Reviews »
The Soil & the Sun – Wake Up, Child (2011)
The recent trends in psychedelia gravitate more toward the sprawling trebly end of things, beds of sound instead of pointed guitar attacks. This can sometimes lead to an almost complete lack of definition, a
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TV Girl – Benny and the Jetts (2011)
What makes a piece of art good? What makes a piece of art useful? I would maintain that the major component is in the art’s making some tendency of the imagination tangible, to give
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Teenburger – Burgertime (2011)
Nostalgia, always a component in hip hop’s later fare, has taken a new flavor of late. Nostalgia in ‘90s hip hop was largely reactionary, a response to the breakout popularity of the gangsta rap
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Quichenight – Quichenight I (2011)
Quichenight I, the first album by Boston native Brett Rosenberg's band Quichenight, is an enjoyable mix of laid-back acoustic guitar strumming, keyboard harmonies, and quirky yet unpretentious lyrics in the vein of Scott McCaughey.
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Jens Lekman – An Argument with Myself EP (2011)
An Argument with Myself illustrates the many moods of Swedish singer/songwriter Jens Lekman, who has a savvy for both somber ballads and infectious summertime jams. His oft-gorgeous instrumentation is supplemented by dryly delivered humor
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St. Vincent – Strange Mercy (2011)
Strange Mercy marks a sonic growth for Annie Clark. More so than ever, she’s taking the inherent grandiosity of her instrumentation to its natural conclusion, turning each track into a swelling, jangly, distorted, yet
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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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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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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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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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