Steve Gunn-Time Off

Steve Gunn’s Time Off is like a mixed drink, maybe a scotch and soda, on the front porch after a long day at work. Crisp fall air, alcohol warming the belly, and a stupid smirk on your face as the stoned-out acoustic grooves wash over you. I say stoned-out, but I’m not sure if Steve […]

My Favorite Albums of 2013: Six Months In

We are officially halfway through the year. A little past that point, actually. Since we spoke last time Easter, Memorial Day, and the Fourth of July have passed. We’re only a month away from the final episodes of Breaking Bad, there was that whole Game Of Thrones thing, and the wonderful James “Tony Soprano” Gandolfini […]

Daniel Wohl-Corps Exquis

Do you ever have those really strange dreams where you wake up from them and you still hear noise ringing in your ear from it? Like, you can’t quite recall what just went down in your subconscious but you know something big did. You can recall colors, places familiar but where you’ve never stepped foot […]

Smith Westerns-Soft Will

When you compare Smith Western’s self-titled debut from 2009 with their brand new long player Soft Will the progression is pretty staggering. Going from a Nuggets-like lo fi overblown sound with songs such as “Dreams”, “Boys Are Fine”, and the Gary Glitter-meets-The Troggs “Girl In Love” to something like Soft Will’s “Idol”, a crisp, clean, […]

Eleanor Friedberger-Personal Record

Eleanor Friedberger’s first words to us on her new long player Personal Record are “I don’t want to bother you”, and I believe her. She seems like the type of gal that would rather keep her business to herself. She seems like more the listening type than the talking type. Yet, when she gets going […]

Deerhunter-Monomania

I’ve been sitting with this new Deerhunter record for well over a month now. I thought like all of their past records there were layers that took time to reveal and that I shouldn’t jump the gun on some opinionated 500 word piece on it. Much like the owl trying to get to the center […]

Boards of Canada-Tomorrow’s Harvest

From the opening horns of “Gemini” to the fading strands of album closer “Semena Mertvykh” there isn’t a moment on Boards of Canada’s Tomorrow’s Harvest where you wonder whose album this is. There has been a veritable silence from the direction of Scottish brothers Marcus Eoin and Mike Sandison since 2006s Trans Canada Highway ep. […]

Deafheaven-Sunbather

Deafheaven’s Sunbather is one of those anomalies that happens every so often in metal music where you’re moved to your core listening to the aural violence. Singer George Clark sounds like Deftones’ Chino Moreno having some sort of attack as songwriter/guitarist Kerry McCoy creates transcendent -albeit bludgeoning- music that sweeps you up in the drama […]

Still Corners-Strange Pleasures

Every once in a while you have to put away the Morbid Angel and N.W.A. and just chill out. It can’t all be bloodlettings and drive-by shootings. Sometimes you need a breathy voice and a mellowed-out vibe to bring you back down to earth for a bit. Well, Still Corners is here to do just […]

John Grant-Queen of Denmark

It took three years but I finally found the proper follow-up to Midlake’s The Trials of Van Occupanther in John Grant’s Queen of Denmark. Man, I can’t believe I’d never listened to this album. It’s filled with Midlake’s penchant for creating these wooded landscapes and D&D-lite atmosphere, but since it’s NOT their album the melancholy […]