Post Tagged with: "Reviews"
Black Mountain – Year Zero album review
‘Year Zero’, the 2012 release by Vancouver based Black Mountain, stands apart their previous work despite using some of their old material. The movie that Black Mountain wrote this soundtrack for is a post-apocalyptic surf flick. The album sounds like Deep Purple and Daft Punk performing on the set of Mad Max, but instead of leather and spikes, everyone there has a surfboard. The five new tracks depart from the typical sound of Black Mountain, and it allows them to [...]
The Used – Vulnerable album review
Anyone that “found” music in the 2000s will surely recognize The Used’s style, or at the least, their genre. Sometimes associated with teenage angst and loneliness, the band proved themselves popular with the underdogs of high school. Their 5th full length album, “Vulnerable”, is the first released by the band under their own label Anger Music Group. Artistically, The Used aren’t covering any new ground but fans will not be disappointed. The drumming is something to admire for sure, keeping [...]
The Ting Tings – Sounds from Nowheresville album review
British newer wave duo The Tings Tings second studio album Sounds from Nowheresville continues the charmingly carefree sonic excursion begun by a pair of friends with their chart topping album We Started Nothing. Growing with the harsh realities of the modern music industry while charting a path through an expanding global soundscape, The Tings Tings produce soundwaves on their terms that have quickly gained a far flung following in the four years since their wildly successful debut. “Silence” opens the [...]
Sharon Van Etten – Tramp album review
Music lovers around the world may agree that London-based artist, Adele, and her highly-acclaimed compilation, “21,” embody the most pain and heartbreak from a previous relationship musically conveyed in this generation. However, that opinion is quite arguable and can easily be refuted with the third album release from Brooklyn singer-songwriter, Sharon Van Etten. No one may ever fully grasp her personal story, or if that which is told pertains to her, but the emotional depth that surrounds the sound of [...]
Sleigh Bells – Reign of Terror album review
Sleigh Bells’s debut Treats introduced noise pop in a sugar-coated, cheerleader ready album. While providing a second chapter, Reign of Terror utilizes noise pop for a darker, more haunting sound. The beginning of the album follows in Treats’ path, though. The first song “True Shred Guitar” starts with audio from a live show in New Orleans. The song is amped up, ready to get the crowd riled. If the music itself cannot get someone ready to jump out of the stadium [...]
Yellow Ostrich – Strange Land album review
I’ll confess, it has taken me a while to finally sit down and listen to Strange Land all at once: some truly optimal skiing conditions as well as the St. Patrick’s day work/party schedule has kept me away from the laptop for over a week. But now, I feel like a fool for waiting so long to get educated. I could have been ripping mad powder with some of these tracks blasting. But hindsight is 20/20; best push on with [...]
WZRD – WZRD album review
The continued fusion of musical creation across genres is in full display with the self titled debut of WZRD. The amalgamation of Kid Cudi’s lyricality and Dot da Genius’s custom built rhythms blends two styles seamlessly to produce a record that’s already sold tens of thousands of copies, both in store and online, in a modern market that involves more pirates than purchasers. East Coast meets Midwest as a pair of young men unite to propel the evolution of mainstream [...]
Miniature Tigers – Mia Pharaoh album review
Mia Pharaoh: Not Much More Than Background Music Sometimes a double take is necessary. Sometimes you have to give your mind a moment to adjust. Sometimes first impressions aren’t lasting impressions. However, this was not the case with Mia Pharaoh by Miniature Tigers. The first time I listened to the album, I had already formulated an opinion, a predominately negative one, and though I have listened to it repeatedly, hoping something would change as far as my opinion, it has [...]
Estelle – All of Me album review
Estelle’s third album, All of Me, features an elegantly classic black and white cover, all shadows and contrast. The artist made the jump from the U.K. to America because she believes she wasn’t taken seriously as an R & B singer and took some time off from 2008’s “Shine”, which featured her Grammy Award-winning song, American Boy. For all her looking like a smoky-eyed chanteuse, the material ends up being pretty lightweight in intensity and doesn’t deliver. There’s no discernable [...]
FS – Half Android album review
Brooklyn based dubstep producer/composer/musician, Fred Sardolini (better known as FS) recently released his new LP Half Android on Play Me Records. In this release, his skills as a composer and artist gleam through the album’s diverse sound. It’s not a surprise to find out he’s been playing different kinds of music since he was ten. Every track offers an eclectic variety of sounds sampled, which creates a layered mix unique to most electro-glitch artists. He also features former Root’s member Rahzel, [...]
