Album Review: Patrick Wolf – The Bachelor
Concept: Classically trained performer Patrick Wolf tries to develop a romantic and sweeping commentary on our times. Sound: As much as megaflamboyant costume fetishist Wolf wants and tries to be David Bowie 2, now with more homoeroticism, he just can’t. That has nothing to do with the sound, of course…or does it? A like-minded album [...]
Album Review: Modest Mouse – No One's First And You're Next
Concept: An EP of polished tracks from the cutting floors of their last two albums. Sound: A lot of the songs aren’t necessarily the rare tracks a fan might have discovered before now, but they do recycle previous material. The EP fits together rather nicely in its own right. This isn’t just a grab bag [...]
Album Review: Portugal The Man – The Satanic Satanist
Concept: Multi-genre band pursues pop rock and a bit of funk at their own peril. Sound: To set the record straight, these guys are not Beck, and are not what you would call musical chameleons. Their electronica is their specialty, as evidenced by their lesser-known EP It’s Complicated Being A Wizard, featuring one twenty minute song [...]
Album Review: Clutch – Strange Cousins From The West
Concept: Long time Maryland jam-band Clutch releases its ninth album, travelling further into blues territory while pondering their odd and translucent mythological dystopia. Sound: Clutch’s music has always been pretty unremarkable, but it has always been fast or heavy enough to keep itself a comfy vehicle for the band’s kooky narratives. This is no longer [...]
Album Review: The Dead Weather – Horehound
Concept: Jack White and a guitarist from Queens Of The Stone Age with two other people. Sounds awesome, right? Sound: Jack White’s on drums. He can’t sing and play drums at the same time, although his skills on a kit are adequate. The vocalist is the gal from The Kills, Alison Mosshart. She’s not so [...]
Album Review: Discovery – LP
Concept: Members of Vampire Weekend and Ra Ra Riot try to convince everyone that there’s something to love about the 80′s. All hipsters will agree by default, or is it by definition? Sound: There are moments that you can see what the group was on to, with ticklish digital arpeggios and swift club beats. That is [...]
Album Review: Sunn O))) – Monoliths And Dimensions
Concept: Two years in the making, the metal band’s latest effort cooperates with a gigantic cast of instruments and composer Eyvind Kang. The result is four works intended to create auditory illusions through experimentation with timbre. Sound: The first four and a half minutes of track one, I wasn’t feeling anything. It’s a fat old guitar [...]
Album Review: The Monroe Transfer – I Dreamt I Was A Hammer and Everything Was Glass
Artist: The Monroe Transfer Album: I Dreamt I Was A Hammer and Everything Was Glass Released: 2009 The Monroe Transfer’s seventh album, comprising of a single song. Clocking in at about 20 minutes, I suppose you could more accurately call it an EP. Now, I could have sworn that I’d heard this song before. What’s [...]
Album Review: Sleepy Eyes of Death – Dark Signals EP
Artist: Sleepy Eyes of Death Album: Dark Signals EP Released: Sleep Capsule & Mass Mvmnt (dist.), 2009 Dark Signals is a collection of very good electronic tracks. Synthesizers tweedle and moan, guitars are distorted, and the drum line is intense in each of the songs. In the second track “Final Heart Beats Black” the band [...]