Not enough people use the EP format effectively. A lot of bands just take it as a song dump, putting on random tunes from their catalogue that just don’t fit anywhere else, or using it as a mere teaser for a full album. This is fine enough I suppose, but few musicians realize the potential of the concise runtime of an EP – it’s really the short story to a full-length’s novel, a place to explore an idea in-depth without [...]
Archive for Category: "Reviews"
La Sera – Sees the Light album review
Sees the Light is the second solo album from La Sera a.k.a. Katy Goodman of the all female psychedelic-punk-surf group, the Vivian Girls. Goodman brings her sweet, soft-spoken vocals to a variety of genres on the album, never quite settling on just one. While musically the second song, Please Be My Third Eye, is solid, the song as a whole is worth skipping over. It sounds like a garage band with a little sister who desperately wanted to be part [...]
Lower Dens – Nootropics album review
“And now for something completely different.” These words, immortalized by Monty Python, would be the best way to introduce the strange and unique sounds of the relentlessly touring five-piece outfit known as Lower Dens. Originally the brainchild of Baltimore based noise rocker Jana Hunter, the group has released their second full-length album on Ribbon Music: Nootropics. A nootropic, also known as smart drugs or neuro enhancers, is a kind of chemical used to enhance cognitive functions like memory and intelligence. [...]
Ane Brun – It All Starts With One album review
Maybe it’s only the Dexedrine listening, but as soon as I put on Ane Brun’s album It All Starts With One, I felt like I was home. Brun’s a vocalist from Norway who’s been releasing albums for nearly ten years (and has collaborated with an assortment of talented characters like Ron Sexsmith and Peter Gabriel along the way) but I never heard of her before my overlords and overladies at MVRemix tossed her CD in my lap last week. I [...]
Gravenhurst – The Ghost In The Daylight album review
The Ghost In Daylight is the third effort from Gravenhurst, the vehicle of singer/songwriter Nick Talbot, and is an album that grabbed my attention right from the start. Talbot fills the album with solid guitar work, soft melodies, and a myriad of effects to set the atmosphere. The album name is one that is very fitting to this collection of songs. The Ghost In Daylight progresses through a series of soft songs that very effectively set a soft and haunting [...]
Marilyn Manson – Born Villain album review
Ever since Marilyn Manson exploded into the music scene with his 1996 album, Antichrist Superstar, he has remained the same person. A strange, uncomfortable, ‘shock rocker’ whose brand of music has been blamed for school shootings and teenage drug use. Now, almost 20 years later, he releases Born Villain, another album full of angry songs and teenage rage. Marilyn Manson never grew up, and his music has not evolved. Manson sounds just like he always does in this album, pissed [...]
The Raveonettes – Into The Night EP review
The opener on this 4-song EP is the title track, an ethereal, full-bodied nostalgia trip. Danes Sune Rose Wagner and Sharon Foo “followup” their previous EP with this gem available for streaming for the price of an email address. A nice introduction to the group with a growing cult following and a penchant for reverb and lyrics bursting with longing and impossible love. Night Comes Out is the most dynamic of the selections, with subtly familiar guitar riffs that are [...]
The M Machine – Metropolis Pt. 1 EP review
The M Machine. On first impressions I thought that I would be dealing with an indie metal or rock ensemble, on the contrary, the San Francisco-based DJ trio are, lets say, an unclassifiable, genre bending indie-electronic group (electronica, house, trance, dubstep). Little is known about the M Machine, consisting of Ben Swardlick, Eric Luttrell and Andy Coenen, keeping a low profile. However, with the release of a few tracks namely, “Promise Me a Rose Garden/Glow,” “No Fun Intended” and “Trafalgar” [...]
Electric Guest – Mondo album review
Synthesizers, and guitars, and industrial pop Oh, my! The much talked about band from LA, Electric Guest, has unveiled their new album, Mondo. The electronica, indie-pop band has done well to fuse an array of instruments and sounds that far surpasses anything out of today’s corporate pop media. Emulating sounds and beats from bands like Foster the People and more closely related to MGMT, members Asa Taccone and Matt Compton have successfully revived a feeling of “soul” and “emotion” through [...]
The Lumineers – The Lumineers album review
Maybe it’s because I live in sensitive, bearded, porchy Portland, Oregon, but like David Lowery sang in “Teen Angst,” I’m convinced that the world needs another folk singer like I need a hole in the head. So when my taskmasters at MVRemix tossed the Lumineers’ self-titled debut album my way for review I caught it with one hand and reached for my revolver with the other because I knew exactly what I was in for. Like the British Mumford and [...]
