Music
Review: Windhand – Soma
Soma echoes the smoke-wreathed incantations of Electric Wizard with their heavy, powerful riffing and foreboding atmosphere. However, Windhand tones down the grooviness of the British black wizards, aiming instead for something closer to a traditional doom sound. … read more
Review: Vastum – Patricidal Lust
I’ve mentioned before that death metal is getting a weird reputation because of new bands mixing in stuff that doesn’t make sense just to be different, and that old bands that should just give up putting out lousy albums. Breathe in the putrid air of Vastum—it’s a bit newly putrid and just as properly old school putrid. … read more
Review: Ultra Bidé – DNA vs DNA-c
Ultra Bidé have long been a source of aggressive music that could be described as noise rock mixed with artsy post-hardcore. … read more
Review: Trentalange – Same Illusion
Opening with slow drums and an upper-register metronomic piano, Trentalange keeps it simple and dark, yet still poppy. … read more
Review: TOY – Join the Dots
London’s TOY have already kicked up a stir across the pond, getting themselves on a number of high-ranking “Best Of” lists with their 2012 self-titled debut. … read more
Review: Tom Brosseau – Grass Punks
North Dakota prodigy, Tom Brosseau, is soaring into the New Year with his newest album, Grass Punks. Compared to prior albums like What I Mean To Say Is Goodbye and Posthumous Success, Grass Punks falls on the simpler side of things. … read more
Review: Throwing Muses – Purgatory/Paradise
As one of the more rocking acts on the initial 4AD Records lineup, Throwing Muses combine hummable melodies with jagged guitar lines and punkish rhythms. … read more
Review: Teengirl Fantasy – Nun EP
This duo, comprised of Logan Takahashi and Nicholas Weiss, make quite a cohesive pair. “Eric” stands out to me as the strongest track on this EP, launching into a heavy drum and bass breakdown. Nun EP is fairly mellow and more downbeat, which ends up working as either a perfect warm-up or cool-down to an evening. … read more
Review: Take Berlin – Lionize EP
Nothing induces a hypnotic state of relaxation like pulses of the gentle, vibrato Wurlitzer notes that fill Lionize. In fact, the dreamlike Wurlitzer, along with a clean acoustic guitar, make up the majority of the album’s instrumentation. … read more
Review: Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – Give the People...
After a battle with cancer this past summer and the subsequent delayed release of the album, Sharon Jones returns with her Dap-Kings, more powerful than ever, with the appropriately titled Give the People What They Want—the follow-up to 2010’s I Learned the Hard Way. … read more
Review: Savage Deity – Amulet of Sin
Savage Deity, from Thailand of all places, have offered up an album of classic death metal satisfaction. Amulet of Sin has the properties to appease the folks who listen to death metal for the heavy feeling of it all, as well as the folks who like to dissect albums. … read more
Review: Rosie Lowe – Right Thing EP
Fresh from her recent guest stint on Lil Silva’s “No Doubt,” UK vocalist Lowe’s debut EP showcases a new and striking talent. … read more
