Music
Review: Camera Obscura – Desire Lines
Tracyanne Campbell and friends have done it again! Desire Lines is perfect indie pop—an album that you’ll want to listen to while riding your bike through town on a sunny day, or while doing the wash outside your two-flat, or while strolling though the hills above your midsize British city contemplating the next Johnny-come-lately who’s gonna sweep you off your feet.
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Review: Bullet Treatment – Ex-Breathers
For some bands, a rotating cast of musicians is not their most notable aspect, but rather a necessary extension of the transitioning musical nature of the principal member. … read more
Review: Brown Bird – Fits of Reason
It’s hard to imagine so much sound and energy coming from just two musicians, but the Rhode Island duo Brown Bird pull it off well. … read more
Review: Bleeding Rainbow – Yeah Right
Doubling their ranks and replacing “reading” with “bleeding” in their moniker means these Philadelphians become even more annoyingly aligned with Shields, Butcher and the other anglo-forefathers of pop-inflected sneaker gazing. … read more
Review: Blank Realm – Go Easy
Judging by the opening bass line of the first track (“Acting Strange”), I thought Blank Realm was a Swedish hardcore band. … read more
Review: Binary – Amber EP
Deeply layered and grungy post-goth indie-rock, this five-track EP is like a postcard from a downgraded northern town in England, postmarked 1989. … read more
Review: Be’Lakor – Of Breath and Bone
With the Gothenburg Swedish melodic death metal scene a shadow of what it once was, melodic death metal’s torch is being held by band outside the Swedish Circle, such as Be’Lakor from Australia. … 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: Victory
Robert Fleming is the multi-instrumentalist behind Victory. He touts a 60s Brit rock sensibility and sports a rockabilly pomp—two promising signs for any music reviewer. Sadly, Victory is Music is indicative of neither. Don’t get me wrong, Fleming could pass as an authentic Britt Daniel sound-alike and can strum a hollow-body exceptionally, but it’s hard to notice at first, since every single song on the album is scrubbed and drenched with kitschy production. … read more
Review: Veronica Falls
If you pop this record in right now, you’ll get excited for spring. Pleasant Brit-pop bass lines hold hands with pretty vocal harmonies, making the album breezy and warm. Most of the songs have a kickback, nostalgic feel—probably due to the simple, repetitive lyrics, but no complaints here. … read more
Review: Ulrich Schnauss
A Long Way To Fall is the fourth studio release from German producer Ulrich Schnauss. This time around, Schnauss dropped the synthesized shoegaze and embraced new age. The album concentrates on delicate, ethereal melodies that weave in and out of human subconscious. … read more
