It takes a lot of patience, I’m assuming, to sculpt and shape the amount of noise in a song like “Dead Eyes” (mp3), into a lulling, actually quite soothing if allowed to be, slab of trance-metal. Justin Broadrick, late of Napalm Death and Godflesh, layers looped guitar sections on top of backward samples while [...]
“Through the Window Pane” (mp3) feels like a pastiche of some of the weirder British soul music of the past few decades—the cherry-colored soul of Dexy’s Midnight Runners chases the Associates down a hall, bumping into Simply Red’s Mick Hucknall, who’s trying to work his way out of a conversation with Keith Emerson. What [...]
Catfish Haven play wonderfully minimal, growling and condensed swamp boogie music, the kind of thing that would feel anachronistic if it weren’t so true and timeless and natural. It’s the sort of music that’s played at juke joints and dives across the country by both hardluck lifers and weekend hobbyists, no doubt serving [...]
If the song “Disconnect” (mp3) is any indication, Ima Robot looks like they might want to assume the position as the spazzier sibling to Andrew W.K. I’ll let it be known here, as is my wont, that I harbored a rather significant disdain toward the band on the strength of their first album, but [...]
In the upset of the half-decade, the second wave of indie rock (which I’ll dub the “Internet” era because I’m so bright) has resulted in a preponderance of throwback-style psychedelic bands. To further complicate matters, this isn’t the second wave of psych (the arty kind of Echo and the Bunnymen, The Church, [...]
The word “genius” gets applied far too often to Robert Pollard [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 ], and unfortunately so. Aside from “hero,” “genius” is probably the most over-appropriated piece of critical hyperbole, and it’s pretty lazy too, offering an excuse to flog Pollard’s frequent excursions into self-indulgent whimsy [...]
Long-triumphant Midwestern-friendly indie Touch and Go seems more like a very publicly curated record collection than a label, as it’s been sculpted by the tastes of founder Corey Rusk. He’s brought to attention the likes of Slint, Steve Albini, Calexico, Ted Leo and TV on the Radio, and he’s given his due in this [...]
The last time Cornelius (Keigo Oyamada) put out a proper record, I was still gainfully employed at a normal, non-academic job, had never once used p2p out of some bizarre fear it would take over and eventually swallow my computer, and was, like most of the country I suppose, waiting to see if we would [...]
“I’d like to introduce our machines to you, but I forgot their names. I’d like to shake hands with each and every one of you, but I’m on stage.” As a live prelude to a song, it’s not exactly “Kick out the jams, muthafuckaz!” But as a modest introduction to the live [...]
On “Tears Coming Home” (mp3), Sebastian Schuller has created a slight, wonder-filled ode to the occasional majesty of sadness. By distancing the event that triggered the emotion from his recollection of it, he allows himself (and the listener) to take pleasure in the elegance of despair and the childlike appreciation of human frailty, [...]