Built to Spill – There’s Nothing Wrong with Love (1994, Reissue 2015)
It’s May 1994 in Boise, Idaho — one month after the death of Kurt Cobain. Though this town is 500 miles southeast of Seattle, almost an 8-hour drive, that’s not so far in this part of the country. You...
View ArticleVA – Cherrystones Presents Critical Mass: Splinters from the Worldwide...
As a recording artist, Cherrystones (aka Gareth Goddard) has a discography that stretches back to the late-’90s with credits for Finders Keepers and the affiliated Brutal Music, but it’s his skills for...
View ArticleShackleton – Devotional Songs (2016)
When Sam Shackleton moved to Berlin in 2008, it was easy to assume that, trading one scene for another, he was abandoning dubstep for techno. There was plenty of cross-pollination between the two...
View ArticleEquiknoxx – Bird Sound Power (2016)
Equiknoxx are one of the weirdest, most innovative dancehall squads from Jamaica right now; Bird Sound Power is their debut collective show of strength, packing 12 avant, crooked riddims by core...
View ArticleSkin Crime – Case Studies in Early Taxidermy Techniques (2016)
The latest release on Prurient and Vatican Shadow mastermind Dominick Fernow’s Hospital Productions shines a light on Patrick O’Neil’s harsh noise project Skin Crime. Titled Case Studies in Early...
View ArticleVia Tania – Via Tania and the Tomorrow Music Orchestra (2015)
The path to this album was a trying one. The career of Australian singer Via Tania, known to her family as Tania Bowers, started off huge. Then living in Chicago, her 2003 debut album, Under a...
View ArticleRaime – Tooth (2016)
In many ways, Raime’s Quarter Turns Over a Living Line epitomized the Blackest Ever Black aesthetic: it was as dark as a tunnel into hell, an album as a place for a new sepulchral incarnation of...
View ArticleAngel Olsen – My Woman (2016)
Anyone reckless enough to have typecast Angel Olsen according to 2013’s Burn Your Fire for No Witness is in for a sizable surprise with her third album, My Woman. The crunchier, blown-out production of...
View ArticleNational Park Radio – The Great Divide (2016)
Americana and Folk has seen a large revival over the last ten years with acts like The Avett Brothers, Mumford and Sons, and The Lumineers headlining festivals. There is an excess of new Americana...
View ArticleWild Beasts – Boy King (2016)
Wearing hearts, lungs and other vulnerable organs on their sleeves, Cumbrian artisans Wild Beasts turn their gaze to the male ego on their newest record. Exhibit A, titles: Big Cat, Tough Guy, Eat Your...
View ArticleSteve Adamyk Band – Graceland (2016)
The Ottawa-based Steve Adamyk Band have quietly been crafting quite a résumé of rawly stylish punky, poppy garage rock albums, each delivered with a raucous punch and plenty of hooky tunes. Their 2016...
View ArticleCotton Mather – Death of the Cool (2016)
Cotton Mather, the power pop group led by Robert Harrison, released one of the most impressive under-the-radar classic albums of the ’90s, Kontiki. It hit right in the sweet spot between the melodies...
View ArticleIsnaj Dui – Dioptrics (2015)
Dioptrics‘ CD is housed within a hand-printed sleeve that’s clearly home-made, but its lo-fi presentation is anything but a turn-off; if anything, it adds to the release’s charm in making it feel as if...
View ArticleViola Beach – Viola Beach (2016)
The posthumous debut album from British indie rock quartet Viola Beach is a harsh reminder of the caprices of fate. With only a few singles under their belts — including one in heavy rotation on BBC...
View ArticleLena Platonos – Gallop (1985, Remastered 2015)
As many culturally established nations worldwide, the Greeks have had their own times of experimenting with different kinds of music, from early ’70s electronics to new wave, synth pop, industrial and...
View ArticleDavid Grubbs – Prismrose (2016)
David Grubbs plugs in his electric guitar and lets his muse take him where it will on this short, primarily instrumental collection. Only one track on Prismrose features vocals, a musical adaptation of...
View ArticleMerrin Karras – Apex (2016)
Brendan Gregoriy has been producing techno and house tracks under the name Chymera since the early 2000s, and while his full-lengths have diverted slightly from his dancefloor-focused singles, with...
View ArticleNo Joy – Drool Sucker EP (2016)
Distance doesn’t always heart grow fonder, but you can count on it to summon the muse. Just ask No Joy: before they signed with Mexican Summer or shared stages with Best Coast and Deafheaven, Jasamine...
View ArticleMatt Carlson – The View from Nowhere (2016)
The View from Nowhere is a record of experimental electronic music that explores possible relationships between voice and modular synthesis. Composed and recorded by Matt Carlson at Worksound in...
View ArticleExecutive Slacks – The Complete Recordings 1982-1986 (2015)
They were one of the most groundbreaking bands to emerge out of Philadelphia in the early ‘80s, laying the sonic foundation for future acts such as Ministry, Skinny Puppy, and Nine Inch Nails. Yet the...
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