Three years after the release of their critically acclaimed third studio album and now based in Maine, alt-country band, O’Death, reconvene with a sparser, brooding live sound to contradict the massive production of their previous effort.
Brooklyn based songwriter/guitarist Steve Gunn releases his second full blown singer-songwriter record entitled Way Out Weather. Released by North Carolina uprisers, Paradise of Bachelors, Way Out Weather delivers on the lone wolf promise made on Gunn’s 2013 release Time Off.
Gratifying and disorienting, like any challenging music should be, the musicality on display giving fucked up wings to the mutant children of punk and no-wave. Sacral Nerves could be the soundtrack to a stabbing… or the best night of your life.
Released in August by Austin, TX label Marmara, All Worries At Once finds Aycock assembling tinges of patterned synths, drone and gamelan into his singular guitar etchings.
The music is memorable and its impact has lasted decades, and that is a testament to the power of this band’s songwriting and playing. Like all such bands, they deserve a much higher profile.
This self-proclaimed “pot punk” band’s debut Home. Run. is a solid slab of indie fuzz pop that is unsophisticated in the best possible way, and eminently listenable to boot.
Forth Worth troubadour Collin Herring steps firmly out of the shadows with his newest LP entitled Some Knives. His first record since 2009’s Ocho finds Matt Pence of Centro-Matic again behind the production wheel for an upbeat albeit melancholy filled affair where stately drums and synths take a front seat.
On his new album, Naked Tunes, Gonzalez sounds a lot like John Cale’s on his newer releases, effortlessly embracing modern sounds and culture adeptly enough while remaining tied to his past.
QVALIA’s debut album, This Is The Color Of My Dreams, ambitiously explores the electronic soundscapes of the 80’s and merges it succinctly with a modern twist.
Ghost Note Manifest is a thick, sonic tapestry of woven guitars and fiery vocals reminiscent of groups like Fugazi and Queens of the Stone Age.
Finally, a long forgotten entry into Rome, Italy’s Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza, arguably the first experimental composers collective featuring famed soundtrack composer, Ennio Morricone, on trumpet, sees its first reissue since it was released in 1973.
As one of San Francisco’s first punk bands formed in 1976, Crime garnered a reputation for bombastic live shows, though they only released three 7” singles before their dissolution in 1982.
He is the quieter side of The Clean, always keeping it on the down low with his candlelit music.
I first listened to these guys in the early 80s, when all the great Flying Nun music was drowning us in a veritable flood, making us wonder what was in the water.
After five years of self-releasing tapes and CDs (some of which are on Bandcamp for free), Mega Bog’s Seattle-based bandleader/songwriter Erin Birgy releases her triumphant statement of retro-futurist lounge weirdness.
The world’s fascination with America’s ‘Wild West’ and country music has long been documented, and Australia’s Billy Roberts seems intent on continuing this trend.
Six years into their musical life, Bradford, UK’s The Hobbes Fanclub finally release a debut album that fully delivers on the sound developed on their early CDr and 7” releases.
Massively produced by Martin Bisi (Swans) for maximum effect, Brooklyn’s Cinema Cinema gleefully deliver a punishing third album that attacks at full throttle.
It’s nice to finally get this Austin “slacker rock” group’s second full-length, following 2005’s Brown Orange Black and Gray. As on their 2008 Newfangled EP, it’s the album’s distinctive nature and welcoming vibe that draws you in.
This record was made to be cranked at juke joints, hoedowns and keg parties. It’s the sound of a bar band reaching peak velocity.
Following welcome releases by Jellyfish, Lone Justice, Camper Van Beethoven and Dream Syndicate, the music fans at Omnivore Records now fill a longstanding void by launching its series of reissues by Scott Miller’s late, great psych-pop band Game Theory. First up is an expanded edition of the band’s 1982 debut album.
Releasing their debut eponymous album, Rival Empire, the group lifts bits and bobs from Phil Collins, Fleetwood Mac, and Michael Jackson to further their idea of using the sounds of the 80’s to create biting social commentary for today.
Even thru it’s darker and more experimental moments, in which there are many on Remember I was Carbon Dioxide, the group continue to have a conscious point of view that allows for both impulse and heritage to play a part.
This spunky, punky all-female NYC quartet’s third LP bristles with an increased tension and urgency. It also packs a heftier wallop than their previous albums, and the interweaving post-punk guitars benefit from added bite and bile.
It all culminates with “The Golden Age of Bloodshed,” a track that is perhaps the finest in his entire discography.
The opening track, “Far From Over” greets the listener with a wall of sound, awash with reverb and distant, largely indistinguishable sounds lurking in the background that make the song all the more beautiful to the ears.
Having changed their name back to Lunchbox after releasing an album as Bird of California last year on Jigsaw, the Oakland, CA-based duo of Tim Brown and Donna McKean (both members of Hard Left) finally release their third full-length release under their proper moniker.
Originally released in 1972 on French label, Saravah, Brigitte Fontaine’s eponymous second solo album finally arrives stateside.
Originally released on a small French label in 1975, Heldon’s heady second album finally receives its first proper domestic vinyl release.
After an enthusiastic reception to his first volume of home recordings, 1984-1990 (HHBTM, 2011), Dead Milkmen guitarist, Joe Jack Talcum, graciously presents his humble sequel.
Unavailable domestically since the mid-‘90s, The Gun Club’s highly influential 1981 debut finally gets the proper reissue it deserves.
With Luke Walsh of Blank Realm on board as producer, Ex Slug Guts member Cameron Hawes creates an album that references sounds from the late 80’s and early 90’s UK underground with minor revelations.
The entire album is inviting and comforting yet piercing like a warm cup of coffee. Rise Up For Love_ is an album you can sink into immediately, but you’ll be surprised how quietly it’ll immediately affect you.
Origins is a fantastic retrospective on one of the genre’s [undeservingly] lesser known acts. Theirs is a finely tuned sound that, while limited in terms of variability and experimentation, is masterfully performed nevertheless, and fans of the style (especially artists like District 97 and Kamelot) will surely find it appealing.
Like a story from the book of Half Japanese, Witham began his life in music by finding a beaten up guitar in a dumpster, and began to write songs, propelled solely upon a desire to make music.
“Being one of the greatest guitarists in the world simply is not very important to me,” John Fahey states near the end of the biography Dance of Death. “Oh, but if you took it away somehow I would be very unhappy.” Self-serving? Contradictory? You bet.
After being tragically out of print for at least ten years, The Flesh Eaters’ seminal second album from 1981 finally receives a proper reissue on both vinyl and CD.
After a pair of excellent 7“s, North London synth-pop quintet, Cosines, finally deliver their debut album and fulfill the promises made on those initial short bursts of vinyl.
In a hybrid of Northern and Southern California dance music production, Motofightr, comprised of San Francisco’s Miles Gabriel and Los Angeles-based Alec Feld (Expensive Looks), delivers an innovative five-song EP that draws heavily from vintage European disco.
Shortly after transitioning into a sextet with the addition of NYC soap maker/vocalist, Missy Bly, Burlington, VT’s The Smittens deliver a powerful mini-album of dreamy pop with a dark sense of humor.
Wand is one of the latest Los Angeles bands to try on the psychedelic outfit, and so far, it’s looking really promising.
In a striking departure from their respective styles, indie rocker Joel RL Phelps of Silkworm and Downer Trio fame, and G. Stuart Dahlquist, bassist of Burning Witch, Sunn O))) and Asva, join forces to create a compelling duo born from their respective strengths.
After the success of their debut, La Busta Gialla, Il Sogno Del Marinaio, the trio of bassist Mike Watt, guitarist Stefano Pilia and drummer Andrea Belfi, return with a more focused effort that clearly defines the band’s sound.
This Uppsala, Sweden quartet release their seventh LP, following 2011’s excellent Staying Alive in a Country Industrialized. If it’s solace you crave, this LP provides an ample dose, both in its music and words.
There’s been a trend of British acts trying to copy certain American sound, something that has always existed and in a reciprocal fashion as well, but what’s unique about The Healing is that they actually succeed.
After forty-two years of relative obscurity, songwriter PF Sloan, the man who penned Barry McGuire‘s “Eve of Destruction,” Johnny Rivers‘ “Secret Agent Man” and “A Must to Avoid” for Herman’s Hermits, delivers an ambitious album that blends classical music with a keen pop sensibility dedicated to composer Ludwig van Beethoven.
Brown’s ambitions and unique viewpoints make for a perfectly endearing and charming album, and it sounds so familiar and inviting, and it may just feel like putting on an old, comfortable pair of shoes.
On their latest and first for Merge Records, Lateness of Dancers finds Hiss Golden Messenger affirming their past considerations and handing hope to their fiction.
