artist stringlengths 1 82 ⌀ | album stringlengths 1 216 ⌀ | genre stringlengths 3 41 ⌀ | author stringlengths 7 59 | score float64 0 10 | review stringlengths 8 6.61k | augmented_review stringlengths 106 6.88k |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gold Chains | Young Miss America | Electronic,Rap | Dominique Leone | 6.7 | Topher Lafata, perhaps informed by an adolescence of Black Flag shows and slamdancing in his suburban Pennsylvania bedroom, is coming at this whole "authenticity" thing from a strange angle. Rather than play up his "hardships" or overcompensate for a lack of ghetto wisdom, he gets by on sheer geekiness and neon indie f... |
Artist: Gold Chains,
Album: Young Miss America,
Genre: Electronic,Rap,
Score (1-10): 6.7
Album review:
"Topher Lafata, perhaps informed by an adolescence of Black Flag shows and slamdancing in his suburban Pennsylvania bedroom, is coming at this whole "authenticity" thing from a strange angle. Rather than pla... |
Sunn O))) & Boris | Altar | null | Grayson Currin | 6.6 | Longtime Southern Lord labelmates, tourmates, and metal bands Sunn 0))) and Boris seem like natural collaborators, though they approach their music with disparate intentions: Sunn 0)))'s blood-covered drone subsumes everything around it, while Boris' blend of patiently unraveling noise and fractious thrash entices and ... |
Artist: Sunn O))) & Boris,
Album: Altar,
Genre: None,
Score (1-10): 6.6
Album review:
"Longtime Southern Lord labelmates, tourmates, and metal bands Sunn 0))) and Boris seem like natural collaborators, though they approach their music with disparate intentions: Sunn 0)))'s blood-covered drone subsumes everyth... |
Sloan | A Sides Win: Singles 1992-2005 | Rock | Marc Hogan | 7.9 | It may be hard to believe in these days of Arcade Fires, Broken Social Scenes, New Pornographers, Constantines, Black Mountains, and, yes, Avrils, but in the mid-1990s, being Canadian and not named Alanis or Shania was enough to get you dropped from your label. Playing quintessential power-pop while signed to grunge-or... |
Artist: Sloan,
Album: A Sides Win: Singles 1992-2005,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 7.9
Album review:
"It may be hard to believe in these days of Arcade Fires, Broken Social Scenes, New Pornographers, Constantines, Black Mountains, and, yes, Avrils, but in the mid-1990s, being Canadian and not named Alanis or Sh... |
The Antlers | Hospice | Experimental,Rock | Brian Howe | 8.5 | Who could've guessed that SNMNMNM were ahead of the curve? In 2009, you kind of need to know some C++ just to talk about bands. The trend began in dreamy California, which gave us the skuzzy-sweet Nodzzz and Wavves, and then migrated as far as Nebraska (UUVVWWZ) and Glasgow (Dananananaykroyd). Meanwhile, in serious Bro... |
Artist: The Antlers,
Album: Hospice,
Genre: Experimental,Rock,
Score (1-10): 8.5
Album review:
"Who could've guessed that SNMNMNM were ahead of the curve? In 2009, you kind of need to know some C++ just to talk about bands. The trend began in dreamy California, which gave us the skuzzy-sweet Nodzzz and Wavves... |
Krieg | Transient | null | Grayson Haver Currin | 8 | Neill Jameson ranks among the great defenders of and disciples for United States Black Metal. He’s been making and refining his own antagonistic strain since the mid-1990s, leading Krieg through some of the most important, compelling and twisted stateside versions of the form. He’s run a label and become a crucial dist... |
Artist: Krieg,
Album: Transient,
Genre: None,
Score (1-10): 8.0
Album review:
"Neill Jameson ranks among the great defenders of and disciples for United States Black Metal. He’s been making and refining his own antagonistic strain since the mid-1990s, leading Krieg through some of the most important, compelli... |
Mndsgn | Body Wash | Electronic | Nate Patrin | 7.7 | Ringgo Ancheta’s come-up story is an increasingly familiar type—the independently educated bedroom producer, influenced by friends and family, whose DIY approach led him towards Los Angeles’ beat scene. What might make that story a bit more curious than others’ is that Ancheta’s path began on a rural New Jersey commune... |
Artist: Mndsgn,
Album: Body Wash,
Genre: Electronic,
Score (1-10): 7.7
Album review:
"Ringgo Ancheta’s come-up story is an increasingly familiar type—the independently educated bedroom producer, influenced by friends and family, whose DIY approach led him towards Los Angeles’ beat scene. What might make that ... |
The Strokes | Future Present Past EP | Rock | Jeremy Gordon | 6 | Although the Strokes are of the same era as once-flashpoint NYC guitar bands like Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Interpol, the National, and the Walkmen, they’ve become something their peers haven’t: classic rock. Tumble down enough comment threads, or check out the audience demographics at their infrequent shows—there are many list... |
Artist: The Strokes,
Album: Future Present Past EP,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 6.0
Album review:
"Although the Strokes are of the same era as once-flashpoint NYC guitar bands like Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Interpol, the National, and the Walkmen, they’ve become something their peers haven’t: classic rock. Tumble down ... |
Eminem | Recovery | Rap | Jayson Greene | 2.8 | Watching Eminem attempt to re-situate himself in the pop landscape the past year or so has been a bizarre spectacle. He roared out of his post-Encore slumber in early 2009 seeming almost puppyishly eager to rap again, spitting verses for anyone who put him in front of a mic with a desperation that suggested he was maki... |
Artist: Eminem,
Album: Recovery,
Genre: Rap,
Score (1-10): 2.8
Album review:
"Watching Eminem attempt to re-situate himself in the pop landscape the past year or so has been a bizarre spectacle. He roared out of his post-Encore slumber in early 2009 seeming almost puppyishly eager to rap again, spitting verse... |
UNKLE | Never Never Land | Electronic,Jazz | Scott Plagenhoef | 5 | Six years on from its release, Psyence Fiction-- the long-simmering pet project of Mo'Wax founder James Lavelle and his then-UNKLE co-conspirator/meal ticket DJ Shadow-- still ranks as one of the most anti-climactic and jaw-dropping disappointments of recent years. Seemingly powered by Lavelle's own sense of self-satis... |
Artist: UNKLE,
Album: Never Never Land,
Genre: Electronic,Jazz,
Score (1-10): 5.0
Album review:
"Six years on from its release, Psyence Fiction-- the long-simmering pet project of Mo'Wax founder James Lavelle and his then-UNKLE co-conspirator/meal ticket DJ Shadow-- still ranks as one of the most anti-climact... |
Chuck Johnson | Balsams | Experimental | Marc Masters | 8.1 | Pedal steel guitar is such an evocative instrument that just one chord emanating from its strings can suggest entire worlds. Often that’s exactly how it is used: one chord at a time, doled out sparingly to enhance moods already established by other instruments. But what if you give pedal steel guitar the starring role?... |
Artist: Chuck Johnson,
Album: Balsams,
Genre: Experimental,
Score (1-10): 8.1
Album review:
"Pedal steel guitar is such an evocative instrument that just one chord emanating from its strings can suggest entire worlds. Often that’s exactly how it is used: one chord at a time, doled out sparingly to enhance moo... |
Sunburned Hand of the Man | The Mylar Tantrum | Experimental,Rock | Matthew Murphy | 7.4 | The arrival of a new release from Sunburned Hand of the Man is hardly an uncommon event, but seldom is it an unwelcome one. Consisting of one uninterrupted performance, The Mylar Tantrum is far from the collective's bulkiest document, yet it still appears as a noteworthy addition to their sprawling catalog. The piece w... |
Artist: Sunburned Hand of the Man,
Album: The Mylar Tantrum,
Genre: Experimental,Rock,
Score (1-10): 7.4
Album review:
"The arrival of a new release from Sunburned Hand of the Man is hardly an uncommon event, but seldom is it an unwelcome one. Consisting of one uninterrupted performance, The Mylar Tantrum is ... |
Channels | Waiting for the Next End of the World | Metal | Jason Crock | 6.6 | If only J. Robbins could find a band that works as hard as he does. After Jawbox called it quits, Burning Airlines made one incredible record-- a near-perfect balance between musicianship and satisfying hooks-- and one confused one, a sophomore slump from a shifting lineup that may have eventually found its footing. In... |
Artist: Channels,
Album: Waiting for the Next End of the World,
Genre: Metal,
Score (1-10): 6.6
Album review:
"If only J. Robbins could find a band that works as hard as he does. After Jawbox called it quits, Burning Airlines made one incredible record-- a near-perfect balance between musicianship and satisfy... |
Lightning Dust | Lightning Dust | Folk/Country | Adam Moerder | 7.2 | Bummer alert! For those half-to-fully-baked music fans who gloriously tripped on Mr. Stephen McBean's wild retro-rock ride, Black Mountain, don't go expecting a similar buzz from sobering side project Lightning Dust. Sure, they sound like they're named after a volatile drug combination (PCP and pop rocks?), but as Ligh... |
Artist: Lightning Dust,
Album: Lightning Dust,
Genre: Folk/Country,
Score (1-10): 7.2
Album review:
"Bummer alert! For those half-to-fully-baked music fans who gloriously tripped on Mr. Stephen McBean's wild retro-rock ride, Black Mountain, don't go expecting a similar buzz from sobering side project Lightnin... |
Concentrik | Lucid Dreaming | null | Brad Haywood | 7.9 | Tim Green started off the part of his life relevant to this review playing guitar for the now-legendary Dischord outfit Nation of Ulysses. After having his fill of D.C. hardcore, Green moved his skinny ass to San Francisco, met a couple of dyed-in-the-wool metalheads (one with actual long hair), and formed the Champs, ... |
Artist: Concentrik,
Album: Lucid Dreaming,
Genre: None,
Score (1-10): 7.9
Album review:
"Tim Green started off the part of his life relevant to this review playing guitar for the now-legendary Dischord outfit Nation of Ulysses. After having his fill of D.C. hardcore, Green moved his skinny ass to San Francisc... |
The Chills | Heavenly Pop Hits: The Best of the Chills | Rock | Joshua Klein | 8.6 | For a while there, nearly the entire Flying Nun stable made it all look so easy. Album after album of perfect antipodean indie-pop, the product of fertile imaginations and far too much free time in a country that hadn't really shown up on the Western radar since tiny New Zealand lost more fighter pilots per capita duri... |
Artist: The Chills,
Album: Heavenly Pop Hits: The Best of the Chills,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 8.6
Album review:
"For a while there, nearly the entire Flying Nun stable made it all look so easy. Album after album of perfect antipodean indie-pop, the product of fertile imaginations and far too much free time... |
Masami Akita, Russell Haswell | Satanstornade | Experimental | Kim Fing Shannon | 5.9 | Despite a deluge of recordings that might suggest otherwise, Merzbow did not invent noise. What he is responsible for is an incredible insight, a leveling glare into our perceptions of musical functionality: Merzbow's music intrinsically refutes academic hierarchies, self-important artistry, mindless fluff, fame, and c... |
Artist: Masami Akita, Russell Haswell,
Album: Satanstornade,
Genre: Experimental,
Score (1-10): 5.9
Album review:
"Despite a deluge of recordings that might suggest otherwise, Merzbow did not invent noise. What he is responsible for is an incredible insight, a leveling glare into our perceptions of musical fu... |
The Gris Gris | For the Season | Electronic,Rock | Adam Moerder | 7.4 | When will folks stop scouring Gris Gris albums, feverishly looking for some ace in the hole, some nuanced twist to psychedelic rock? Seriously, is a no-frills psych band from San Francisco such an oddity just because they don't associate themselves with the Dead or sing about drugs? Sorry, dude in the Warlocks shirt, G... |
Artist: The Gris Gris,
Album: For the Season,
Genre: Electronic,Rock,
Score (1-10): 7.4
Album review:
"When will folks stop scouring Gris Gris albums, feverishly looking for some ace in the hole, some nuanced twist to psychedelic rock? Seriously, is a no-frills psych band from San Francisco such an oddity jus... |
Anti-Pop Consortium | Fluorescent Black | Electronic,Rap | Jess Harvell | 7 | Even with the 10th anniversary of their debut album around the corner, it seems silly to ponder Anti-Pop Consortium's place in hip hop. Name, sound, rhyme style, lyrical content, release sleeve iconography: Anti-Pop were stylized (by the press as much as by themselves) as a fuck-you, a caustic riposte to a genre that h... |
Artist: Anti-Pop Consortium,
Album: Fluorescent Black,
Genre: Electronic,Rap,
Score (1-10): 7.0
Album review:
"Even with the 10th anniversary of their debut album around the corner, it seems silly to ponder Anti-Pop Consortium's place in hip hop. Name, sound, rhyme style, lyrical content, release sleeve icono... |
Ty Dolla $ign, Jeremih | MihTy | Rap,Pop/R&B | Austin Brown | 7.7 | Jeremih and Ty Dolla $ign are unquestionably the natural successors to the figure of the of “R&B thug” that defined the R&B charts for most of the aughts. This seems self-evident and unproblematic—until you remember that the progenitor of the term is R. Kelly, whose legacy is now permanently marred by his misdeeds. But... |
Artist: Ty Dolla $ign, Jeremih,
Album: MihTy,
Genre: Rap,Pop/R&B,
Score (1-10): 7.7
Album review:
"Jeremih and Ty Dolla $ign are unquestionably the natural successors to the figure of the of “R&B thug” that defined the R&B charts for most of the aughts. This seems self-evident and unproblematic—until you reme... |
Horseback | Half Blood | Metal,Rock | Jess Harvell | 7.6 | Here's a record that should not work. Its two main influences-- frostbitten Scandinavian black metal and rustic U.S. roots music-- should not combine, let alone gracefully. One is theatrical and expressionistic in its expression of nihilistic rage, almost claustrophobic in its pure form. The other is stripped-down and ... |
Artist: Horseback,
Album: Half Blood,
Genre: Metal,Rock,
Score (1-10): 7.6
Album review:
"Here's a record that should not work. Its two main influences-- frostbitten Scandinavian black metal and rustic U.S. roots music-- should not combine, let alone gracefully. One is theatrical and expressionistic in its ex... |
Lonesome Organist | Forms and Follies | null | Bill Morris | 5.2 | Writing up an original review for any Lonesome Organist release might be best described as playing a solitary game of critical Taboo: it's instantly apparent that there exists a specific set of unavoidable descriptive clichés and overly pitched idiosyncrasies chaperoning all previous and current press for this band-- ... |
Artist: Lonesome Organist,
Album: Forms and Follies,
Genre: None,
Score (1-10): 5.2
Album review:
"Writing up an original review for any Lonesome Organist release might be best described as playing a solitary game of critical Taboo: it's instantly apparent that there exists a specific set of unavoidable descr... |
Herman Dune | I Wish That I Could See You Soon EP | null | Stephen M. Deusner | 7.3 | Herman Düne's clip for "I Wish That I Could See You Soon", a perfect little puff pastry of a song, was one of the best and most criminally under-viewed videos of 2007. Featuring some green-screen shots that were all the more charming for being unfinished, it was the perfect mesh of visuals and music: puppets and moppet... |
Artist: Herman Dune,
Album: I Wish That I Could See You Soon EP,
Genre: None,
Score (1-10): 7.3
Album review:
"Herman Düne's clip for "I Wish That I Could See You Soon", a perfect little puff pastry of a song, was one of the best and most criminally under-viewed videos of 2007. Featuring some green-screen sho... |
Metric | Old World Underground, Where Are You Now | Rock | Rollie Pemberton | 7.3 | When your band is best known for sharing an apartment with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, there's clearly a lot of room for the development of a slightly more personal hype. Such is the case with Metric. Reportedly starting their band based on a mutual distaste for white Toronto funk bands, Metric melds together the usual suspec... |
Artist: Metric,
Album: Old World Underground, Where Are You Now,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 7.3
Album review:
"When your band is best known for sharing an apartment with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, there's clearly a lot of room for the development of a slightly more personal hype. Such is the case with Metric. Repor... |
Robert Pollard | Blazing Gentlemen | Rock | Paul Thompson | 5.7 | If there's anything like a normal year for Bob Pollard fans, 2013 wasn't it. These past 12 months did offer a fine new EP and an okay-enough album—their fourth since early 2012—from the reunited Guided by Voices. But it's become increasingly clear that a classic on par with the lo-fi legends' peak-era material might've... |
Artist: Robert Pollard,
Album: Blazing Gentlemen,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 5.7
Album review:
"If there's anything like a normal year for Bob Pollard fans, 2013 wasn't it. These past 12 months did offer a fine new EP and an okay-enough album—their fourth since early 2012—from the reunited Guided by Voices. B... |
Skream | Outside the Box | Electronic | Nate Patrin | 7.9 | If you're Ollie Jones, a musician who's made his pseudonym on pushing an underground dance sound further into the mainstream without compromising its strengths, what do you do when it's time for a straight-up pop move? Maybe you drop a free mixtape or two (like his Freeizm releases) that stick to the formula that made ... |
Artist: Skream,
Album: Outside the Box,
Genre: Electronic,
Score (1-10): 7.9
Album review:
"If you're Ollie Jones, a musician who's made his pseudonym on pushing an underground dance sound further into the mainstream without compromising its strengths, what do you do when it's time for a straight-up pop move?... |
Roscoe Mitchell | Bells for the South Side | Jazz | Daniel Martin-McCormick | 7.3 | “Music is 50% sound and 50% silence,” said Roscoe Mitchell in a 2005 interview. On his new double album Bells for the South Side, this may be an understatement. The record opens with a pause, a lingering moment of space which is then patiently ornamented by figures that seem to emerge from and dissolve back into the vo... |
Artist: Roscoe Mitchell,
Album: Bells for the South Side,
Genre: Jazz,
Score (1-10): 7.3
Album review:
"“Music is 50% sound and 50% silence,” said Roscoe Mitchell in a 2005 interview. On his new double album Bells for the South Side, this may be an understatement. The record opens with a pause, a lingering mo... |
Fujiya & Miyagi | Lightbulbs | Electronic,Rock | Adam Moerder | 6.6 | Fujiya & Miyagi get off on the subtlest kinds of bait and switch. They're not Japanese, they're English. They're not a duo, they're a quartet. They're not really a krautrock band either, they just play danceable pop music with one hell of a deadpan expression. In that sense, they're basically a Hot Chip that impishly c... |
Artist: Fujiya & Miyagi,
Album: Lightbulbs,
Genre: Electronic,Rock,
Score (1-10): 6.6
Album review:
"Fujiya & Miyagi get off on the subtlest kinds of bait and switch. They're not Japanese, they're English. They're not a duo, they're a quartet. They're not really a krautrock band either, they just play danceab... |
Moonface | City Wrecker EP | Rock | Jason Heller | 6.8 | Spencer Krug’s songwriting is elastic. In the past, his sumptuous, warbling melodrama has been able to serve as the framework for larger arrangements, as in his prior outfits Wolf Parade and Swan Lake, as well as the minimalism sprinkled in his sometimes-solo projects Sunset Rubdown and Moonface. Like Sunset Rubdown, M... |
Artist: Moonface,
Album: City Wrecker EP,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 6.8
Album review:
"Spencer Krug’s songwriting is elastic. In the past, his sumptuous, warbling melodrama has been able to serve as the framework for larger arrangements, as in his prior outfits Wolf Parade and Swan Lake, as well as the minim... |
Wadada Leo Smith | America's National Parks | Jazz | Seth Colter Walls | 7.9 | Though trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith is a leading maestro of abstraction, he loves a straightforward concept as much as anyone else. Over the last decade, he’s composed The Great Lakes Suites, as well as the expansive Civil Rights-themed project Ten Freedom Summers (which drew from avant-jazz and modern-classical language... |
Artist: Wadada Leo Smith,
Album: America's National Parks,
Genre: Jazz,
Score (1-10): 7.9
Album review:
"Though trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith is a leading maestro of abstraction, he loves a straightforward concept as much as anyone else. Over the last decade, he’s composed The Great Lakes Suites, as well as the ... |
The Orwells | Terrible Human Beings | Rock | Ian Cohen | 5.8 | The Orwells are five dudes from the suburbs of Chicago playing a codified style of garage rock, like so many suburban dudes before them. But despite what you may have read about the impending obsolescence of groups exactly like this one, the Orwells signed to a major label before they turned 21 and were quickly thrust ... |
Artist: The Orwells,
Album: Terrible Human Beings,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 5.8
Album review:
"The Orwells are five dudes from the suburbs of Chicago playing a codified style of garage rock, like so many suburban dudes before them. But despite what you may have read about the impending obsolescence of group... |
St. Vincent | MassEducation | Rock | Arielle Gordon | 7.2 | The acoustic album is a rite of passage. It marks a period when the tour, the band, and the press has left an artist yearning to be seen in a soft new light: For Nirvana, their MTV Unplugged performance was a middle finger to the hype machine—one of the biggest, loudest rock bands on earth settling in for some quiet co... |
Artist: St. Vincent,
Album: MassEducation,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 7.2
Album review:
"The acoustic album is a rite of passage. It marks a period when the tour, the band, and the press has left an artist yearning to be seen in a soft new light: For Nirvana, their MTV Unplugged performance was a middle finge... |
J. Tillman | Year in the Kingdom | Rock | Paul Thompson | 6.9 | J. Tillman's got one a hell of a voice, of course: The newest Fleet Foxes member wasn't just plopped down behind the drumkit post-Sun Giant 'cuz he gives good beard. It merits mention that Tillman's been crafting hushed folk yearners for years, and that Year in the Kingdom is Tillman's second LP of 2009. And it's right... |
Artist: J. Tillman,
Album: Year in the Kingdom,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 6.9
Album review:
"J. Tillman's got one a hell of a voice, of course: The newest Fleet Foxes member wasn't just plopped down behind the drumkit post-Sun Giant 'cuz he gives good beard. It merits mention that Tillman's been crafting hus... |
Hooray For Earth | True Loves | Rock | Ian Cohen | 7.9 | Hooray For Earth must've looked like party crashers when they opened for Surfer Blood and the Pains of Being Pure at Heart last year. Though they've staked out in different territories in terms of both production and influence, both headliners embody an ideal of what indie rock meant in the 1990s. Pains and Surfer Bloo... |
Artist: Hooray For Earth,
Album: True Loves,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 7.9
Album review:
"Hooray For Earth must've looked like party crashers when they opened for Surfer Blood and the Pains of Being Pure at Heart last year. Though they've staked out in different territories in terms of both production and in... |
Makers | Strangest Parade | Rock | Alison Fields | 3.5 | At a seedy roadhouse three miles off the interstate, a scruffy assembly of skinny boys and girls in tight blue jeans, skinny ties, and bright red lipstick gathered for one final night to raise hell with hard liquor and filtered cigarettes, and bid farewell to the garage/surf revival that had sustained them. When the ev... |
Artist: Makers,
Album: Strangest Parade,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 3.5
Album review:
"At a seedy roadhouse three miles off the interstate, a scruffy assembly of skinny boys and girls in tight blue jeans, skinny ties, and bright red lipstick gathered for one final night to raise hell with hard liquor and filt... |
Sunset Rubdown | Sunset Rubdown EP | Experimental,Rock | Brandon Stosuy | 7.8 | More than a side project or vanity excursion, Sunset Rubdown offers Wolf Parade co-frontman Spencer Krug the opportunity to air his uncorked ambitions and compositional eccentricities. To my ears, the tracks he wrote and sang on Wolf Parade's Apologies to the Queen Mary-- "I'll Believe in Anything, You'll Believe in An... |
Artist: Sunset Rubdown,
Album: Sunset Rubdown EP,
Genre: Experimental,Rock,
Score (1-10): 7.8
Album review:
"More than a side project or vanity excursion, Sunset Rubdown offers Wolf Parade co-frontman Spencer Krug the opportunity to air his uncorked ambitions and compositional eccentricities. To my ears, the ... |
Various Artists | Street Sounds Electro: The Ultimate Boxed Set | null | Nate Patrin | 7.2 | In one sense, you could call Morgan Khan an importer. That's basically what he did when he set up Street Sounds, the subsidiary to his dance label Streetwave, and released the first Street Sounds Electro compilation in 1983: here were eight tracks out of the United States that would've cost a couple of dozen quid for a... |
Artist: Various Artists,
Album: Street Sounds Electro: The Ultimate Boxed Set,
Genre: None,
Score (1-10): 7.2
Album review:
"In one sense, you could call Morgan Khan an importer. That's basically what he did when he set up Street Sounds, the subsidiary to his dance label Streetwave, and released the first Str... |
Painted Palms | Canopy EP | Electronic,Rock | Ian Cohen | 5.2 | Painted Palms' debut EP Canopy feels instantly nostalgic, and I realize that's about as helpfully descriptive in 2011 as saying "it has keyboards." If only it were merely the typically fond recollection of Toejam & Earl or Kid and Play's filmography or some other token of childhood ephemera. Nah, Painted Palms get me t... |
Artist: Painted Palms,
Album: Canopy EP,
Genre: Electronic,Rock,
Score (1-10): 5.2
Album review:
"Painted Palms' debut EP Canopy feels instantly nostalgic, and I realize that's about as helpfully descriptive in 2011 as saying "it has keyboards." If only it were merely the typically fond recollection of Toejam... |
NHK yx koyxen | Exit Entrance | Electronic | Philip Sherburne | 7.4 | A clinical, almost scientific air hangs over the work of Japan’s Kouhei Matsunaga, aka NHK yx koyxen. He makes experimental electronic music that sounds like it is the result of an actual laboratory experiment. His textures crackle with electrical charge; his rhythms morph and multiply like bacteria. You imagine him pu... |
Artist: NHK yx koyxen,
Album: Exit Entrance,
Genre: Electronic,
Score (1-10): 7.4
Album review:
"A clinical, almost scientific air hangs over the work of Japan’s Kouhei Matsunaga, aka NHK yx koyxen. He makes experimental electronic music that sounds like it is the result of an actual laboratory experiment. Hi... |
Diplo | Favela Strikes Back | Electronic | Nick Sylvester | 7.5 | I haven't done the first graf kinda-sorta relevant anecdote bit in a while (or the meta thing), so forgive me: During my two month riff in Rome, I sacked the eternal city for the real what have you's-- what real Italians wear, where real Italians hang out at night, how real Italians ride real Italian scooters. Three-bu... |
Artist: Diplo,
Album: Favela Strikes Back,
Genre: Electronic,
Score (1-10): 7.5
Album review:
"I haven't done the first graf kinda-sorta relevant anecdote bit in a while (or the meta thing), so forgive me: During my two month riff in Rome, I sacked the eternal city for the real what have you's-- what real Ita... |
Herbert | Part 8 EP | Electronic | Nick Neyland | 6.4 | House music has been occupying much of Matthew Herbert’s time recently. In 2014, the British producer dipped back into the genre by reactivating an EP series he started in the mid-'90s, of which Part 8 is supposedly the final entry. (Like most things Herbert, his words probably shouldn’t be trusted, marking this as nei... |
Artist: Herbert,
Album: Part 8 EP,
Genre: Electronic,
Score (1-10): 6.4
Album review:
"House music has been occupying much of Matthew Herbert’s time recently. In 2014, the British producer dipped back into the genre by reactivating an EP series he started in the mid-'90s, of which Part 8 is supposedly the fin... |
Wolfmother | Wolfmother | Rock | Cory D. Byrom | 7.5 | Australia's Wolfmother are one of a handful of bands hell-bent on making heavy rock a sizable force in 2006. Their sound is a throwback to 1970s hard rock-- miles of galloping riffs, noodling organ, and guitar fuzz-- but what makes their self-titled debut rise above mere pastiche is how capably they strike a balance be... |
Artist: Wolfmother,
Album: Wolfmother,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 7.5
Album review:
"Australia's Wolfmother are one of a handful of bands hell-bent on making heavy rock a sizable force in 2006. Their sound is a throwback to 1970s hard rock-- miles of galloping riffs, noodling organ, and guitar fuzz-- but what... |
Carla Bley | Andando el Tiempo | Jazz | Seth Colter Walls | 7.8 | Bandleader, pianist, and composer Carla Bley’s prowess isn’t difficult to identify or appreciate. From the outset of her long career, she has created memorable tunes like “Ida Lupino”—a song that appeared on an early album by her onetime husband Paul Bley (and which also appeared on avant-guitarist Mary Halvorson’s rec... |
Artist: Carla Bley,
Album: Andando el Tiempo,
Genre: Jazz,
Score (1-10): 7.8
Album review:
"Bandleader, pianist, and composer Carla Bley’s prowess isn’t difficult to identify or appreciate. From the outset of her long career, she has created memorable tunes like “Ida Lupino”—a song that appeared on an early a... |
Steve Hauschildt | Strands | Electronic | Philip Sherburne | 7.6 | You don’t come to one of Steve Hauschildt’s records expecting, or even hoping, to be surprised. The Cleveland electronic musician's consistency is one of his great strengths: His synthesizers ripple like a mountain stream at peak snowmelt, and his frictionless pulses represent only the finest qualities of electricity i... |
Artist: Steve Hauschildt,
Album: Strands,
Genre: Electronic,
Score (1-10): 7.6
Album review:
"You don’t come to one of Steve Hauschildt’s records expecting, or even hoping, to be surprised. The Cleveland electronic musician's consistency is one of his great strengths: His synthesizers ripple like a mountain s... |
David Grubbs, Mats Gustafsson | Off-Road | Experimental,Jazz | Chris Dahlen | 6.8 | The day Grubbs and Gustafsson spent recording this album must have been like watching kids at a fancy imports-only toy store, playing with high-concept Legos and fragile Scandinavian toys, their heads bowed over the colorful pieces as they studiously assemble warships and dream homes. There's so much concentration on t... |
Artist: David Grubbs, Mats Gustafsson,
Album: Off-Road,
Genre: Experimental,Jazz,
Score (1-10): 6.8
Album review:
"The day Grubbs and Gustafsson spent recording this album must have been like watching kids at a fancy imports-only toy store, playing with high-concept Legos and fragile Scandinavian toys, their ... |
Matthew Dear | Leave Luck to Heaven | Electronic | Scott Plagenhoef | 7.8 | Matthew Dear has proven himself one of the more prolific new artists of the year. In 2003 alone, he's released a pair of EPs on Spectral Sound (the more house-oriented arm of Ann Arbor's Ghostly International label), recorded for Richie Hawtin's Plus 8 imprint (as False) and Markus Nikolai's Berlin-based Perlon label (... |
Artist: Matthew Dear,
Album: Leave Luck to Heaven,
Genre: Electronic,
Score (1-10): 7.8
Album review:
"Matthew Dear has proven himself one of the more prolific new artists of the year. In 2003 alone, he's released a pair of EPs on Spectral Sound (the more house-oriented arm of Ann Arbor's Ghostly Internationa... |
Tom Waits | Used Songs: 1973-1980 | Rock | Luke Buckman | 8.8 | So, here's the question: how do you go from James Taylor comparisons to being mentioned in the same breath as weirdos Harry Partch, Captain Beefheart and William S. Burroughs? And the answer is: I don't know. Ask Tom Waits. He'd probably tip his hat back, mumble some lengthy convoluted story about how he was born in th... |
Artist: Tom Waits,
Album: Used Songs: 1973-1980,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 8.8
Album review:
"So, here's the question: how do you go from James Taylor comparisons to being mentioned in the same breath as weirdos Harry Partch, Captain Beefheart and William S. Burroughs? And the answer is: I don't know. Ask To... |
Dead Can Dance | Memento | Experimental | Mark Richardson | 7.6 | The much-maligned category "World Music" seems to have been invented for Dead Can Dance. From the beginning, Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard thought of their work in global terms, as music from any latitude and any era was fair game for appropriation and assimilation into their distinctive musical vision. Somehow, becau... |
Artist: Dead Can Dance,
Album: Memento,
Genre: Experimental,
Score (1-10): 7.6
Album review:
"The much-maligned category "World Music" seems to have been invented for Dead Can Dance. From the beginning, Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard thought of their work in global terms, as music from any latitude and any er... |
Kara-Lis Coverdale | Grafts | Electronic | Thea Ballard | 7.7 | Montreal-based composer Kara-Lis Coverdale’s output exists somewhere between computer music and the understated acoustic melancholy of Erik Satie. Trained as a classical pianist, Coverdale began incorporating electronics into her practice while studying music in Ontario, and has since worked with artists including Tim ... |
Artist: Kara-Lis Coverdale,
Album: Grafts,
Genre: Electronic,
Score (1-10): 7.7
Album review:
"Montreal-based composer Kara-Lis Coverdale’s output exists somewhere between computer music and the understated acoustic melancholy of Erik Satie. Trained as a classical pianist, Coverdale began incorporating electr... |
Kenge Kenge | Introducing Kenge Kenge | null | Joe Tangari | 7.2 | The Kenyan octet Kenge Kenge makes music that sounds thrillingly new, but it's really as old as the hills of Kenya, or at least the people who live in those hills, the Luo. The band's name is a Luo expression that roughly means "fusion of small, exhilarating instruments," and you have to love any language that has a co... |
Artist: Kenge Kenge,
Album: Introducing Kenge Kenge,
Genre: None,
Score (1-10): 7.2
Album review:
"The Kenyan octet Kenge Kenge makes music that sounds thrillingly new, but it's really as old as the hills of Kenya, or at least the people who live in those hills, the Luo. The band's name is a Luo expression th... |
Two Gallants | Two Gallants | Rock | Amanda Petrusich | 6.9 | In 2006, Two Gallants caught a load of shit for re-appropriating "Long Summer Day", an impassioned work-song likely hollered by Texas slaves in the early 20th century and ultimately anthologized in the late 1950s by famed folklorist Alan Lomax. Nothing on the duo's third full-length is as overtly controversial, but the... |
Artist: Two Gallants,
Album: Two Gallants,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 6.9
Album review:
"In 2006, Two Gallants caught a load of shit for re-appropriating "Long Summer Day", an impassioned work-song likely hollered by Texas slaves in the early 20th century and ultimately anthologized in the late 1950s by famed... |
Carter Tutti | Carter Tutti Plays Chris & Cosey | Experimental | Nick Neyland | 7 | The past is so present in today's musical landscape that you can easily connect the dots when an artist looks backwards. A greatest-hits tour on its third go-around or a lengthy set of dates performing a single album from start to finish—both reek of good ideas gone stale, or some form of stasis winning out over creati... |
Artist: Carter Tutti,
Album: Carter Tutti Plays Chris & Cosey,
Genre: Experimental,
Score (1-10): 7.0
Album review:
"The past is so present in today's musical landscape that you can easily connect the dots when an artist looks backwards. A greatest-hits tour on its third go-around or a lengthy set of dates pe... |
Pixies | Complete B-Sides | Rock | Ryan Kearney | 9.6 | This review was as good as written ten years ago, since by then, all of these songs had already entered the short canon of music memorized by my adolescent mind. As I acquired every new piece of Pixies material, I saw songs by other bands expunged from my cramped brain. As I absorbed "In Heaven", Big Black's "The Model... |
Artist: Pixies,
Album: Complete B-Sides,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 9.6
Album review:
"This review was as good as written ten years ago, since by then, all of these songs had already entered the short canon of music memorized by my adolescent mind. As I acquired every new piece of Pixies material, I saw songs... |
Various Artists | Dreamville II: Revenge of the Dreamers | null | Paul A. Thompson | 6.2 | If nothing else, J. Cole has made it abundantly clear that he wants to be judged alongside rap's all-time greats. So let's do that: Revenge of the Dreamers II, the new nine-song compilation from his Interscope imprint, Dreamville Records, is not The *Dynasty—*it doesn't have the color, the heart-wrenching personal asid... |
Artist: Various Artists,
Album: Dreamville II: Revenge of the Dreamers,
Genre: None,
Score (1-10): 6.2
Album review:
"If nothing else, J. Cole has made it abundantly clear that he wants to be judged alongside rap's all-time greats. So let's do that: Revenge of the Dreamers II, the new nine-song compilation fr... |
Alan Sparhawk | Solo Guitar | Rock | Jason Crock | 7 | All great guitarists obviously go to hell. Robert Johnson set the precedent. You thought Steve Vai was acting in Crossroads? He's recording a tribute album for displaced Sudanese right this second to try and stave off the inevitable. In the pit, down there, in a room with no light, Django Reinhardt is forced to play no... |
Artist: Alan Sparhawk,
Album: Solo Guitar,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 7.0
Album review:
"All great guitarists obviously go to hell. Robert Johnson set the precedent. You thought Steve Vai was acting in Crossroads? He's recording a tribute album for displaced Sudanese right this second to try and stave off the... |
Boduf Songs | This Alone Above All Else in Spite of Everything | Folk/Country | Amy Granzin | 7.2 | "My hammer feels the urge/ To nail you to the ground/ To smash one through your cheek." So begins another Boduf Songs LP (the fourth), with another deadpan fantasy about grievous bodily harm. If you're already acquainted with the project, welcome back to doom-folk machine Mat Sweet's morally ambivalent universe of viol... |
Artist: Boduf Songs,
Album: This Alone Above All Else in Spite of Everything,
Genre: Folk/Country,
Score (1-10): 7.2
Album review:
""My hammer feels the urge/ To nail you to the ground/ To smash one through your cheek." So begins another Boduf Songs LP (the fourth), with another deadpan fantasy about grievous... |
Various Artists | Clicks + Cuts 2 | null | Mark Richard-San | 8.3 | Three CDs clocking in at over an hour a piece, 36 different artists from all over the world-- how could I possibly sum up Clicks & Cuts 2 in just 700 short words? There is no way, hombre. But I have an idea; let me just take a suitably minimal approach and sum it up in two: It's excellent. Notice I didn't say, "It's fa... |
Artist: Various Artists,
Album: Clicks + Cuts 2,
Genre: None,
Score (1-10): 8.3
Album review:
"Three CDs clocking in at over an hour a piece, 36 different artists from all over the world-- how could I possibly sum up Clicks & Cuts 2 in just 700 short words? There is no way, hombre. But I have an idea; let me ... |
Lemonade | Lemonade | Rock | Stuart Berman | 8.3 | Lemonade, so the old saying goes, is what you make when life serves you lemons. But for the three San Franciscans-cum-Brooklynites in the band Lemonade, it's what you get when music blogs serve a new dance-music subgenre, umpteenth post-punk revival, and hot world-music trend on a weekly basis-- you process the best bi... |
Artist: Lemonade,
Album: Lemonade,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 8.3
Album review:
"Lemonade, so the old saying goes, is what you make when life serves you lemons. But for the three San Franciscans-cum-Brooklynites in the band Lemonade, it's what you get when music blogs serve a new dance-music subgenre, umpteen... |
The Angels of Light | How I Loved You | null | Rich Juzwiak | 4.8 | If my 22 years of pop culture consumption have taught me anything, it's that clichés are the vertebrae of our language. Mainstream media perpetuates the sad state of our communication as a society-- our tendency to say what we believe is true because we've heard it so many times on television or from Hollywood or on To... |
Artist: The Angels of Light,
Album: How I Loved You,
Genre: None,
Score (1-10): 4.8
Album review:
"If my 22 years of pop culture consumption have taught me anything, it's that clichés are the vertebrae of our language. Mainstream media perpetuates the sad state of our communication as a society-- our tendency... |
Tanya Morgan | Brooklynati | Pop/R&B,Rap | Ian Cohen | 5.8 | A lot of people were excited for the 40th Anniversary Woodstock boxed set, but not exactly for the most wholesome reasons-- as undoubtedly the final time that these recordings will see a physical reissue, it was seen by many as a sign that we might start to free ourselves from the pervasive tyranny of Summer of Love bo... |
Artist: Tanya Morgan,
Album: Brooklynati,
Genre: Pop/R&B,Rap,
Score (1-10): 5.8
Album review:
"A lot of people were excited for the 40th Anniversary Woodstock boxed set, but not exactly for the most wholesome reasons-- as undoubtedly the final time that these recordings will see a physical reissue, it was see... |
FIDLAR | Too | Rock | Zach Kelly | 5.8 | For a band like FIDLAR, the idea of artistic growth seems kind of oxymoronic, or for anyone familiar with the L.A.-based punk dirtbags, maybe just plain moronic. On the jokily earnest, chillaxed last few strummed seconds of "Punks", the second track from their sophomore LP Too, frontman Zac Carper muses, "Relationships... |
Artist: FIDLAR,
Album: Too,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 5.8
Album review:
"For a band like FIDLAR, the idea of artistic growth seems kind of oxymoronic, or for anyone familiar with the L.A.-based punk dirtbags, maybe just plain moronic. On the jokily earnest, chillaxed last few strummed seconds of "Punks", the... |
Com Truise | Wave 1 | Electronic | Paul Thompson | 6.7 | In 2011, Seth Haley's Com Truise couldn't have been more of-the-moment. A vintage-synth freak with a nostalgic moniker diving headlong into the sounds of 1983? In that long, hazy comedown from 2009's summer of chillwave, Haley was practically popping a wheelie on the zeitgeist. He took full advantage, too, offering up ... |
Artist: Com Truise,
Album: Wave 1,
Genre: Electronic,
Score (1-10): 6.7
Album review:
"In 2011, Seth Haley's Com Truise couldn't have been more of-the-moment. A vintage-synth freak with a nostalgic moniker diving headlong into the sounds of 1983? In that long, hazy comedown from 2009's summer of chillwave, Ha... |
Stephen Emmer | Recitement | Experimental,Jazz,Pop/R&B,Rock | Brian Howe | 6.5 | On Recitement, the Dutch composer Stephen Emmer builds music around spoken literary texts. Because of that sentence alone, I'd wager that some of you are aiming for your browser's back arrow. Spoken word gets a bad rap in part because of a hoary yet persistent caricature: the finger-snapping, beret-wearing, boho poet w... |
Artist: Stephen Emmer,
Album: Recitement,
Genre: Experimental,Jazz,Pop/R&B,Rock,
Score (1-10): 6.5
Album review:
"On Recitement, the Dutch composer Stephen Emmer builds music around spoken literary texts. Because of that sentence alone, I'd wager that some of you are aiming for your browser's back arrow. Spok... |
GoGoGo Airheart | Exitheuxa | null | Chris Dahlen | 7.5 | So listen, it would bore both of us for me to run through the canon of British post-punk and 70s NYC rock bands to whom San Diego's GoGoGo Airheart owes some debts. The other day, I was reading a music magazine that actually started comparing new bands to the Liars, that new act has suffered under so much namedropping ... |
Artist: GoGoGo Airheart,
Album: Exitheuxa,
Genre: None,
Score (1-10): 7.5
Album review:
"So listen, it would bore both of us for me to run through the canon of British post-punk and 70s NYC rock bands to whom San Diego's GoGoGo Airheart owes some debts. The other day, I was reading a music magazine that actua... |
Figurines | When the Deer Wore Blue | Rock | Brian Howe | 5.8 | An action figure is usually jointed, thus capable of various dynamic poses. A figurine, meanwhile, is typically frozen into a single pose. It might enjoy an exquisite level of detail, might be nice to look at for awhile. But in the end, it isn't meant to be engaged with-- it sits idly on the mantle, gathering dust, its... |
Artist: Figurines,
Album: When the Deer Wore Blue,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 5.8
Album review:
"An action figure is usually jointed, thus capable of various dynamic poses. A figurine, meanwhile, is typically frozen into a single pose. It might enjoy an exquisite level of detail, might be nice to look at for ... |
Seiichi Yamamoto | Nu Frequency | null | Dominique Leone | 7.2 | Too much information doesn't have to result in an overdriven feedback of static and confusion, though in music, it often does. Representing the onslaught of global culture, media and technology invite temptation to over-saturate, and though that may be one accurate portrait of the (post) modern world, I'm not sure it's... |
Artist: Seiichi Yamamoto,
Album: Nu Frequency,
Genre: None,
Score (1-10): 7.2
Album review:
"Too much information doesn't have to result in an overdriven feedback of static and confusion, though in music, it often does. Representing the onslaught of global culture, media and technology invite temptation to ov... |
Portastatic | Bright Ideas | Experimental,Rock | Brandon Stosuy | 6.9 | In one sense, Mac McCaughan's repetitions are a key to his longevity. Structurally, he makes excellent use of run-on sentences for exclamatory emphasis; doubled lines (or more often quadrupled hiccups) propel his best songs. The oldie "My Noise" jumps with a row of fluctuating "It"'s: "It rides beside me/ It has no cho... |
Artist: Portastatic,
Album: Bright Ideas,
Genre: Experimental,Rock,
Score (1-10): 6.9
Album review:
"In one sense, Mac McCaughan's repetitions are a key to his longevity. Structurally, he makes excellent use of run-on sentences for exclamatory emphasis; doubled lines (or more often quadrupled hiccups) propel ... |
Neil Young | Tonight's the Night | Rock | Mark Richardson | 10 | In February 1972, Neil Young put out an album called Harvest and it became massive, going platinum and becoming the best-selling album of the year. In addition to changing Young’s position in the marketplace, the album’s runaway success made a mark on record shopping for years to come. Anyone who went to a store before... |
Artist: Neil Young,
Album: Tonight's the Night,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 10.0
Album review:
"In February 1972, Neil Young put out an album called Harvest and it became massive, going platinum and becoming the best-selling album of the year. In addition to changing Young’s position in the marketplace, the al... |
The Intelligence | Everybody's Got It Easy But Me | Electronic,Rock | Stuart Berman | 7.5 | At a recent Beach Boys concert I attended, the most enthusiastic crowd response-- measured by the number of couples dancing romantically, dudes in Hawaiian shirts bro-ing down, and solo hippie wig-outs-- came not for "Good Vibrations", "Wouldn't It Be Nice", or even "California Girls". No, it was for fuckin' "Kokomo". ... |
Artist: The Intelligence,
Album: Everybody's Got It Easy But Me,
Genre: Electronic,Rock,
Score (1-10): 7.5
Album review:
"At a recent Beach Boys concert I attended, the most enthusiastic crowd response-- measured by the number of couples dancing romantically, dudes in Hawaiian shirts bro-ing down, and solo hi... |
Fang Island | Fang Island | Rock | Ian Cohen | 8.3 | Brooklyn's Fang Island describe their aesthetic as "everyone high-fiving everyone." So it's appropriate that the band's website features a video of them jamming out with kindergartners and another with Andrew WK-- people so caught up in having a good time that you sometimes wonder if they're bullshitting you. What help... |
Artist: Fang Island,
Album: Fang Island,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 8.3
Album review:
"Brooklyn's Fang Island describe their aesthetic as "everyone high-fiving everyone." So it's appropriate that the band's website features a video of them jamming out with kindergartners and another with Andrew WK-- people so... |
Trae tha Truth | Tha Truth | Rap | Matthew Ramirez | 6.7 | There's a run on great rap voices in Houston—Bun B's crisp baritone, Z-Ro's bluesy bounce, Scarface's bellow. But Trae tha Truth's might be the most unique—a rasp carrying so much weight he might be Houston's version of Big Rube, if Rube decided to rhyme. He's also never really broke all the way through like his contem... |
Artist: Trae tha Truth,
Album: Tha Truth,
Genre: Rap,
Score (1-10): 6.7
Album review:
"There's a run on great rap voices in Houston—Bun B's crisp baritone, Z-Ro's bluesy bounce, Scarface's bellow. But Trae tha Truth's might be the most unique—a rasp carrying so much weight he might be Houston's version of Big... |
Mice Parade | Bem-Vinda Vontade | Electronic,Rock | Mark Richardson | 6.4 | Over their first five albums, Adam Pierce's Mice Parade maintained an almost unnerving consistency. Not only are these records roughly comparable in terms of quality, but across any individual album few tracks stand out as failures, just as few are so great they dwarf the music surrounding them. The Mice Parade sound--... |
Artist: Mice Parade,
Album: Bem-Vinda Vontade,
Genre: Electronic,Rock,
Score (1-10): 6.4
Album review:
"Over their first five albums, Adam Pierce's Mice Parade maintained an almost unnerving consistency. Not only are these records roughly comparable in terms of quality, but across any individual album few tra... |
Harry Bertoia | Clear Sounds/Perfetta | Experimental | Marc Masters | 8 | Lots of drone musicians have been called sound sculptors, but Harry Bertoia literally was one. The Italian-born American artist, who passed away in 1978 at age 63, remains well-known today as a sculptor and designer. In the last decade of his life, though, he also became a musician, pretty much by chance. While buildin... |
Artist: Harry Bertoia,
Album: Clear Sounds/Perfetta,
Genre: Experimental,
Score (1-10): 8.0
Album review:
"Lots of drone musicians have been called sound sculptors, but Harry Bertoia literally was one. The Italian-born American artist, who passed away in 1978 at age 63, remains well-known today as a sculptor ... |
The Underachievers | Indigoism | Rap | Craig Jenkins | 8 | The Brainfeeder-affiliated Brooklyn rap duo the Underachievers are part of New York City's loose knit Beast Coast collective, which counts Joey Bada$$ and his Pro Era crew along with Flatbush Zombies among its membership, and the A$AP Mob as friends. But the Underachievers are a singular presence within the new New Yor... |
Artist: The Underachievers,
Album: Indigoism,
Genre: Rap,
Score (1-10): 8.0
Album review:
"The Brainfeeder-affiliated Brooklyn rap duo the Underachievers are part of New York City's loose knit Beast Coast collective, which counts Joey Bada$$ and his Pro Era crew along with Flatbush Zombies among its membershi... |
Booka Shade | Movements | Electronic | Tim Finney | 8.6 | Two years ago Berlin-based Get Physical was belatedly recognised as the label for voluptuous, hook-heavy electro-house, but by this point it was already moving on. Booka Shade's "Mandarine Girl", issued last May, announced a paradigm shift, its sheets of noise and spiralling synth riffs reaching out to both the most st... |
Artist: Booka Shade,
Album: Movements,
Genre: Electronic,
Score (1-10): 8.6
Album review:
"Two years ago Berlin-based Get Physical was belatedly recognised as the label for voluptuous, hook-heavy electro-house, but by this point it was already moving on. Booka Shade's "Mandarine Girl", issued last May, announ... |
Thomas Fehlmann | Gute Luft | Electronic | Larry Fitzmaurice | 7.9 | Thomas Fehlmann's Gute Luft is both a new album and also a companion to the 24-hour-long television documentary series 24h Berlin, which follows a handful of Berliners' lives over a one-day period. Fehlmann composed music for the project separately from fellow musical contributor Maurus Ronner, and much of Fehlmann's w... |
Artist: Thomas Fehlmann,
Album: Gute Luft,
Genre: Electronic,
Score (1-10): 7.9
Album review:
"Thomas Fehlmann's Gute Luft is both a new album and also a companion to the 24-hour-long television documentary series 24h Berlin, which follows a handful of Berliners' lives over a one-day period. Fehlmann composed... |
The Dirtbombs | Ooey Gooey Chewy Ka-Blooey | Electronic,Rock | Douglas Wolk | 5.7 | As fantastic a live band as the Dirtbombs are, their recordings often seem like an excuse for Mick Collins to demonstrate how broad his taste is. ("You like Soft Cell and Flipper and Carl Craig? I thought I was the only one!") Around 10 years ago, Collins started talking about making a bubblegum album with the group; n... |
Artist: The Dirtbombs,
Album: Ooey Gooey Chewy Ka-Blooey,
Genre: Electronic,Rock,
Score (1-10): 5.7
Album review:
"As fantastic a live band as the Dirtbombs are, their recordings often seem like an excuse for Mick Collins to demonstrate how broad his taste is. ("You like Soft Cell and Flipper and Carl Craig? ... |
Nozinja | Nozinja Lodge | Electronic,Global | Louis Pattison | 6.9 | Shangaan Electro is the sort of genre that you’d assume cultural imperialism would have long ago rendered obsolete: a quirky, hyperlocal sound that’s nothing much like anything else around it or before it. You can attribute its singular nature to the fact it’s, in large part, the creation of one man—Richard Mthethwa, a... |
Artist: Nozinja,
Album: Nozinja Lodge,
Genre: Electronic,Global,
Score (1-10): 6.9
Album review:
"Shangaan Electro is the sort of genre that you’d assume cultural imperialism would have long ago rendered obsolete: a quirky, hyperlocal sound that’s nothing much like anything else around it or before it. You ca... |
Tim Gane, Sean O'Hagan | La Vie d'Artiste OST | Electronic,Rock | Nitsuh Abebe | 5.4 | Here are two things you will never hear any sane person say about Sean O'Hagan: That he doesn't have a singular musical vision, and that he's not committed to it. For nearly two decades, O'Hagan has been busily hollowing out a nook that's all his, both with his own High Llamas and as an adjunct contributor to Stereolab... |
Artist: Tim Gane, Sean O'Hagan,
Album: La Vie d'Artiste OST,
Genre: Electronic,Rock,
Score (1-10): 5.4
Album review:
"Here are two things you will never hear any sane person say about Sean O'Hagan: That he doesn't have a singular musical vision, and that he's not committed to it. For nearly two decades, O'Hag... |
Bibi Bourelly | Free the Real (Pt. 2) | Pop/R&B | Katherine St. Asaph | 6.8 | The music industry is rarely generous with fairytale successes, but the closest thing to one was bequeathed last year upon 22-year-old German-Haitian songwriter Bibi Bourelly. Discovered on Instagram, Bourelly was introduced to Kanye West and, more broadly, to the songwriting industry in perpetual need of young creativ... |
Artist: Bibi Bourelly,
Album: Free the Real (Pt. 2),
Genre: Pop/R&B,
Score (1-10): 6.8
Album review:
"The music industry is rarely generous with fairytale successes, but the closest thing to one was bequeathed last year upon 22-year-old German-Haitian songwriter Bibi Bourelly. Discovered on Instagram, Bourell... |
Sigur Rós | Svefn-G-Englar EP | Rock | Ryan Kearney | 8 | I don't envy Boston's meteorologists. Not only do they cover most of New England, but they're facing a climate that's notoriously unpredictable and severe, running the gamut from incapacitating heat to marrow-freezing cold, from nor'easters to hurricanes. Under a hovering deadline, they must assess their data using exp... |
Artist: Sigur Rós,
Album: Svefn-G-Englar EP,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 8.0
Album review:
"I don't envy Boston's meteorologists. Not only do they cover most of New England, but they're facing a climate that's notoriously unpredictable and severe, running the gamut from incapacitating heat to marrow-freezing c... |
Various Artists | Horse Meat Disco Volume IV | null | Andy Beta | 7.7 | After decades of vilification, disco began to gain traction in the culture once again in the early 21st century. Thanks to the productions from the likes of Daniel Wang and Metro Area, a new wave of indie rock acts and DJs began to embrace the tropes of the genre. LCD Soundsystem, !!!, and Out Hud used those rubbery ba... |
Artist: Various Artists,
Album: Horse Meat Disco Volume IV,
Genre: None,
Score (1-10): 7.7
Album review:
"After decades of vilification, disco began to gain traction in the culture once again in the early 21st century. Thanks to the productions from the likes of Daniel Wang and Metro Area, a new wave of indie... |
Karp | Action Chemistry | Experimental,Metal,Rock | Alison Fields | 7.5 | It's late 1995. You're a couple months shy of twenty years old, and though technically a college student, you can't remember the last time you attended a class. You spend your evenings driving back and forth to the well-known college town approximately 45 miles to the east of your current residence for name musical eve... |
Artist: Karp,
Album: Action Chemistry,
Genre: Experimental,Metal,Rock,
Score (1-10): 7.5
Album review:
"It's late 1995. You're a couple months shy of twenty years old, and though technically a college student, you can't remember the last time you attended a class. You spend your evenings driving back and fort... |
Fugazi | Instrument Soundtrack | Rock | Brent DiCrescenzo | 8 | Long the lodestar of credibility in punk, Fugazi has steadily chiseled a dogma and oeuvre over the last 12 years that arguably makes them the most important band of the '90s. But what they really want the public to know more than anything is that they have a sense of humor. In their massive documentary, Instrument, Fug... |
Artist: Fugazi,
Album: Instrument Soundtrack,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 8.0
Album review:
"Long the lodestar of credibility in punk, Fugazi has steadily chiseled a dogma and oeuvre over the last 12 years that arguably makes them the most important band of the '90s. But what they really want the public to kno... |
The Hold Steady | Teeth Dreams | Rock | Paul Thompson | 6.4 | "I heard the Cityscape Skins are kinda kicking it again," Craig Finn blurts out at the beginning of Teeth Dreams, the sixth LP from the Hold Steady. Over the years, the Cityscape Skins—a fictional coterie of tattoo-emblazoned Twin Cities street toughs—have darkened the doorways of many a Hold Steady song. But, beyond a... |
Artist: The Hold Steady,
Album: Teeth Dreams,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 6.4
Album review:
""I heard the Cityscape Skins are kinda kicking it again," Craig Finn blurts out at the beginning of Teeth Dreams, the sixth LP from the Hold Steady. Over the years, the Cityscape Skins—a fictional coterie of tattoo-emb... |
Ra Ra Riot | Beta Love | Rock | Harley Brown | 5.2 | Over the course of their seven-year career, Ra Ra Riot have, for better or worse, been known as the indie band with orchestral strings. It was a bit of a shock, then, when in 2010 the Antlers' Peter Silberman remixed short samples from their entire sophomore album, The Orchard, into a four-minute glitchy electronic tra... |
Artist: Ra Ra Riot,
Album: Beta Love,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 5.2
Album review:
"Over the course of their seven-year career, Ra Ra Riot have, for better or worse, been known as the indie band with orchestral strings. It was a bit of a shock, then, when in 2010 the Antlers' Peter Silberman remixed short sam... |
Valet | Naked Acid | Electronic | Grayson Currin | 7.7 | Calling Valet constant Honey Owens a Portland musician is a simplification: Aside from two LPs in two years as the spectral Valet, Owens has contributed to Jackie O-Motherfucker and Dark Yoga. She's a member of broken funk trio Nudge and the touring bassist for Kranky labelmate Atlas Sound. She also co-owns Rad Summer,... |
Artist: Valet,
Album: Naked Acid,
Genre: Electronic,
Score (1-10): 7.7
Album review:
"Calling Valet constant Honey Owens a Portland musician is a simplification: Aside from two LPs in two years as the spectral Valet, Owens has contributed to Jackie O-Motherfucker and Dark Yoga. She's a member of broken funk t... |
Sinoia Caves | Beyond the Black Rainbow OST | Rock | Stephen M. Deusner | 8.1 | As a kid growing growing up on Vancouver Island, Panos Cosmatos spent hours at his local video store, which was then still a new kind of business in North American suburbia. He would browse the endless racks of VHS boxes, especially curious about the fantastical illustrations that lined the horror and science fiction s... |
Artist: Sinoia Caves,
Album: Beyond the Black Rainbow OST,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 8.1
Album review:
"As a kid growing growing up on Vancouver Island, Panos Cosmatos spent hours at his local video store, which was then still a new kind of business in North American suburbia. He would browse the endless rac... |
The 6ths | Wasps’ Nests | Rock | Robert Ham | 8.5 | To the world at large, Stephin Merritt was born in 1999. It was in those waning days of the 20th century that his band the Magnetic Fields released 69 Love Songs, the 3xCD opus that delivered exactly what its title promised, and did so with such diversity and brilliance that it was deemed an instant classic. From that ... |
Artist: The 6ths,
Album: Wasps’ Nests,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 8.5
Album review:
"To the world at large, Stephin Merritt was born in 1999. It was in those waning days of the 20th century that his band the Magnetic Fields released 69 Love Songs, the 3xCD opus that delivered exactly what its title promised, ... |
Landing | Seasons | Rock | Mark Richard-San | 7.3 | I had a small epiphany last week. On a Monday morning I was walking the two blocks to catch the bus to work. It was raining hard, I was trudging along under my umbrella, and it felt great. It's the driest year this area has had in many years, and I realized while walking that I hadn't used an umbrella even once in six ... |
Artist: Landing,
Album: Seasons,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 7.3
Album review:
"I had a small epiphany last week. On a Monday morning I was walking the two blocks to catch the bus to work. It was raining hard, I was trudging along under my umbrella, and it felt great. It's the driest year this area has had in ... |
Morningwood | Morningwood | Electronic,Rock | Adam Moerder | 3.9 | Haters seeking a new target for bilious, fire-bellied screeds are going to love Morningwood: They're yet another NYC retro-rock retread, their bassist used to drum for the Wallflowers, and, yes, of all the possible bandnames in the whole entire world, they chose "Morningwood." If taking swings at them seems easy, it ou... |
Artist: Morningwood,
Album: Morningwood,
Genre: Electronic,Rock,
Score (1-10): 3.9
Album review:
"Haters seeking a new target for bilious, fire-bellied screeds are going to love Morningwood: They're yet another NYC retro-rock retread, their bassist used to drum for the Wallflowers, and, yes, of all the possib... |
Charles Bradley | Victim of Love | Pop/R&B | Dean Van Nguyen | 6.8 | With a roster that has boasted singers like Sharon Jones, Lee Fields, Naomi Shelton and the sadly departed Joseph Henry, Brooklyn-based label Daptone Records have forged their retro soul ethos for a decade now with a very calculated method: correcting history’s mistakes by signing aging soul starlets who have fallen th... |
Artist: Charles Bradley,
Album: Victim of Love,
Genre: Pop/R&B,
Score (1-10): 6.8
Album review:
"With a roster that has boasted singers like Sharon Jones, Lee Fields, Naomi Shelton and the sadly departed Joseph Henry, Brooklyn-based label Daptone Records have forged their retro soul ethos for a decade now wit... |
Venetian Snares | The Chocolate Wheelchair Album | Electronic | Dan Lett | 6.5 | Aaron Funk (aka Venetian Snares) claims his first musical experience was attending an in utero Mike Oldfield session courtesy of his pregnant mother. Funk has since revisited his sonic initiation in the womb with the eponymous Nymphomatriarch release, sourced entirely from mid-coitus, "internal" samples of he and partn... |
Artist: Venetian Snares,
Album: The Chocolate Wheelchair Album,
Genre: Electronic,
Score (1-10): 6.5
Album review:
"Aaron Funk (aka Venetian Snares) claims his first musical experience was attending an in utero Mike Oldfield session courtesy of his pregnant mother. Funk has since revisited his sonic initiatio... |
Various Artists | Eccentric Soul: The Bandit Label | null | Joe Tangari | 7.9 | At 4114 S. Martin Luther King Drive in Chicago sits the specter of a building, a crumbling greystone indistinguishable from the thousands like it that litter the city's South Side. But this house has a unique and bizarre history as the focal point of one the strangest chapters in Chicago's musical history, that of Arro... |
Artist: Various Artists,
Album: Eccentric Soul: The Bandit Label,
Genre: None,
Score (1-10): 7.9
Album review:
"At 4114 S. Martin Luther King Drive in Chicago sits the specter of a building, a crumbling greystone indistinguishable from the thousands like it that litter the city's South Side. But this house ha... |
Elephant Man | Monsters of Dancehall: The Energy God | Global | Dave Stelfox | 6.8 | Take a look at Elephant Man now and you'll see a manic dance instructor yelling "Pon Di River, Flowers a Bloom, Sunlight, Sunlight", a weddy-weddy-weddying Krusty the Klownalike driving the celebrations along with crazed bellowing and nonsense rhymes. It's all good clean fun, and there's no limit to Jamaican music's de... |
Artist: Elephant Man,
Album: Monsters of Dancehall: The Energy God,
Genre: Global,
Score (1-10): 6.8
Album review:
"Take a look at Elephant Man now and you'll see a manic dance instructor yelling "Pon Di River, Flowers a Bloom, Sunlight, Sunlight", a weddy-weddy-weddying Krusty the Klownalike driving the cele... |
Delroy Edwards | Hangin’ At the Beach | null | Marc Masters | 7.5 | Delroy Edwards has a knack for turning the past into the future. Through his label L.A. Club Resource and online store Gene’s Liquor, he unearths old underground rap and techno tapes that sound remarkably fresh, and his own music, be it his pumping house jams on L.I.E.S. or the cassette-sourced mixes he calls Slowed Do... |
Artist: Delroy Edwards,
Album: Hangin’ At the Beach,
Genre: None,
Score (1-10): 7.5
Album review:
"Delroy Edwards has a knack for turning the past into the future. Through his label L.A. Club Resource and online store Gene’s Liquor, he unearths old underground rap and techno tapes that sound remarkably fresh,... |
Laurel Halo | Dust | Electronic | Chal Ravens | 8.2 | Laurel Halo has taken a winding, unpredictable route to her third album for Hyperdub, and once again, her new record feels like a reaction against the last. The American-born, Berlin-based musician has consistently deflected interpretations of her music’s meaning, eluding attempts to classify her by genre, gender, or o... |
Artist: Laurel Halo,
Album: Dust,
Genre: Electronic,
Score (1-10): 8.2
Album review:
"Laurel Halo has taken a winding, unpredictable route to her third album for Hyperdub, and once again, her new record feels like a reaction against the last. The American-born, Berlin-based musician has consistently deflected... |
Bjørn Torske | Byen | Electronic | Andy Beta | 6.9 | A 2012 single from the mischievous Scandinavian dance label Sex Tags Mania came packaged with a shout-out: A message on the label of the 12" read, “Dedicated to Erot and Torske for giving Norway a true HOUSE era!” It was no exaggeration. At the turn of the millennium, in a country with no dance music tradition to call ... |
Artist: Bjørn Torske,
Album: Byen,
Genre: Electronic,
Score (1-10): 6.9
Album review:
"A 2012 single from the mischievous Scandinavian dance label Sex Tags Mania came packaged with a shout-out: A message on the label of the 12" read, “Dedicated to Erot and Torske for giving Norway a true HOUSE era!” It was no... |
Notekillers | We're Here to Help | Rock | Marc Masters | 7.4 | It's hard to think of a more surprising reunion than that of instrumental trio the Notekillers. The Philadelphia-based group skated on the edges of post-punk and no wave in the late 1970s, releasing just one 7" ("The Zipper" b/w "Clockwise") during a five-year career. What they didn't know when they broke up in 1981 wa... |
Artist: Notekillers,
Album: We're Here to Help,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 7.4
Album review:
"It's hard to think of a more surprising reunion than that of instrumental trio the Notekillers. The Philadelphia-based group skated on the edges of post-punk and no wave in the late 1970s, releasing just one 7" ("The... |
Chief | Modern Rituals | Rock | Joshua Love | 5.2 | The guys in Chief grew up in California, but the band actually formed while three of them were attending NYU. That bicoastalism reveals itself neatly in the band's music. Modern Rituals, the group's full-length debut, blends NY backbeats and jaded vocals with woolly West Coast harmonies and mellow vibes, and it works i... |
Artist: Chief,
Album: Modern Rituals,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 5.2
Album review:
"The guys in Chief grew up in California, but the band actually formed while three of them were attending NYU. That bicoastalism reveals itself neatly in the band's music. Modern Rituals, the group's full-length debut, blends N... |
Daniel Lanois | Shine | Rock | Brandon Stosuy | 5.6 | Daniel Lanois' third solo album Shine-- the first since his decade-old For The Beauty Of Wynona-- is difficult to swallow, and not because of any challenging experimentation, politics, or off-kilter production. None of that, nah. What got me nervous about this album is that, for his reputation, it's the most drab, adul... |
Artist: Daniel Lanois,
Album: Shine,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 5.6
Album review:
"Daniel Lanois' third solo album Shine-- the first since his decade-old For The Beauty Of Wynona-- is difficult to swallow, and not because of any challenging experimentation, politics, or off-kilter production. None of that, na... |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.