Blogs

WOOOOO The first twenty seconds of Atlas makes it seem as if the clouds are parting and a ray of sun is shining down as the long awaited three years since the release of Days, has finally come to an end. In “Had to Hear,‰” Martin Courtney begins with a simple and...

Bow down This is the album where Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent, proves herself peerless. The eleven songs on her latest, eponymous project could have been written by no one but herself, displaying the poppy yet wildly unpredictable songwriting of her previous releases,...

Fast and efficient garage punk. Interrupt, the fourth album from Bleeding Rainbow, is a quick affair, running just over a half hour. Bleeding Rainbow nonetheless fit a lot into that half hour, mostly by playing fast and cutting the frills. Most songs on the album...

A mixed bag of funky and sometimes punky art-rock. When Ava Luna released PRPL, the lead single from Electric Balloon, some made the mistake of viewing the slow, synth R&B track as a sign that the Brooklyn art-funk group had moved away from the chaos that...

Ex-noise rockers settle into new identity On last year‰'s New Moon, The Men made headlines by exploring alt-country in addition to their punkier, noisier sound that they made their bones off of, essentially splitting that record into two halves. There‰'s no such...

She‰'ll invite you over for macaroons, in a kind of creepy way. At 77, Linda Perhacs came out of retirement to make her second album in 44 years. Her first album, Parallelograms, flopped on the charts, but gained a cult like following through internet forums and the...

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...