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 […]

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 […]

Of Montreal : White Is Relic/Irrealis Mood

I feel that I’ve given Kevin Barnes the benefit of the doubt far longer than anyone deserves. I’ve followed along with him and his crazy flights of fancy; through concept albums about transvestite hookers to his attempts at pop crossover to even a stage where he was into avante garde composers. Barnes’ imagination was boundless, […]

Cymbals Eat Guitars : Pretty Years

I can remember hearing “…And The Hazy Sea” for the first time back in 2009 and being completely floored. Cymbals Eat Guitars had created this musical world that encapsulated all those wonderful elements that made the early 90s indie rock movement so magical. Bombastic guitars, quiet moments, tinkling keyboards, wobbly vocals that go from fragile […]

Chris Cohen : As If Apart

Chris Cohen is a guy that has offered up his musical skills to many over the last 15 years or so. Deerhoof, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, and Cass McCombs are just a few of the many musical worlds Cohen has delved in over the years. But not until his Captured Tracks debut, Overgrown Path in 2012, […]

Cate Le Bon : Crab Day

Cate Le Bon makes music that is happy and sad at the same time. It’s a mix of 60s euro pop and 70s lower east side New York post-punk. The guitars never get too loud, but they’re played with an attitude by Le Bon that brings the Tom Verlaine/Richard Lloyd guitar interplay to mind. 2013s […]

Wire : Nocturnal Koreans

Wire have been one of the most quietly profound bands for the last nearly 40 years. They’ve been labeled punk, post-punk, art rock, pop, and I’m sure countless other genres throughout their massive career, all the while being a band that has influenced and inspired generations of alternative and indie bands that have -for all […]

Tame Impala : Currents

Okay, so I’ve listened to Tame Impala’s excellent new album Currents several times now. Like everyday, twice a day, since last Friday. I can say very confidently that it’s a masterpiece. Kevin Parker has finally decided he no longer has to make albums that sound like they’re being performed by a crusty crew of long-haired, […]

Medicine :: Home Everywhere

I’ve been listening to Medicine’s new album Home Everywhere for three days straight and I’m still finding new nuggets of aural beauty every time I hit play. Brad Laner, Beth Thompson, and Jim Goodall don’t make cut and dry kind of albums. They make albums that beg for repeated listens. Much like the films of […]

Kelley Stoltz

I’m not sure how Kelley Stoltz has escaped my ears, but it’s a damn shame. Pure lo-fi pop bliss this guy makes. I listened to a track off a new album called Double Exposure that he’s releasing on Third Man Records and that song was a mix of vintage synths and buzzy guitars. Something like […]