A collection of songs recorded over a four year period, it occasionally feels more like a compilation than one cohesive effort, but it is the reoccurring themes that ultimately bind everything together and produces a captivating document.
“The band often paints somber musical portraits, but even in the deepest darkness, there are glimmers of light floating through.”
On his ninth album as the one-man DiS, Derrick Stembridge dispenses with the “intricate, pulsating, and ear-tickling beats” that adorned previous LPs. But the absence of percussive elements is in no way a detriment.
Originally released as two cassette volumes during the first half of the ’80s, Devo’s off-kilter instrumental renditions of their songs have long been out-of-print, making them much sought-after collector’s items.
New Jersey-based EDM producer, Mike Simonetti, follows his highly successful and sold out “Bossa Nova Civic Club Bootleg” 12” with two minimal acid grooves featuring Santana, vocalist of the French group Claap!.
Dawn To Dusk doesn’t really break any new ground in the genre, but it’s a solid outing that never once falters from a well-versed veteran of soul and acid jazz.
Beijing, China’s Noise Arcade, aka American ex-pat Michael Cupoli, delivers his most focused effort to date without losing any of the signature psychedelic swirl.
Queens-based rapper, Lo Vega, turns in an impressive full-length debut sure to please those who yearn for a return to the hip-hop of the ’90s.
Françoise Hardy finally peaked in 1966.
Inspired by a wide array of post-punk icons like Joy Division, Gary Numan, and Talking Heads, Nix’s vision is like a psychedelic version of gothic rock.
Overall, Dynamite Bouquet is like a songbook of Grogan’s heart, each song a different facet of his taste and personality.
Having released several cassettes on Hausu Mountain and Ehse, Baltimore composer and Horse Lords saxophonist, Andrew Bernstein, releases his first multi-format full-length, an exercise in minimalist intensity.
Unlike his 2010 debut Neon Lights and its 2011 follow-up EP Acoustic Juju, each co-credited with his (then) band The Manhattan Project, Connecticut crooner Viele gets sole billing on this sophomore full-length.
David Kilgour doesn’t rest on his laurels. It’s just sometimes when you’re not busy looking back, it’s hard to remember the important works you leave behind you. Sugar Mouth is one of the those important works.
After This Heat disbanded in 1982, guitarist Charles Bullen recruited drummer Julius Samuel, aka Dub Judah, to create an album inspired by the music he heard in the streets of his Brixton neighborhood.
Although songs like “One Last Time” and “Wake Me Up” may seem worlds apart sonically, the common thread is Campo’s acute sense of melody and a strong hook that runs through the entire length.
North Carolina-based composer, Zach Cooper, delivers a stunning debut that weaves minimalism, avant-garde jazz and tape collage into a single sonic thought.
“All throughout this record, your ears are caressed by Brett’s knack for spinning magical earworms and his wordsmithing skills keep you engaged. Well worth a listen for all fans of highly infectious power pop.”
If you’re in the mood for some muscular, “meat-and-potatoes”-style blues-rock, this Minneapolis quartet’s third LP is akin to seeing a show at an all-you-can-eat ribs and rotgut-shot night at your local roadhouse.
In it’s own beer-soaked way, Total Freedom is as cutting-edge as Rock has gotten in a long while.
London’s Desert Mountain Tribe deliver an astonishingly excellent debut full-length sure to propel the trio to stratospheric heights.
NYC singer-songwriter Edward Rogers delivers a well-rounded followup to his fifth album, Kaye, that sees him fully embrace the role he was always meant to fulfill.
Whatever Glenn Jones and Laura Baird experienced by the Rancocas in New Jersey, comes shining through on Fleeting.
Pollard continues along his trajectory on Of Course You Are with all his marvelous forces still in tact.
“Seattle’s three quarters female garage/power popsters Tacocat are huge X-Files fans. From the band’s name to the title of the album and straight on to their cute tune “Dana Katherine Scully”, their reverence is self-evident.”
With Heron Oblivion, Baird and Co. have created a Neo-Psych classic and one of the best records of 2016.
Unfortunately, this aptly-titled fourth LP is their swan song, as the Chicago foursome has announced they’re breaking up after a decade together. Their finale is no going-through-the-motions phone-in, however.
When Portland, OR’s premiere experimental analog synth/clarinet duo, Golden Retriever, join forces with neighboring Pakistani-born folk singer, Ilyas Ahmed, true magic happens.
Guitars gnash, snares rattle, Bones sneers, and somewhere Rodney Bingenheimer’s ageless heart beams.
The production on this Copenhagen quintet’s debut full-length is not as crude or clamorous as on their self-titled 2013 EP, allowing you to fixate more attentively on the languid, interlocking guitars of Johannes Nidam and Jan Johansen.
Everyone Thinks I Dodged a Bullet is another strong exploration into heartache and scorn that proves once again why Greg Laswell is such a masterful, distinctive, and vital artist.
The protracted nature of this album perhaps weighs it down, melancholy is easier to receive in fits and starts, the ear and soul are easy to load down to the point of inertia. But, that too is something I’ve learned to respect in Odd Limbs. They are NOT inviting, they are simply dwelling within the somber and beautifully colored temple and it’s up to us to enter. Not being chased after by an aesthetic is refreshing, it’s brave and deliciously subjective.
London’s Witching Waves return with a second full-length of dark post-punk excellence sure to expand the trio’s fanbase beyond the confines of their home country.
For her 1980 sophomore effort, Parisian New Yorker Lizzy Mercier Descloux traveled to Nassau, Bahamas with the goal of bringing Island and African rhythms into her unique post-punk sound.
Chicago’s beloved Waco Brothers come roaring back on Going Down In History.
It makes sense for this Bucks County, PA indie-folk outfit to reinvigorate interest in their early 2015 album Shine by spotlighting the LP’s best song for this (ironically) winter-released EP.
On The Best Part, Nashville songstress Elliott backs her silky, sinuous singing with warm electropop, ambient and downtempo music. Meanwhile, “Black Heart” is by far her heftiest, meanest song yet.
“ Last of the Gentleman Adventurers won’t rock you like a hurricane, but its unhurried way of enchanting you with its cool, mellow vibes might just suck you in.”
For whatever reason, Modena, Italy indie-pop practitioner Marc Ed decided to record this newest album in his native tongue. Despite my not being able to understand a lick of the lyrics, I was hooked like a famished fish on one listen.
San Francisco-via-Memphis’ prolific Useless Eaters return with yet another genre bending burst of dark, synth-driven punk rock.
San Francisco, CA’s Scraper return with second full-length of pure punk rock negativity that’s sure to get your legs shaking and your beer drinking.
This Fort Worth, TX outfit’s third LP finds the band veering off into uncharted, yet stylistically kindred directions, notably in the evocative, unconventional, swampy country/blues-rock that dominates the LP’s first half.
Originally released thirty-six years ago, The Pop Group’s scathing sophomore effort receives its first proper reissue, unleashing their confrontational post-punk defiance on a new generation of budding revolutionaries.
The Heretic’s Bargain, is Rangda at its most eternal and precise.
Carpe Sonum does a valuable service by reissuing this mesmerizing 2005 second LP by this Colorado electronic/ambient trio, previously a vinyl-only release on the group’s Obliq label.
On this three-songer, the NJ foursome abandons the softer side displayed on their 2013 I Got You EP, sticking with the punk-fueled style of that EP’s hottest, most hard-hitting number, “Have You Been Saved?”
“Those of us in the know back in the 80s reveled in Miller’s slightly twisted sonics with shades of psychedelia, chamber pop, and power pop. Toss in new wave if it fits better, for none of these labels completely describes what Game Theory pulled off back in 1987.”
This Florida roots-rock foursome’s fifth full-length is a “concept” album that focuses on British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton’s fateful 1914-16 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition aboard the ship Endurance.
“Resident in those golden licks were traces of Bob Dylan, The Byrds, The Clash, Buffalo Springfield, The Everly Brothers, and The Beach Boys. They were also a mainstay in The Paisley Underground movement, along with Green on Red, The Dream Syndicate, and Rain Parade. By any measure, this was a band ahead of its time, and this retrospective is long overdue and welcome.”
Rise_ is Randell’s manifesto, lovingly presented and ostensibly recorded with blood, sweat, and tears.
