There are times where you just need some good ol’ fashioned classic rock. But the classics can sometimes get a bit stale — after all, they’ve been sitting gathering dust or wear for decades. I guess that’s the attraction of a band like The Lonely H; their music has the gritty rock sound of the 70s south, but it’s fresh in that it’s new. Read More »The Lonely H: Concrete Class [Album Review]
Megafaun (MySpace) was originally birthed from the remnants of DeYarmond Edison and released Bury The Square in 2007. Gather, Form & Fly is the follow-up to that widely-hailed album, and it warrants all the hype one can give. The band consists of Joe Westerlund and brothers Phil and Brad Cook. The main Edison absentee is Justin Vernon, who now goes by Bon Iver. Despite Iver’s greatness, there’s a lot to be said about these three — the music they create, in my opinion, is just as great as For Emma and Blood Bank. Read More »Megafaun: Gather, Form & Fly [Album Review]
There is no describing the spectacular essence of the duo that is Bumtech. Band mates Sharon Schloss and John Walterscheid have a keen ear for art through obscurity. Combining a mixture of new wave pop and indie, with a hint of 90’s style garage rock, Beware of D-G is a must hear for fans of estranged and engrossing “get down” rock and/or roll. Read More »Bumtech: Beware of D-G [Album Review]
The Cubists set up Mechanical Advantage with the outstanding “Fire In The Backyard”, a song that swirls between the realm of pop and epic rock with catchy hooks and a wild guitar solo or two. Then The Cubists drop into the slow and dreamy “The Orchestra Breathes”. It brings in electronic elements, draped over the percussion that picks up double-time as the song continues.
Read More »The Cubists: Mechanical Advantage [Album Review] 
After receiving London Bridges in the mail from Ivy League‘s Ryland Blackinton, I excitedly ripped open the package to find an album with quite interesting cover art. My sole thought was this: how odd. But only after cracking the jewel case to find a web address for the artist, Hope Gangloff, did I understand the power behind the drawing. Read More »This Is Ivy League: Ivy League [Album Review]
Written by bob_vinyl.
Elvis Costello (MySpace) has had quite a long and varied career to say the least, making albums bordering on punk on one hand and working with the likes of Burt Bacharach and Allen Toussaint on the other. The genres he’s avoided, like metal or hip-hop, are surely more by choice than inability. There’s no question that as both a performer and a songwriter, he has few peers in terms of the breadth and quality of his work. That’s not to say he’s all things to all people, but that, as particularly evidenced on Secret, Profane & Sugarcane, he’s Elvis Costello to whatever audience he chooses. Read More »Elvis Costello: Secret, Profane And Sugarcane [Album Review]
I enjoy cooking; like most creatives, however, I hate to stick by the recipe. There’s a chemistry to piecing together a recipe that is very much like crafting a new song. The cook must take into account various elements, such as location. Water boils at different paces whether your in the rainy town of Seattle or the mile high city of Denver. Similarly, northwesterners have a different palate than, say, those in the southwest. All these elements must be taken into account when approaching a new recipe, which is merely a base of what the dish should include. Read More »Yeasayer: All Hour Cymbals [Album Review]
Written by Jeremy Ryan.
When thinking about challenging bands like Xiu Xiu (MySpace), the words “stable” or “consistent” do not spring to mind. They are not supposed to release a gaggle of jaw-dropping, eerie records as frequently and reliably as they do (four records since 2004). After hearing 2004’s borderline masterpiece Fabulous Muscles, I gave it about a six-week limit until primary songwriter, Jamie Stewart, flipped out, renounced music, and fled to Asia for some good old overindulgent artist soul searching. Either that or he’d ended up trying to wriggle his way out of a straight jacket in a padded room. Read More »Xiu Xiu: The Air Force [Album Review]
Observing the DIY packaging Volume One is comfortably stored in, one has the distinct thought that Webelos may be an acoustic folk project, and not necessarily the experimental indie pop band that it is. The opening tune, “Another Nature Study” is an instrumental folk-pop tune featuring a prominent snare/cymbal mix and soft organ melodies. Hell, there are even finger snaps!
Read More »Webelos: Volume 1 [Album Review] 
It’s obvious; Life On Earth is a change of pace for Tiny Vipers‘ Jesy Fortino. From a literal standpoint, the pace hasn’t gone anywhere — every song on Life On Earth is just as slow as anything off Tiny Vipers’ Sub Pop debut, Hands Across The Void. The “pace” that has changed, rather, is Fortino’s demeanor, both in the power and confidence that radiates from her voice in songs like “Development” and in the promotional photos that accompany the promotion of this release. Read More »Tiny Vipers: Life On Earth [Album Review]
