Monthly Archives: August 2011 »
Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost (2011)
Twangy rock with hints of country and alternative was prominent on Girls’ excellent Broken Dreams Club EP. The sound recalled the likes of Ryan Adams and Matthew Sweet while remaining true to Girls’ eclectic
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CANT – Dreams Come True (2011)
Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor debuts his new solo project, CANT, with the full-length Dreams Come True. Featuring frequent collaborator and post-punk revivalist Twin Shadow (George Lewis Jr.), it is a more electronic-oriented and sensually
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NewVillager – New Villager (2011)
During their live performances, the highly exuberant NewVillager produce visuals as colorful and memorable as their tightly infectious songs. They're just as successful in the studio. Their full-length debut is a fantastic and compellingly
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Dark Horses From Outside Lands
We take a look at several up-and-coming acts from this year's Outside Lands that may have been overshadowed by headliners like Arcade Fire and Phish. Their reputations for infectious and enthusiastic live performances is
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Bill Callahan – Apocalypse (2011)
Bill Callahan has a voice like no other man on earth; it’s haunting, intimate, spontaneous and passionate. The first thing heard on Apocalypse is Callahan singing a single line, unaccompanied: “The real people went
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Oh Ruin, Eoin
I don’t know about you, but I love a nice poetic story about the creation of an equally poetic band. Something that makes the music they present sound all the more home-grown and full
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Interview with The Wind
The Wind’s excellent double-album, Harum-Scarum, is one of my favorite releases from the past year. You can check out the review here. GroopEase is offering an ABSURD discount on the album: 23 songs for
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Cymbals Eat Guitars – Lenses Alien (2011)
Why There Are Mountains was one of the highlights of 2009 for me. It seamlessly melded Elliot Smith-esque melodies and aesthetic with a more contemporary garage-rock sound. The album was praised as a work
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J. Nolan
A rising hip-hop artist like J. Nolan has a notable amount of temptations in the studio alone. There are countless numbers of production gimmicks aimed to disguise an artist’s insecurities, inspired by an age
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Pepper Rabbit – Red Velvet Snow Ball (2011)
“Tiny Fingers” is lush and exotic, with sounds of broken sitars, brass, and wind chimes backing a gentle acoustic strum. Like everything on Red Velvet Snow Ball, it would be the perfect accompaniment to
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Beirut – The Rip Tide (2011)
Zach Condon makes music that sounds bigger than it truly is. This fact is made apparent throughout The Rip Tide, Beirut’s first new LP in four years. And while the band’s previous works have
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You Won’t, But You Will
There are legions of folk artists influenced by the genre’s early roots, from Appalachian groundwork to intersections of bluegrass and jug bands. Some are committed to the influences that struck them the most growing
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Chappo
The NYC duo Chappo received some recognition last year with “Come Home”, a summertime psych-rock jam with a shimmering quality reminiscent of alt-rock groups like Teenage Fanclub and The New Radicals. The track was
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