Music
Review: Black Books – Self-Titled
Black Books write big songs confined to small places. There is an epic and anthemic quality to Black Book’s cloistered little pop songs: a driving, pulsing urge to express something too huge for words written in broad brush strokes of soaring choruses and the diffused light of atmospheric passages oozing out of guitars and synths that blend ambient colorings into vital, crunchy power chords. … read more
Review: the band in Heaven – Caught in a Summer...
Annoying name aside, the band in Heaven combine dream pop with California nostalgia. Straightforward lyrics about ocean swells and summer romanticize adolescence. Honestly, it’s something I’ve heard a million times before, and the band’s whole image is something I grew tired of, like, five years ago. … read more
Review: 3:33 – Bicameral Brain
While listening to this, I realized I had been taken on a journey into deep ambient darkness. The sounds of rain, thunder, hollowed echoing of the drumbeats, sizzling snare and pulsating bass had carried me into a sort of void. … read more
November 2013 National Music Reviews
November 2013 National Music Reviews … read more
“Hark! The Herald(ed) Angel Sings”: Review of Erasure’s Snow Globe
For Erasure fans, a full-on Christmas album has always been something of a dream. Now that the concept of an entire holiday album is a reality for their 15th full-length album, the results show it has been well worth the wait. … read more
Review: Willis Earl Beal – Nobody Knows
With his sophomore album, Willis Earl Beal has shown that he can deliver powerful hits without sacrificing the raw honesty that was delivered through CD-Rs scattered throughout Albuquerque before he got a record deal. … read more
Review: VIZA – Made in Chernobyl
I bought the album Made in Chernobyl from VIZA when they were opening up for Gogol Bordello last August, and I fell absolutely in love with it. … read more
Review: Trash Monsters – There’s a Rat in the Tunnel...
Punk rock is best served when it’s not trying to be punk, but when its simply trying to be load, fast, obnoxious rock n’ roll. That’s what Trash Monsters do so well. … read more
Reviews: TaughtMe – Am I Old?
Am I Old? is pretty straightforward in its title, as it concentrates on the dejected feelings of looking back on your life as you grow old, only to add to the helplessness of bringing back the past as you age. … read more
Review: Sleepmakeswaves – …and so we destroyed everything
Sydney Australia’s Sleepmakeswaves have the ability to move from the sublime to sublimely heavy in a half-breath’s time. … read more
Review: Shitfucker – Suck Cocks In Hell
All the profanities and vulgarities aside, and belligerent and unabashed as Shitfucker’s tunes are, they’re not quite as vulgar as the eye-catching band name and vulgar album title suggest. … read more
Review: Rich Quick – Sad Songz
This white boy from New Jersey lays down upbeat, borderline hip-pop with groovy samples. Quick has charisma in his musicianship, offering an approachability that is at his advantage. … read more
