Articles By: Brad Smith 
"Did I listen to music because I was miserable, or was I miserable because I listened to music?"
Grimes – Visions album review
I always have a hard time trying to describe groups like Grimes. For me, Visions lies somewhere between A Sunny Day in Glasgow and Apex Twin, or maybe it’s more along the lines of Fever Ray and Berlin (the 80’s band, not the country). Either way, it’s obvious that Claire Boucher, aka Grimes, has crafted her own unique sound, which at 23 is an accomplishment that far supersedes any accolades I could give this album. Hailing from Montreal, Visions is [...]
Read more →
Tender Mercies – Tender Mercies review
An album that’s been 20 years in the making, Tender Mercies’ debut has finally come to fruition. Consisting of Counting Crows members Jim Bogios and Dan Vickrey, along with Patrick Winningham and Kurt Stevenson, the Tender Mercies have released an alt/country album that is rich in both substance and style. Actually formed before his time with the Crows, Tender Mercies took a backseat after guitarist Dan Vickrey was recruited to play alongside Duritz and co., and even though the seeds [...]
Read more →
Still Corners – Creatures of an Hour review
I first heard ”Cuckoo” while casually listening to my favorite college radio station, and, needless to say, I was instantly hooked. Creatures of an Hour is a very alluring album: it’s beautiful, haunting, gorgeous and enticing all at once. The reverb and echo that is persistent throughout bring to mind some old, mossy, 14th century cathedral; with its rusty pipe organs, a beautiful-yet typical stain-glass Madonna and child, and of course the old, venerable, and admittedly scary Catholic Priest. Best described as a [...]
Read more →
Atlas Sound – Parallax review
Atlas Sound, the acclaimed solo project of outrageously prolific Bradford Cox, has been causing a clamor of eargasms recently with snippets of his highly anticipated new album, Parallax. For those afraid it won’t live up to the hype, rest assured; Cox makes being sad beautiful. This is the album where Cox appears to be at his most intimate. On the aptly titled “Doldrums”, Cox sings “there is a story no one likes to tell, it is the story of a [...]
Read more →
MUTEMATH – Odd Soul review
MUTEMATH’S Odd Soul is a cornucopia of adverse musical genres. Never failing to conjure up any given emotion, MUTEMATH have the innate musical ability to create something that simultaneously sounds old and new. Surprisingly, Odd Soul was my intro into the MUTEMATH catalog which, given the constant positive press I’ve both read and heard by word of mouth, has been a long time coming. Like previous albums, the rhythm section is always spot-on. Throughout Odd Soul’s various chord, time and [...]
Read more →
Cerebral Ballzy – Cerebral Ballzy review
Cerebral Ballzy’s self-titled debut is less like a homage to the NYHC scene and more like an imitation of it. Formed in 2008 and based out of Brooklyn NY, Cerebral Ballzy is an energetic, fast paced and precipitously mundane album from start to finish. There is a fine line between being influenced by a certain movement and trying to imitate one, and Cerebral Ballzy are constantly teetering on the edge. With a name like theirs, and song titles like “Puke [...]
Read more →
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Witchhunt Suite for WWIII EP review
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti gained a fair amount of attention with their wonderful 2010 release, Before Today, which sounds simultaneously fresh and familiar. Pink has a knack for bringing the past into the present, and the result is something that is both poppy and ethereal. Unlike some of his more popular work, Witchhunt Suite for WWIII is less like an EP and more like one long, convoluted song that is infused with samples of both a political and historical nature. Witchhunt [...]
Read more →
Twin Sister – In Heaven review
In Heaven, the first proper full length from the ever so dynamic Twin Sister, is a goodie bag full of dreamy melodies and entrancing loops and grooves. Never afraid to let their influences shine, the Brookhaven NY five-piece have created a sporadic yet beautiful album that incorporates all sorts of musical varieties pulling from various decades. While In Heaven feels more like a mix comp than a debut LP, Twin Sister definitely have a knack for creating a catchy tune. Andrea Estella has the [...]
Read more →
Wild Flag – Wild Flag review
Based out of Portland and D.C., Wild Flag is the supergroup which includes members from Sleater-Kinney, Helium and The Minders. While their debut sounds less like a new release and more like that 90’s album you’ve never heard, the sound is perplexingly fresh and is the exact tongue-in-cheek style of rock that’s been terribly idle in the post-modern age. The first single, “Romance”, came and went within a blink of an eye, which is a shame because it’s poppy, edgy, [...]
Read more →
The Field – Looping State of Mind review
The Field is the stage name of Swedish born Axel Willner, who started making music under said moniker with his 2005 demo Things Keep Falling Down. Looping State of Mind, his third release, expands on previous albums by adding a tighter level of pace and movement, undoubtedly the result of a learned producer. Unlike previous albums, Looping State of Mind makes a return to a more classic, by classic I mean authentic-not classical, style of ambient techno. While there’s nothing [...]
Read more →
