Communion by Various Artists

Compilation albums are a lot like a mixtape. The best ones are built of different artists and vibes, but when set together in one singular time frame form a truly inspiring listening experience. Compilation albums can be as intimate and involved as that homemade mixtape you made back in high school for a friend. You […]

Rival Consoles : Persona

Ryan Lee West’s music as Rival Consoles feels far more lived in and worn than many of his producing peers. He makes electronic music that sounds and feels organic. Past records like Howl, Kid Velo, and Night Melody evoked a truly emotional heft, while still drawing you into sultry grooves and heady electronic rhythms. There […]

A Place To Bury Strangers : Pinned

A Place To Bury Strangers has always been an exercise in pain to my ears. The New York post-punk/noise rock band deal in angst and sonic annihilation and have since their beginning. From their debut self-titled in 2007 to now I’ve attempted to find an in with them, but each time would end up in […]

Dorias Baracca : Dorias Baracca

You probably haven’t heard the name Dorias Baracca before. They were a shoegaze/dream pop band that formed in Odense, Denmark way back in 2007 by a group of young friends. They were inspired by the giants of the genre that came before them; Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine, Ride, and the like. In 2010 Dorias Baracca […]

Unknown Mortal Orchestra : Sex & Food

Ruban Nielson, from the beginning of Unknown Mortal Orchestra, has dabbled musically in darker terrain. There’s always a sense of groove and a funky nature to the music he creates, but even on the lightest days the songs sound as if they were aged in a time capsule and then dipped in some kind of […]

Best Sleep Lay It All Out On New EP ‘For Those of Us Who Know Nothing’

For some art is something that’s fun to dabble in. Taking a painting class down at the local Y and after that first session you’ve got a pretty little canvas with a pretty little flower on it. You can hang that up in the kitchen for all to see. Or maybe taking guitar lessons from […]

Holy Wave : Adult Fear

There’s a dusty, ‘road trip to nowhere good’ vibe to Holy Wave. They make the kind of grainy, 8mm-type of garage rock that feels like one of those gloomy yard sale finds. Searching through a damp cardboard box of LPs marked “.50 or best offer” you find various copies of Herb Albert & The Tiujana […]

Preoccupations : New Material

I’ve been known to feel a bit down from time to time. I can be a bit hard on myself when I feel I’m not doing enough or trying hard enough in this crazy thing called life. But I don’t think I’ve ever been clinically depressed. I carry my share of anxiety and self-imposed guilt, […]

Yo La Tengo : There’s a Riot Going On

I got into Yo La Tengo pretty late. Like my first record experience with them was 2009s Popular Songs. I don’t know what took me so long to jump into the Ira Kaplan, Georgia Hubley, and James McNew world, but as soon as the the nearly 16-minute album closer “And the Glitter Is Gone” ended […]

Carlton Melton : Mind Minerals

Carlton Melton write and create on another level. They seem to reside not outside in the elements, but somewhere deep inside. They make a kind of subconscious psychedelia. The sound of blood rushing from your body to your brain, or the whooshing you occasionally get inside your ear as if air is escaping your skull, […]