Ahhh… one of these. You know, sweeping soundscapes and an oh-so Icelandic dose of studied aural ambivalence that’s supposed to concoct awe-inspiring sonic portraits of mountains, glaciers, frost-encrusted forest temples home to cherubic pixies, ice queens and … you know. Icelandic stuff. … read more
Review: Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires Of The City
Modern Vampires of the City is truly a coming of age album that feels like VW made for themselves, more than their audience … read more
Review: Various Artists – Sticks Over My Shoulder
In the late 70s, documentary maker George Mitchell traveled the back roads of Georgia searching out the remaining bluesmen who could still play … read more
Review: Vermouth – RetroFuture Pop Exotica
The cover of this album is a good hint as to what to expect from this album: Justine Kragen sits on a barstool dressed in all black with fishnet tights, as Steve McDonald stands behind a tiki-bar with a tiki-torch and tiki-lights, toucans, maracas, while an overabundance of the color maroon surrounds them. … read more
Review: Various Artists – Mess With The Best… Die Like The Rest
I imagine this album would be great to riot to. Smashing windows and throwing Molotov cocktails to punk is something I want to see. … read more
Review: Two Cow Garage – The Death of the Self Preservation Society
The whole album’s forte is their cynical yet often poetic lyrics. “Mantle in ’56” is a slower, blues-based ballad in which Schnabel compares his life to that of the New York Yankees’ most valuable player circa 1956, Mickey Mantle. I enjoyed this album—it’s very upbeat and has that classic ’90s punk rock sound in it. … read more
Review: Ty Segall – Sleeper
The unceasing energy and “up yours” attitude for which I’ve come to love Ty Segall is not what this album’s about. What I’ve found instead is a more mature Segall, basically the man and his real problems behind the usual curtain of fuzz and shouting. … read more
Review: Vaadat Charigim – The World Is Well Lost
The World abounds in primary shoegaze elements: swirls of lush guitar and nostalgic, monotone vocals. Tracks here move in and out of noise and meandering sonic contemplation, with a dark energy reminiscent of Slowdive’s Souvlaki. … read more
Review: Various Artists – SMM: Opiate [Ghostly International Comp.]
A Winged Victory for the Sullen, Noveller, Celer, Black Swan and Pjusk (plus many more) breathe life into their structured explorations of softened noise and white, foamy swells of feedback and elongated tones. Concentrated as this compilation is, there is a surprising amount of variety running through the curated contributors. … 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: 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: Tyler Newman – Zonekiller (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
As I contemplate a robot apocalypse or a tyrannical future controlled by a mindless government, I take with me a soundtrack that gives life to these ideas. If you enjoy ’80s-infused dark electro comparable to the Quake soundtrack, I highly recommend this album. … read more
