, both The Alarm and Jay Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel would have been allowed to play all night. No one in the audience would have minded. … read more
