Issues: Issue 292 - April 2013
Review: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
Push the Sky Away initially accompanied Nocturama on my list of Nick Cave disappointments. Upon repeated listening, it seems that much of my disappointment had to do with expectations for—or interest in—something different. Blame Grinderman. … read more
Review: No Turning Back No Regrets
No Turning Back is no one’s favorite band. Sure, they probably have fans since they’ve been around for 15 years, and have seven full-length releases under their belt, but nothing they’re playing on No Regrets touches on any of the keystones of a memorable hardcore album. … read more
Review: Metal Mother
A project of Oakland native Taara Tati’s confident musicianship and dark-wave occultism, Metal Mother’s second album, Ionika, will surely make waves in that burgeoning ethereal-witchy-gothic-pop, post-Internet scene you either love or hate by now. … read more
Review: Lauren Mann & The Fairly Odd Folk
Over Land and Sea starts out with a force that immediately captures your attention. … read more
Review: Lonesome Leash – I Am No Captain
The first time I attempted to listen to I Am No Captain, I got 30 seconds into the first song before pausing in a frenzy and stowing it away for two weeks. … read more
Review: John Cale – Shifty Adventures In Nookie Wood
John Cale
Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood
Double Six
Street: 10.01.12
John Cale = Bauhaus + The Velvet Underground x Brian Eno
Stand back, kids … at 70, sporting pink dye in his white hair, legend John Cale (The Velvet Underground and too many others to name) is rockin’, and not in a rockin’ chair, son. This album is chockful of his smooth and unmistakable voice––like the voice Jim Morrison might have grown into––his standard drone and his louche lyrics that rival Leonard Cohen’s for their depth. You don’t so much listen to Nookie Woods as you get grabbed and bodily hauled in for some very shifty adventures, indeed. The opener, “I Wanna Talk 2 U,” a collaboration with hip-hop producer Danger Mouse, explodes out of your speakers. The masterful “Hemmingway” rattles you with its building intensity, while “Face to the Sky” is a gorgeous melding of electronic and organic elements, a swooping, woozy nod to Dali’s Car and Bowie. But lest all this ancient name-dropping makes you think the album is a throwback, worry not: there’s nothing old-fashioned about it. Cale seems committed to moving forward with music, playing around with over-processed autotune on “December Rain,” but he’s not afraid of organic acoustic sounds, as on “Mary.” If you don’t already know Cale, it’s time you met him, and a trip to the Nookie Woods is a fine place to start. –Madelyn Boudreaux … read more
Review: Judy Kang
A comparison to Bjork is not the way to my heart; her music is like listening to a fax machine have a nervous breakdown. … read more
Review: Horsehands
Boston-based Horsehands are an experiment with an old, familiar sound that is miraculously unlike anything you’ve ever heard. … read more
Review: Hypocrisy
With a new record, Hypocrisy hits the road this spring in the ol’ USA to support it and all that goodness. … read more
Review: Iceage
Like dying in a dream or Francis Bacon’s paintings, Iceage have delivered a bittersweet roller-coaster stomach lurch with their sophomore release, which drives forward in a disjointed dance with opener “Ecstasy.” … read more