This music is hardcore aggression and angst with just the right elements of grunge to mix it up into an entirely different concoction. It’s like the gnarliest drink you have ever had that made you feel so good. … read more
Local Reviews: Deadlip
Local Reviews: Dulcesky
If I were ever given the chance to make love to a local record, this would probably be it. And I don’t mean “get sloppy with a lady while a record is spinning;” I literally mean I would fuck this record. … read more
Local Reviews: Krem
Where the hell did this CD come from? Has there been a super producer hiding under the informal deck of Salt Lake City Hip Hop who is just now choosing to present himself? Has he been plotting and producing with intentions to dominate? If the answer is “Yes”, I wouldn’t be surprised. … read more
Local Reviews: Michael Biggs/Matthew Munn
Improvised music is a delicate act. You must have the right balance of ideas, skills, and genuinely powerful results lest you come off as too academic or too amateurish. This collection of improvised pieces by Michael Biggs and Matthew Munn, members of the Davis County A. Star music/art/etc. collective left me screaming “quality control” at the top of my lungs. … read more
Local Reviews: Misty Murphy
Being a huge Darling Violetta fan, I fell for this album from the second I started listening. Very much a black pop album, you get hints of sitar and heavy-handed piano accompaniment that fully play up the otherworldly sound of Murphy’s voice. … read more
Local Reviews: Nolens Volens & NJ Foster
Nick “is that a Max/MSP patch?” and Andrew “I record everything in the red” Glassett is the creative duo behind this release, a tour du musique electronique, Pierre Schaeffer to Klaxons. … read more
Local Reviews: Paper Cranes
I admit to not having heard the source material for this collection of remixes, but I gather from a 2006 (yes, this is two years old, apparently the A. Star PR machine is a little rusty) SLUG review that it’s noisy dance-rock a la early Liars. … read more
Local Reviews: Patter Stats
From the sound of it, this is the sort of band you have to see live to get a good feel for them, because it takes some effort to get over the “dude-in-a-basement” quality level of recording here before you can really get into this album. … read more
Local Reviews: Separation of Self
Separation of Self fit right in with the New Wave of American Heavy Metal, a scene that is huge not only in the U.S. but all over the world. Resolve is one of those albums that like the style or not you cannot deny that the band is extremely good at what they do. At first I was turned off by the style of the band, but now it’s caught on in my head and I find myself singing along to some of the ultra-catchy choruses. … read more
Local Reviews: S.S.
If you were to classify S.S. I Am The as a metal band, the first thing you’d have to realize is how much more melodic they are compared their wail-and-thrash brethren. They have a dark sound, but the melodies are almost ethereal: dreamy, and virtually intoxicating, even when the song turns heavy. … read more
Local Reviews: The VCR Quintet
Like much of Ikue Mori’s pre-laptop, dual drum-machine work and Autechre’s slowly deteriorating sequences on their Untilted album, Joe Greathouse’s (aka Thrillhouse) VCR5 project works in a rhizomic fashion. … read more
Local Reviews: Written in Fire
There is a great progressive metal scene in Utah and Written in Fire is just one of the many bands showcasing that scene. This four-song demo isn’t a short one with lengthy tunes averaging over seven minutes each. Upon first listen one might think that the production is poor, but first listens are just that. The production reflects a huge old school metal style. … read more
