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Daft Punk – Random Access Memories (2013)

Electronic music duo Daft Punk release one of the year’s most anticipated albums in Random Access Memories, their fourth full-length and first since 2005’s Human After All. The duo are noted for their patience betwe...
 
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Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City (2013)

On their third album, Vampire Weekend continue to progress from the collegiate prep-friendly Afro-pop revivalism of their 2008 eponymous debut into something more expansive. The Paul Simon influence is still there, but gone is ...
 
8.0
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Deerhunter – Monomania (2013)

A review of Deerhunter's sixth album, Monomania.
 
8.5
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My Bloody Valentine – mbv (2013)

A review of My Bloody Valentine's first album in 22 years: mbv.
 
9.0
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Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Mature Themes (2012)

Mature Themes is a quality representation of Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti as they are now, and have been since 2010’s Before Today, the release that cushioned Pink’s songwriting with increased polish and instrumental dexterity...
 
8.5
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Bright Little Field – Treatment Bound (2010)

The tribute album is, as I suppose it hardly merits mentioning, a dodgy proposition. It requires an artist who can not only understand the other artist’s work, but who is cognizant enough of its structure that they can of...
 
3.0
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shintaro sakamoto japan
shintaro sakamoto japan
shintaro sakamoto japan

Shintaro Sakamoto – How to Live With a Phantom (2012)

For two decades Shintaro Sakamoto was the leader of Yura Yura Teikoku, pioneers in Japanese psych-pop and a continuous source of innovation in Japan’s music scene. Despite their impressive discography, their impact remains rela...
 
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HAL – The Time the Hour (2012)

It has been over seven years since HAL released their self-titled debut, a remarkable effort released on Rough Trade that featured highly accessible reminiscing of folk and West Coast pop. While their new album abandons the coa...
 
8.0
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Twin Shadow – Confess (2012)

Following graciously in the steps of a phenomenal debut, Confess continues George Lewis, Jr.'s emergence as a talented songwriter and performer with a penchant for dark, ‘80s-inspired pop and post-punk.
 
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Sindie 4 – Inside! Inside! Inside!

Sindie 4 tread everywhere from Wire’s concise punk to Roxy Music’s sophisticated touch of glam, from swirling organ-led psychedelia to hazy British Invasion. The trio turn their pocketful of influences into fiercely...
 
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Best Indie Albums












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  • @capnmarble_music is an indie pop duo comprised of John Dasilva and Ryan Arshonsky, both from Southern California — though meeting and starting this project in Boston, at Berklee College of Music. Cap’n Marble show a knack for hooky songwriting and crisp production on their first singles “Loneliest Friend” and “Let You Down.” The latter reminds fondly of Dent May, with playful synths and punchy vocals leading a catchy display. A bossa nova feel at 01:24 plays wonderfully. “Loneliest Friend” is another success. Retrospective, melodic vocals work around acoustic strums and lush woodwinds. The song’s melody resonates after the track concludes, becoming stuck in my head. Look for an EP from Cap’n Marble in March, which I’m certainly looking forward to, based on the quality of these two. {Link to listen in bio}
  • From the impressive new album of the same name, “Under the Veneer” is a great showcase of @jeadsmusic’s alluring, atmospheric electronic production. Based out of Bellingham, Washington, the project is fond of vibrant synth sounds that cohesively pair with escalating sample-based percussive instruments. In fact, when the album’s creation began in March of 2019 during a big snow storm, Jeads collected the basis for many sounds: “The snow storm inspired many field recording sessions which ended in the construction of a set of sample-based percussive instruments,” Jeads says. “I went on many hikes in the snow-covered forests around my house, capturing environmental sounds with my field recorder: fresh snow falling off ferns, snow balls pounding on frozen steel doors, footsteps crunching, fallen tree limbs snapping in the ice cold air, icicles breaking. This set the backdrop for the album; all of the samples have a kind of frozen crispness to them, frozen soundscapes from the forest.” “Under the Veneer” touts a wintry, icicle-like key tone to begin with, so the escalation of crisp rhythmic samples adds even further to the track’s engrossing atmospheric qualities. Each swelling moment, where buzzing synths enter the fold with extra prominence, also succeeds. “Under the Veneer” and this album as a whole are definitely worth checking out for any fan of atmospheric electronic music. {Link to listen in bio}
  • From Brooklyn-based artist @bwesmusic, the strongly melodic “Luv Ya” showcases soulful vocals and guitar licks. Vocals assume a higher-pitched swagger as the one-minute point arrives, “gotta tell yourself I luv ya.” This section reprises around 02:30, followed by an enjoyably swanky guitar lead. “Luv Ya” is a wholly enjoyable listening experience, one that oozes with suave charm and a catchy melody. I’m definitely looking forward to hearing more from Bobby Wesley. “This is a funky tune about self care and self love,” the artist writes. “In an age where everyone freely expresses their ideas on the internet, it can be scary to put your true self out there to be rated. We tend to reject and criticize what we don’t understand because it doesn’t fit into stale social norms. But, loving the quirky unconventional parts of yourself is what makes you an individual and this act can encourage others to embrace their uniqueness too.” {Link to listen in bio}
  • A melodic gem from @janrather, “Dorothy” is about being a romantic in a culture that recently invented the term “ghosting.” The Brooklyn-based artist impressed with November via the track “Opening,” and dazzles again here. The initial sample features Dorothy Parker reading from her poem “One Perfect Rose.” Anrather’s gripping vocals emerge shortly thereafter with hazy keys complementing. The track builds to the strikingly infectious chorus at the one-minute mark, with suave vocals, lively synths, and mellow guitar twangs leading the melodic pull. “Dorothy” is a surefire success from Julia Anrather. “I was listening to a lot of ‘Masseducation’ and ‘Anti’ when we were working on this tune, so while both I and my co-producer Ryan Dieringer thought we were making an indie rock record, the sound I was looking for wound up being new territory for the both of us,” Anrather says. “”Dorothy” represents a really full and specific collaboration between the two of us, which I’m grateful for.” “Dorothy Parker got involved when we heard a recording of her reading her poem “One Perfect Rose” and decided that her voice with that eerie 1950s affect and that poem–about tired romantic tropes–made her the perfect hype woman for this song. (A sidebar is that I had to license the recording from the NAACP because she left her estate to Martin Luther King Jr. and, when he was assassinated, it went to the NAACP. I didn’t think anything could make me like Dorothy Parker more but this info definitely did.)” Look for more material from Julia Anrather soon. {Link to listen in bio}

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