Lecce, Italy’s Bistouries debut with two sides that heavily nod to the melodic jangle of late ’70s UK power pop.
L.A.‘s Thin Wrist Recordings has released the best album of 2016. The band is 75 Dollar Bill. The album is Wood/Metal/Plastic/Pattern/Rhythm/Rock.
Back in 2000, Ice-T and Kool Keith (Ultramagnetic MCs, Dr. Octagon) joined forces with Marc Live, Black Silver and producer Pimp Rex for a mindbending hip-hop album that, somehow, barely blipped on the radar.
In 1979, Martin Bramah finally tired of Mark E. Smith’s antics and left The Fall to form his own band.
Modern Maze is a fantastic new record from an artist currently in the processing of evolving and reinvigorating himself, and it is nothing short of captivating.
Spain serves up another brooding masterwork on Carolina.
Tyler returns to widen his expansive scope of Americana with Modern Country.
“He is definitely from the eccentric school of psychedelic pop that crosses genres into gothic and synth pop with creepy overtones. Think Legendary Pink Dots, and you’re getting warmer.”
Trust us, you’ve never heard anything like Maarja Nuut.
Tuscon, AZ-based psychedelic warlords The Myrrors return with another dusty tome of desert-fueled spacerock.
Perhaps a concept album in the loosest sense of the term, all of the songs, for the most part, deal with the larger theme of hope, whether approached from a perspective of naive innocence or weathered experience.
“In a genre (psych) that is well worn, this self-described ‘hypnotic reverb rock’ band have pulled out the magical stops. They evoke such great bands as Chatham Rise, JAMC, and BJM but mark this their own territory with fantastic melodies and harmonies mixed with a tripped out and mesmerizing backdrop.”
The ever-prolific Kristin Hersh returns with hard-hitting power trio 50 Foot Wave for another EP that packs an album’s worth of ideas into six songs.
Continuing on their well-received resurgent wave, The Pop Group dig further into their vaults of previously unreleased material for an official “bootleg” of volatile live performances recorded around Europe between 1979/80.
“ It stands to reason that Joy Division and The Cure and maybe Nick Cave figure largely in their respective music collections, but that is all to their credit. Many have been called to mimic their heroes, but few really get it right. Mayflower Madame has nothing to worry about, they have it nailed!”
Though known primarily as a poet, Allen Ginsberg also recorded several albums of music during his lifetime.
Terry Allen’s 1975 debut album, Juarez, is an existential Texican minimusical.
Rise of the Sheep is not music that will rock or change the world, but it is definitely a very pleasurable diversion.
“A band that defined a certain period of British psychedelic rock from 68-70. Their music contained all the expected hallmarks, including flowery lyrics, slightly lysergic tones, and a boatload of memorable melodies and great harmonies.”
“It’s no surprise that this heady brand of dream pop is effervescent and seamless, a crystalline soundscape that will tickle your synapses and warm your senses.”
For a singer of such a young age, her lyrics show a remarkable amount of restraint and depth, and Love Won’t Make You Cry is certainly the most concise testament to this.
Their newest album, Moments, a follow up to 2014’s The Bunker Sessions, is another winning collection of the bluesy garage rock they’ve come to be known for.
After a three year hiatus, the band is back with their newest full-length, The Unlearning Curve, a moody, Skinny Puppy -esque take on druggy psychedelica.
With her third album, the ever-wandering Lizzy Mercier Descloux turned to South Africa for inspiration.
Linchette Marcel is one explosive debut EP that fantastically teases the full-length that is to come later this year.
In 1980, Brixton, England’s This Heat followed their groundbreaking 1979 proto-industrial/experimental punk debut with a two song EP that saw them pushing those genres even further.
High on a lavish deal with MGM, Lee Hazlewood had money to burn in 1966.
“The album opens with the driving power pop of the uber cool “We R Power”, pushed over the top by groovy organ and twining harmonies that resonate like old friends we haven’t seen in ages.”
“There are many ideas here, all worthwhile and it achieves the magic one remembers from “Doldrums”, or maybe “This Is The Way”. There is sometimes a childlike innocence to Martin’s work that I find delightful, and despite the serious tone of many songs, the music always lifts you up.”
There’s a thick sheen to Hot Rumour’s sound, but beneath the manufactured gloss is a keen knack for power-pop melodies and icy, electronic hooks.
Disintegrator takes Markham’s already unique perspective, songwriting, and voice, and magnifies it by 1000.
On Will, each song is littered with Barwick’s unmistakable, magical grace while addressing the innateness of internal conflict within the mind.
Polish saxophonist/clarinetist/flutist, Mat Walerian, the last artist to be approved for ESP-DISK by the late Bernard Stollman, returns with a sophomore collaboration with pianist Matthew Shipp, featuring drummer Hamid Drake, that recalls the classic sound of the legendary label.
Baltimore’s Horse Lords give Zs a run for their money on their third proper full-length.
Onyx Moon_ is a captivating and cohesive debut from a group that seems to have immediately found their footing.
Like a darker, lost X-Files soundtrack, The 13 Crystal Skulls is an absolute must for any sci-fi or gothic synthpop fan.
Songs like “Bound” and “In A Wasteland” are so doom-ridden, the band sounds as if Joy Division had instead spent their formative years listening predominately to Southern rock and early proto-metal.
Thirty-eight years after its original release and twenty-five years after initially reissued, Heldon founder Richard Pinhas’ electronic epic based on Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel, Dune, receives a proper remastering, as well as its first vinyl edition since the original 1978 Cobra LP.
The record is a gritty mix of garage & Southern rock, and the blues—a rawer take on the sound exemplified by acts like The Black Keys.
Originally released only on CD by WIN Records in 1996, the solo debut from That Dog vocalist and Charlie Haden daughter, Petra Haden, finally sees its first reissue – on vinyl, no less.
Having collaborated in several bands over four decades, Glyn Bush (Lightning Head, Rockers Hi Fi) and PK Chown (James Beige, Mr Liquorice), aka Julius Vanderbilt and Sinjin Makepeace respectively, celebrate their friendship with a new band and an off-the-wall debut that combines their quirky sense of humor with innovative musical precision.
Ronjoism_ is a heavier and more histrionic creation than all evidence first suggests, but the rewards and layers uncovered multiply manifold with each repeated listen.
Frightened Rabbit triumphantly returns with their 5th studio album, and it’s a subtle step in a new direction.
In June of 1971, sitar legend Ravi Shankar gave one of his many morning concerts in his home on Highland Blvd. in Hollywood.
The album is influenced, somewhat, by the musical variety of old school radio, which is why an experimental slice of R&B like “Rave On” can be followed immediately afterwards by a bluesy rocker like “I Don’t Wanna Fall Asleep.”
