Music
Review: Francis Harris – Minutes of Sleep
The presence of tape hiss, vocals, and organic instruments, juxtaposed with drum machine rhythms and synth chords, is very welcome. “Hems,” “Dangerdream” and the title track are my favorites, as they eschew the House rhythms found in the album’s middle and tend more toward atmosphere, which I’m in the mood for right now. … read more
Review: Damien Jurado – Brothers and Sisters of Eternal Son
Haunting melodies fill Seattleman Damien Jurado’s newest indie rock album, Brothers and Sisters of Eternal Son, in nearly every track. Jurado crafted a musical atmosphere that feels dream-like and almost eerie. … read more
Review: Damaged Bug – Hubba Bubba
How do you re-invent yourself as a musician when your psych-garage band has gained a cult following and released a prolific amount of material in a short amount of time? From sleepy analog tracks to the bouncy synth pop of “Eggs At Night,” Dwyer takes us on a trip that claims no allegiance to the past or present, but looks to the future. … read more
Review: Crucifixion Machine – ON3
His creativity combines darkwave, synthpop and electro-industrial. He uses vocal samples instead of singing, which is one of my favorite styles of music. I feel it allows your mind to wander where it needs to go without imposing a lyrical meaning to the songs. … read more
Review: Creative Adult – Psychic Mess
Creative Adult Psychic Mess Run For Cover Street: 02.25 Creative Adult = Mayyors + Gray Matter + The Vibrating Antennas Imagine the sound of an ’80s goth-influenced group that you can’t place between punk and new wave. Now, if you can imagine dropping the needle on their LP, coated with a fine layer of mud,
Review: Cities Aviv – Come To Life
I don’t know if Gavin Mays, the man behind Cities Aviv, is trying to rap. All I know is it’s pretty fucking clear that he can’t. He produces really cool beats, though, and that makes up for a lot. Come To Life is by no means bad. It is, nevertheless, deeply indebted to Death Grips. … read more
Review: Chris Gatsby – Middleground: Morals & Money
“Hip-hop barely breathing, I’m that fresh breath,” raps Chris Gatsby in a song aptly called “Reckless.” Both sentiments are bullshit. It may not be 1993 anymore, but there’s a lot to like about hip-hop these days. Additionally, Gatsby’s resistance to change is a big part of what robs this album of relevance. … read more
Review: Chapel – Satan’s Rock ‘N’ Roll
Production-wise, Satan’s Rock ‘N’ Roll excels with hellish bass tones and an insistent drum punch, and no one’s denying the implicit draw of a title track that pledges allegiance to the Horned One via rock n’ roll. However, the litany of clichés and “been dones” comprising the unmemorable riffs and stylistic rehashing is hard to shake. … read more
Review: Cannabis Corpse/ Ghoul – Splatterhash Split
Yeah, they’ve got that whole “weed pun” thing cornered, splicing kief-crusted metaphors into trad-death metal fare, but slagging them as a cloying stoner parody is a serious oversight to their technical greatness. … read more
Review: Bombay Bicycle Club – So Long, See You Tomorrow
The first half of the album is a lot of fun for the polite English quartet, and “Home By Now” is the album’s standout track. “Overdone” is a strong opening to the album, but “Luna” is ambient indie pop trash, and you can blame the success of Passion Pit and MGMT for its endorsement. … read more
Review: Bleeding Rainbow – Interrupt
If only I had a chance to listen to this album my sophomore year of high school. Pop punk mashes surprisingly well with a soaring, ’90s infusion of grunge. … read more
Review: BlakOPz – As Nations Decay
“Debris Machine” has to be my favorite track, as it has a perfect layout of how backing industrial and synth tracks can be blended. The vocals on this release confirm that a revisit to the old industrial style is taking place. … read more
