Monthly Archives: August 2016
Heaters – Baptistina
Powerful, garagey, psychedelic surf rock from Michigan band Heaters. Smashes you over the head with distorted hooks and heady instrumental passages. Worth a listen! Label: Beyond Beyond is Beyond FCC: Clean Play: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 RIYL: Thee Oh Sees, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
William Tyler – Modern Country
Although late to the studio, this collection hasn’t aged a day since its release in June. Like Sturgill Simpson, and various other artists, William Tyler is yet another challenging the “country” label in current music. Sweeping, virtuoso, instrumental guitar songs that unfold like the score to a forgotten road movie. Enjoy! Label: Merge Records FCC: […]
Blood Orange – Freetown Sound
Another supreme offering. A variety of sounds and influences, this is one of the best albums of the year. Mainly in a genre of its own, Dev Hynes has put together an “album” in the true sense of the word. Endlessly fascinating, full of hooks and thick bass lines, play it a lot! Label: Domino […]
Emi Ferguson Plays the Flute Music of Kendall Durelle Briggs
Very pretty, highly lyrical works for flute and piano. Play!
John H. Wallace–pale reflections
Intense contemporary pieces for string quartet with accompaniment. Lots of rhythmic changes. Play most!
Sharon Bezaly Plays Flute Concertos by Kachaturian & Rautavaara
Both raucous and sweet, modern works for flute and orchestra.
Candlemass- Death Thy Lover EP
Candlemass– Death Thy Lover Release date: 2016Jun03 Label: Napalm Rating: 4.5/5 Candlemass‘s first release since the departure of Robert Lowe and return of Mats Leven. Death Thy Lover starts with a soft wail, echoing louder, melding with thunderous drums and epic bass. Thy Sleeping Giant plods along, guided by tortured vocals. Sinister & Sweet is kind-of similar […]
Pallbearer- Fear and Fury EP
Pallbearer– Fear and Fury EP Release date: 2016Aug10 Label: Profound Lore Rating: 4.5/5 Pallbearer return with a remastered version of the title track and two covers, one of Black Sabbath and the other being Type O Negative. Fear and Fury defines them with a crisp, melancholy vibe. Over & Over is softer, thicker than the […]
Direct Hit- Wasted Mind
Direct Hit– Wasted Mind Release date: 2016Jun24 Label: Fat Wreck Chords Rating: 3.5/5 Direct Hit hail from Milwaukee. Promo material claims that this album is a concise version of Green Day‘s American Idiot. Ok, if you say so. “Artificial Confidence” starts off with a standard pop punk vibe. Favorites include “Paid in Brains“, “Was It […]
Useless ID- State Is Burning
Useless ID– State Is Burning Release date: 2016Jul01 Label: Fat Wreck Chords Rating: 4/5 Newest release from Useless ID. Sounds like stripped, old school punk to my jaded ears. Favorites include “Land of Idiocracy“, “Stopwatch“, “Creation“, “State is Burning” and “We Don’t Want the Airwaves” (lots of name-dropping, a Ramones tribute). It’s fast, it’s loud […]
Fat Wreck Chords- Mild in The Streets
Fat Wreck Chords– Mild In The Streets (Fat Music Unplugged) Release date: 2016Jul01 Label: Fat Wreck Chords Rating: 3.5/5 This is a compilation of acoustic versions of songs from several bands in Fat’s roster. Some of my favorite tracks are “Fruitless Fortunes” (Swingin’ Utters), “Care of Me” (Morning Glory), “1 Trillion Dollars” (Anti-Flag), “This One’s […]
Wild Beasts – Boy King
Excellent fifth album by the sensual Wild Beasts. Lots of deep grooves and experimental guitar flourishes enhanced by unique crooning vocals. Produced by John Congleton. Label: Domino FCC: 2, 7 Play: 1, 3, 4, 8, 10 RIYL: Perfume Genius, Warpaint
Ryley Walker – Golden Sings That Have Been Sung
Psychedelic, pastoral, jazz/folk follow up to 2015’s Primrose Green. The young Chicago artist is a force to be reckoned with. Vocals delivered conversationally and allows for long instrumental passages. Great stuff! Label: Dead Oceans FCC: 2, 4, 6 Play: 1, 3, 5 RIYL: William Tyler, Wilco, Van Morrison, Nick Drake
Thee Oh Sees – A Weird Exits
Another driving, frenzied album by San Francisco’s Thee Oh Sees. This release includes some kraut influenced instrumentals and explores the apocalyptic side of psychedelia. Label: Castle Face FCC: None Play: 5, 1, 2, 4 RIYL: Ty Segall, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard
OIM: Vol II (OIM Records)
A whole lot of sighing soft rock in one place. Track 3 is like The Brazilian Girls doing meditation. Track 4 has likely appeared in one of David Lynch’s dreams. Track 5 will appeal to people having a mid-life crisis. Track 6 escaped from a late ’90s young persons angst movie. Track 10 wishes it […]
Slow Club – “One Day All of This Won’t Matter Anymore”
Slow Club is an indie-folk duo that have been together for about ten years now, and One Day All of This Won’t Matter Anymore” is their fourth album. In my opinion, it’s their best album yet. It’s warm, and so classic sounding, and all around more cohesive. The hooks have pop appeal and are smooth and […]
Joseph – “I’m Alone, No You’re Not”
I was very excited yesterday when I opened up the mail and saw that the new Joseph record had been sent to us form the homies at ATO Records. I loved their last record, and have missed multiple chances to see them live, so I am excited that they have a new album and are […]
Dead Gaze – “Easy Travels”
Dead Gaze is a band fronted by Cole Furlow, and since he has been releasing projects under the moniker, he has been a reliable producer of feedback swathed psych-pop with a hint of garage rock. This latest album is no exception. The thing I love about this band is that they can meld the genres […]
Black Foxxes – “I’m Not Well”
Black Foxxes are an alternative rock trio haling from the United Kingdom, and I’m Not Well is their debut studio album. As this is my first taste of this band, I didn’t really know what to expect, but I was pleased with the results. This album boasts grungy, distorted sounds that feature an alternative rock trance. The […]
The Chairman Dances – “Time Without Measures”
The Chairman Dances are a band hailing from Philidelphia, PA and Time Without Measure is their debut studio album. As you could probably assume by glancing at the album cover, this album lyrically is very politically charged. With subject matter such as this, you would assume this is a punk album, but the band defies that expectation. […]
Alex Cameron – “Jumping the Shark”
Alex Cameron is a recording artist hailing from Australia, and his latest album Jumping the Shark (nice Happy Days reference there by the way) is my first taste of Mr. Cameron’s worked, and I must say I am impressed. Like a lot of the people signed to Secretly Canadian, Cameron has the ability to craft amazing stories […]
Thee Oh Sees – “Live in San Francisco”
If you have ever listened to an album by Thee Oh Sees, then you would expect some high energy performances delivered with raw emotion, and that is exactly what you get from the group’s live performance at The Chapel in San Francisco, CA. The band plays eleven songs from their catalog, and you can tell […]
Gøggs – “Gøggs”
Gøggs is the name of the latest band from famed garage-rocker Ty Segall, and if you have ever listened to anything that Ty Segall has ever released ever, then I guarantee you that you have a pretty decent idea of what this album sounds like. The guitar riffs are loud and offkilter and rittled with […]
Paul Simon – “Stranger to Stranger”
In all honesty, I thought that his album was going to be utter trash when I received it in the mail. After all, Paul Simon is 74, and some of his contemporaries like Bob Dylan don’t sound that fantastic for their age, but GOD DAMN did this album prove me wrong. Right from the get-go, […]
Moon Hooch – “Red Sky”
I will never forget the first time I ever heard Moon Hooch, because I honestly had no idea what to think of it, but I honestly knew I was going to love it because of how amazing and uniquely these guys can bang out a saxophone riff. Their style is self-described “cave music” and this […]
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