Melvins - Nude With Boots (Ipecac) by Ari Abramowitz

On the title track, the band enter the “Freedom Rock” zone. Pure, rockin’ down the highway, straight from the 70s, classic rock radio style all the way, but so kick ass and anthemic.

The Current Comeback Tour Trend: Not Reunions, Not Reinventions (Not Addressing the Issue.) by Ari Abramowitz

Of course the beauty of music is in the listener’s reaction to how it sounds. Why is this stated like a revelation? Is this also part of the super-saturation of image marketing, identity-politics, fashionable rebellion, and Marxist signifiers?

Die Hipster Metal, Die! by Ari Abramowitz

Hipsterism, in general, flies directly in the face of much that is Metal: dedication, the battle of Life & Death, and a lack of irony.

Bakerton Group - Knitting Factory (New York) - Thursday, January 18th, 2007 by Ari Abramowitz

Bakerton’s music sounds as if the Meters got down to hard jamming after spending a few weeks listening to early Grand Funk Railroad and a bunch of blaxploitation soundtracks.

Ari Abramowitz’s Top Ten — February 4 by Ari Abramowitz

Hella - There's No 666 In Outer Space (Ipecac) by Ari Abramowitz

Drummer Zach Hill, says their new album, There’s No 666 In Outer Space, is “easily the best thing we’ve done.” And he’s right.

Picks of '06: Great Albums & An Attempt to Aid My Failing Memory by Ari Abramowitz

In the interests of narrowing down the accelerating onslaught of music, making sense of some of the amazing albums of 2006 and isolating them so I don’t confuse them with the amazing albums of 2005 or 1975, here are some discs to remember.

Ari Abramowitz’s Top Ten — November 19 by Ari Abramowitz

Danava - Danava (Kemado) by Ari Abramowitz

Danava is still one of the most interesting bands in underground hard rock. Judging from last night’s show at Mercury Lounge, they’ve only gotten sharper.

Isis - In the Absence of Truth (Ipecac) by Ari Abramowitz

Reflecting the ambivalence in the title, In the Absence of Truth shows a band who wants to embrace open-ended liberation but also understands the infinite dead ends that philosophy can lead to.

Ari Abramowitz’s Top Ten — October 1 by Ari Abramowitz

The Cardiacs: Valiance and the (Not Quite) Irreconcilable by Ari Abramowitz

There is one band that has come closer to simultaneously nailing certain elements of both the essential punk sound and the essential prog sound than any other band I’ve ever heard. That band is the Cardiacs.

Ari Abramowitz’s Top Ten — August 27 by Ari Abramowitz

Extra Action Marching Band - Knitting Factory (New York) - Saturday, August 12, 2006 by Ari Abramowitz

A good time is a foregone conclusion. Whether you hit your money shot or not is another question.

Danava and the "Return of Rock": Word to Your Wolfmother by Ari Abramowitz

They’re called DANAVA and they’re from Illinois-via-Portland, Oregon. They’re definitely retro, but the influences have shifted to the mid-70s…