Blogs

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...

Stirring up the singer songwriter world. Well-known for co-writing Feist‰'s song “1, 2, 3, 4,‰” Sally Seltmann incorporates many of the whimsical characteristics found in that song and combines them with quirky lyrics and unpredictable instrumentations. She is an...

An unpredictable and mournful electronica debut. Within the first three seconds, Pillar Point‰'s debut album comes to life, pulsing with energy before inevitably bursting into a synthesized atmosphere. Even though the beats and lyrics can become repetitive by the end...

Sunny, smart, edgy indie pop. Virginia-based band Eternal Summers‰' newest album The Drop Beneath lives up to the band‰'s name. Dreamy, light, and poppy, this album encompasses much of what makes summer great. Catchy riffs and verses are punctuated with edgy...

Exemplary indie. While a lot of characteristics fall under the umbrella of “indie‰Û, most bands stick to one or two subcategories. Cataldo is one band that is an exception to this trend. On Cataldo‰'s most recent album, “Gilded Oldies‰Û, dancey indie pop appears...

Dance rock and misc. instruments This Edmonton five-piece band describes Free Candy as “a well-conceived quasi-album about death, disappointment, and doin‰' it.‰” In spite of the downer descriptors, the overarching sound definitely stems from the devil‰'s tango. The...

Superchill Finnish indie-pop I‰'m sure we all know that there‰'s a science to producing a good pop album- a producer‰'s magic touch to make it the perfect amount of irresistibly catchy, incredibly easy to dance to, and contagiously head-bobbing. Never in a million...

Fun time bubblegum pop-punk Imagine the sort of Washington state band that name themselves after a palindrome involving felines and Mexican food. If there were ever a better description of TacocaT‰'s NVM, the band would probably find it too boring. With slight...

Pop-punk college problems Most kids outgrow pop-punk by high school. Philly based Modern Baseball took it to the collegiate level and skyrocketed to fame and acclaim with the success of their first album, Sports, and the absolute relatability of lyrics set to hooky...

Like Animal Collective, but poppier ceo is an Swedish electronic performer whose sophomore album “Wonderland” creates a weird and eerie atmosphere while listening. Each song creates a different feeling that is reminiscent of some kind of childhood moment....

Someone say 90’s trip-hop? English electronic producer since the 90s, Neil Davidge has finally made his solo debut with Slo Light and its chilled out vibe will bring you back to the era of trip hop and glitchy trance tunes. He’s produced Massive...

_An album in the truest sense of the word _ The Notwist album Close To The Glass starts off with the song “Signals,” which layers a series of techno sounds that make you feel like you’re flying in a futuristic spaceship. Markus Archer’s voice...

Spooky, psychedelic, synth-driven post-punk. Despite obviously being influenced by post-punk guitar gods like Glenn Branc and Wire, Australia’s New War don’t use guitars, relying instead on pounding synths and complex, insistent percussion. The percussion...

Warped Tour Despite “Back Seat Ho” being the name of half the songs on this EP, you can be assured its rave-ready IDM does not take a back seat on this one. Following up solid 2013 release Vapor City, respected electronic producer Travis Stewart starts off...

A gimmicky project that doesn’t really need the gimmick. Public Service Broadcasting take their band name very literally, they use samples from old – you guessed it – public service broadcasts. This song uses clips from a documentary about Mount...

Noisy and just the right amount of mopey Nothing may be a shoegaze band, but don‰'t lump them in with just every other group of twenty-somethings who‰'ve listened to Loveless a few too many times. With their roots in hardcore and punk music, Nothing bring a bit of a...

Loud, sweaty post-punk This is the kind of music that should never be played in a room bigger than the Black Cat, it would just sound off. UK-based Eagulls specialize in a grimy, bass driven brand of aggressive post-punk with songs that aim to get in, kick-ass, and...

Derivative but catchy With their select brand of hyper-hip and currently super-trendy influences (90‰'S INDIE ROCK AND ALL ITS SUBGENRES), it could be very easy for Cheatahs to get lost in the shimmery, reverbed, slightly distorted noise. On their debut album,...

Dark and very mysterious. This is an interesting album. It is hard to pinpoint exactly what this band is all about. There are moments within this album that are brilliant, whereas others are lackluster. The opening track, “Perennial Bulb,‰” has a mysterious start that...

An eccentric, Swedish singer-songwriter. If you are in search of a singer-songwriter who will help you get in touch with your inner emotions, Sibille Attar may not be the artist for you. The majority of her songs are quite exuberant despite the dark themes found...

Success has sweetened their tunes but hasn‰'t softened them Every release by Speedy Ortiz has found them updating their sound substantially. 2012‰'s Sports EP turned Speedy Ortiz from a one-lady lo-fi project into a four-person juggernaut. Last year‰'s_ Major Arcana_...

EIS‰'s token Europeans hit all the volume levels on a pleasingly psychedelic guitar album Disco Doom are somewhat of an outlier on the Exploding In Sound roster. For one thing, they‰'re not from the Northeast but from Switzerland. And for another, Disco Doom are a...