Articles By: Natalie Howard 
In a fit of teenage angst, Natalie Howard moved from Glendale, CA to New York City for college. She stuck around after graduation and currently eats and sleeps in the East Village.
Io Echo – Ministry of Love album review
Synth pop duo Io Echo takes influence from the Eastern world to create a style of pop with depth and layers. Their debut full-length album, “Ministry of Love,” combines a number of different sounds—from delicate singing to traditional Asian instruments to heavy distortion—to create new, complex sounds. Io Echo often juxtaposes Gika’s feminine, ethereal vocals with harder, more electronic instrumentation into tracks that manage to highlight the power of each without sounding discordant or chaotic. Title track “Ministry of Love” [...]
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James Blake – Overgrown album review
James Blake has, and utilizes, so many ideas that he runs the risk of becoming unintelligible or muddled. Fortunately, he has refined his style in a way that keeps the tracks of his second album, “Overgrown,” interesting and complex without being chaotic. The album’s title and opening track, “Overgrown,” couldn’t give the audience a better introduction to the record. Relatively one of the slower tracks, “Overgrown” is an amalgamation of all the musical prowess Blake uses and manipulates throughout the [...]
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Various Artists – Sound City: Real to Reel album review
Dave Grohl, current lead singer and guitarist for the Foo Fighters and former drummer for Nirvana, makes his directorial debut on “Sound City,” a documentary about the iconic recording studio Sound City Studio in Los Angeles. While the film has impressed critics and at the Sundance Film Festival, its totally original soundtrack, “Sound City: Real to Reel” fails to live up When considered in conjunction with its own unique production process and the film—Grohl bought Sound City Studio’s analog console [...]
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Deptford Goth – Life After Defo album review
On his debut album, Deptford Goth (aka producer Daniel Woolhouse) goes big. Using fairly minimalist instrumental layers and ethereal vocal components to create a complex, intense record. “Life After Defo” is a strong first step for Deptford Goth A foreshadowing of the energy and atmosphere of the rest of the album, opening and title track “Life After Defo” begins theatrically, a slow build of epically intense drum and percussion beats. Scattered throughout the album are hints of a visceral, almost [...]
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Phosphorescent – Muchacho album review
On his sixth full-length album, Phosphorescent, aka Matthew Houck, channels the ‘70s with a collection of indie folk tracks that wouldn’t be out of place at jam band session around a bonfire. “Muchacho” hits just the right note between more classic, straightforward folk music and incorporating different, complimentary styles and genres. “A Charm / A Blade” alternates between a slower, folky style and a fuller, ska-esque sound. Though the two techniques seem inherently different and disconnected, Phosphorescent manages to create [...]
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Kate Nash Album & Tour Wrap Party
To celebrate the end of the North American leg of her tour, Kate Nash held a joint album & tour wrap party at Norwood Arts Club in New York. As a Nash fan, I had quite high hopes for the event but was left a bit disappointed, though not necessarily through any fault of Nash’s. The night began with a smaller group gathered for two screenings. First up was a clip from “Girl Rising,” a documentary that’s segmented into chapters, [...]
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Devendra Banhart – Mala album review
On its surface, Devendra Banhart’s eighth studio album, “Mala,” is a somber, serious record of romanticism. A deeper look, however, reveals nuances that keeps the album far from boring and breathes new life into classic styling. The record as a whole has a bit of a cheeky side to it, interjecting a bit of humor and ease into an otherwise serious, earnest collection. “Won’t You Come Over” is Banhart’s version of a guilty pleasure song. While the track is as [...]
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Youth Lagoon – Wondrous Bughouse album review
For his sophomore album, “Wondrous Bughouse,” Youth Lagoon, also known as Trevor Powers, isn’t pulling any punches. Inspired by “where the spiritual meets the physical world,” the record takes the listener on a journey, in and out and up and around a musical interpretation of a metaphysical reality. Many of the tracks on “Wondrous Bughouse” use lo-fi and distortion effects to create a murky, fluid atmosphere, allowing normally more divisive elements to flow more easily into one another. “Sleep Paralysis” [...]
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Atlas Genius – When It Was Now album review
When listening to debut albums, many listeners often give the artist a little bit of leeway, chalking up poor production mistakes or quality to, in part, inexperience or naïveté. Atlas Genius needs no such handicap. Their debut record, “When It Was Now,” is a fun, bright collection just in time for summer. Atlas Genius alternates between two main aesthetics: a ‘60s surf rock vibe and a more modern indie rock energy. No matter which category they identify with more, each [...]
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Nervous Nellie – Gloves EP review
As a band that has released three full-length albums and consists of two sets of brothers, it’s no surprise that one of the greatest strengths of Nervous Nellie’s new record, “Gloves EP,” is its consistency—consistently catchy, consistently effortless, consistently engaging. The record opens on title track, “Gloves,” which gives off an ambient, mellow indie vibe. It’s taken to another, more interesting level with the unexpectedly staccato chorus, more energetic and sharp than the verses. Also included on the EP is [...]
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