Blogs

Forming in 2009, Broken Bells Brian Burton (Danger Mouse) and James Mercer (The Shins) released their second album, After the Disco, in February; fitting as most of the songs on the record sound like an afterthought. Not to despair all fans, as there are glimmers of...

Indie-rock band still has chemistry Returning after a four year break from album releases, We Are Scientists manage to provide another solid album with TV en Francais. The overall sound is a bit darker than the pep and pop that was associated with their past releases,...

Catchy, light, and technically impressive debut album. Texan band Colleens show promise of being a light, intelligent indie pop band with their debut LP Wild Dreams. Much of the album centers around love, whether it is seeking it, having it, appreciating it, or...

The kind of folk that is hard to ignore. The best kind of folk music tells old stories in a new way. In his third full length release, Nashville based folk artist Stone Jack Jones wields together a haunting and powerful narrative of his upbringing in coal towns. This...

Ambitious undertaking from indie-pop duo that covers a lot of ground successfully. Swedish band Marching Band‰'s newest album, So Much Imagine, is an ambitious, lengthy masterpiece. Among the 21 tracks, there are catchy pop anthems, mellow ballads, and completely...

A psychedelic band infused with dark, orchestral melodies. Over the past four years, Friend Roulette has developed into a six-piece ensemble including a bass clarinet, violin and synthesizer, making for a lot of amazing and unique tunes. The kick drum pounds away at...

Promising, tender lead single Papercuts is Jason Quever best known as engineer/producer for Cass Mccombs, Beach House, and Casiotone for the Painfully Alone to name a few. Papercuts released their first album in 2004 with Mockingbird, releasing their latest album,...

The lovechild of Vampire Weekend and the Beach Boys. While clocking in at a mere eighteen minutes, Lime Cordiale packs a distinctive sound in their newest EP, Falling Up the Stairs. Kicking off the “Bullshit Aside‰Û, Lime Cordiale brings a 60s beachy vibe with a...

A Minimalistic Reemergence Though Neneh Cherry has not released an album for 16 years, Blank Project captivates the listener with a modern, understated, emotional sound. The LP, filled with musical themes of jazz, soul, hip-hop, rock, pop, and electronica, was mixed...

Digging the Musical Diversity Adio Marchant, known has Bipolar Sunshine, has crafted a short EP full of promise with fun melodies and diverse instrumentation. The EP is full of personal storytelling, complimenting the lyricism with his heartfelt sound. Each track on...

Alt-country giants return with solid if not complacent release Legends of alt-country and modern Southern rock, Drive-By Truckers are known for using their sense of humor and clever inversion and adaptation of Southern tropes and stereotypes to write trailer park...

Young, light, catchy, quirky. New As Dew is Ruby the Rabbitfoot‰'s sophomore album, and this quirky Athens based artist has made something unique. The album is a blend of folk and pop, her voice is soft and sweet with a little sass from time to time. The tracks are...

James Taylor wannabe. But has some good moments. Robby Hecht is Nashville based singer/songwriter, and his self titled album was his first release. He explained the record as an attempt to return back to the golden acoustic era sound, with simple melodies and...

Get crazy melancholy with the cheez whiz Much of the advance press for Beck‰'s first album in six years, Morning Phase, has compared the record to his 2002 masterpiece, Sea Change. Sure enough, as soon as the orchestral introduction “Cycle‰” segues into “Morning,‰”...

Making new age cool again Though proliferation of 80‰'s everything currently pervades a fair amount of music today, it‰'s not very often we see an artist openly embrace the styling‰'s of the often-mocked genre of new age, yet that is exactly what Mark McGuire, former...

Boozy, twangy garage-rock Natural Child have always been loudly, lovingly, and very deliberately untamed, fully embracing their country-rocking, beer chugging, and fun loving tendencies. Though their latest effort, Dancin‰' with Wolves, may be slightly better produced...

A multi-instrumental conceptual storytelling experience Blue Film is an album that should be taken in as a whole. Los Angeles-based singer songwriter, Matthew Hemerlein, under the name Lo-Fang, has took his life experiences and translated them into an album filled...

An enjoyable, if not remarkable, half-hour of lo-fi pop On Haxel Princess, Cherry Glazerr check off all the points seemingly required for modern lo-fi Californian pop acts. They‰'ve got the sweet female vocals, lyrics that alternate between self-aware and hilarious...

Simple yet infectious dance tracks Thomas Barfod has been making sleek electronic music in one group or another for years now, developing a proficient, straightforward style that placed heavy emphasis on solid vocal hooks and dance-till-you-die beats, a style Tomas...

Capital Punishment: Never Forget Throughout the course of Mas Ysa‰'s debut EP, Thomas Arsenault tries just about everything that could ever be considered under the broad moniker of “synth-pop‰Û. Despite Mas Ysa‰'s penchant for variation, he‰'s able to maintain a...

Dee Dee Penny meets country-pop. In the opening track, Eden Fine Day sounds like just another ordinary indie pop, female-fronted band; exuding a very similar style to Dum Dum Girls, Vivian Girls, La Sera (etc.) By incorporating a banjo, and making the twangy vocals...