Battles : La Di Da Di

Listening to Battles is like plugging into the mainframe of some futuristic generator. You are instantly pulled into this stream-of-consciousness robot groove that acts as some sort of virtual yellow brick road to meet the fantastical Oz. But Oz isn’t some little man that flew in on a hot air balloon. No, Oz is this […]

Youth Lagoon : Savage Hills Ballroom

Trevor Powers has the kind of fragility in his voice that when you hear it you feel at any time during a song he may just disappear into thin air. A pin hole leak in a balloon that slowly releases air into the world. Any kind of pressure or pushing will cause a bevy of […]

Slayer : Repentless

One of the scariest moments I ever had at a concert(besides that Petra concert at the Notre Dame ACC when I was 17…long story) was the Clash of the Titans tour in July of 1991. My older brother and I headed down to Noblesville, Indiana and for $7 we were granted access to the lawn […]

Brian Ellis Group : Escondido Sessions

As soon as the first notes begin to play on “Via De Mi Rancho”, the opening salvo on Brian Ellis Group’s Escondido Sessions, you know you’re in for something special. There’s a hypnotic urgency in the organ/sax/drum combo. A slow build into chaotic energy that can barely be contained within the parameters of space and […]

Beach House : Depression Cherry

Did you ever hear an album that feels like an emotional punch in the gut? Something that squeezes your innards until you want to collapse into a puddle of overwrought, bawling mess on the floor? Sure you have. Nick Drake, Elliot Smith, Jeff Buckley, and The Zombies have all done it to me in the […]

Yo La Tengo : Stuff Like That There

In the scheme of things, I have to be honest and say I’d prefer a new Yo La Tengo album filled with original songs. That’s just how I feel. Sorry Ira, James, and Georgia. I’d much rather hear newly-penned, original tunes coming out of the YLT camp any day of the week over covers. But […]

MG : MG

MG is actually Martin Gore. Martin Gore is actually that guy that pretty much makes Depeche Mode Depeche Mode. Songwriter, guitarist, keys, angelic backing vocals…that’s Martin Gore. MG is what he’s going by this time around on a new solo LP. This solo LP is all instrumental and filled with analog synth buzzes and whizzes. […]

Carlton Melton : Out To Sea

I’ve been living with the new Carlton Melton long player Out To Sea for a while now. Just letting things soak in a bit. Letting my brain float in that psychedelic brine, if you will. After careful listening -and enjoying a few beers along the way- I think it’s safe to say this is the […]

Ufomammut : Ecate

In literary terms, Ufomammut’s new long player titled Ecate feels not like a mere 45 minute album, but the aural equivalent of Homer’s Odyssey. It’s a punishing trip into some desolate, dystopian world. Think Frank Herbert’s Dune melded with William Gibson’s Neuromancer and you might have an idea of where this music roams. Musically speaking, […]

Joe Satriani : Shockwave Supernova

I’ll admit it, I love Joe Satriani. In all seriousness, he was the driving force that pushed me to play guitar as an awkward Midwestern teenager. I’d been playing for two years prior to hearing Joe, but once I heard Surfing With The Alien when I was 14 years old I felt like I’d been […]