Written by bob_vinyl Formerly in the sadly underknown Desert City Soundtrack, Cory Gray’s current endeavor is Carcrashlander. This is a band so good that even I can forgive their love of Randy Newman. Their self-titled debut came out earlier this year on Parks and Records. I got the chance to talk with Cory about the…
Chairlift [Feature Band]
Written by Fense Chairlift is an 80s-influenced synth-pop trio from Brooklyn and their eerily dark pop will surely take the states by storm when they release Does You Inspire You, their debut LP, on Kanine Records this fall.
Sharks And Sailors: Build Brand New [Album Review]
Written by bob_vinyl Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, so the physicists say. You cannot effectively defend your position without understanding the opposition, so the orators say. You cannot know up without down, dark without light, good without evil, so the philosophers say. Ours is in many ways a world defined and understood…
The Asteroid No. 4: These Flowers Of Ours [Album Review]
These Flowers Of Ours channels an array of 60s subgenres, from folk and psych to jangle-pop and British Invasion. Layered under these vintage sounds, The Asteroid No. 4 (MySpace) combines elements of each sub-genre in a modern blender, portioning all the right amounts to create a concoction they can easily call their own. The result…
Foals: Olympic Airways [Video]
Written by Fense As I write this, I am not listening to the recent Sub Pop release of Antidotes by Foals (MySpace), which is a great album by the way. No, I am listening to their Daytrotter Session, available for download here. I am also reading a nice little notice by Sub Pop updating their…
Of Montreal: Id Engager [Single Review]
Written by Fense So, Id Engager by Of Montreal (MySpace) isn’t necessarily an album, though it will be categorized as such. It’s a single. And boy was I excited to see it in a small pile of singles when I was at Everyday Music in Bellingham last week. There it was, sitting precautiously on the…
The Dark Romantics: Heartbreaker [Album Review]
Written by bob_vinyl In the early 80s, Wall of Voodoo made some dark, moody and strangely captivating music out of a peculiar meeting of post-punk, synth pop and the roots of rock n roll. On Heartbreaker, The Dark Romantics (MySpace) find themselves at the same point where these influences flow together and they make music…
Bodies Of Water: A Certain Feeling [Album Review]
Do you want to know something I completely object to? Of course you do—if you’re a regular reader you probably long for me to go off on a rant about something negative. So… listen up: I strongly believe that those who say Oh, nothing good has been released this year have a vastly distorted vision…
Morning Spy [Feature Band]
Written by Fense I recently joined Jon Rooney on a trip to a record convention in which we perused piles and piles of albums in various collections. On this journey I snagged two 7†singles, one by The Wedding Present and one by The Smiths. As we hit Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood where Rooney resides,…
Stereolab: Chemical Chords [Album Review]
Written by Fense If Stereolab (MySpace) were a person, they’d have recently graduated from high school. That’s how long Stereolab has been around. Eighteen years. That means they formed in 1990. That means I was 10 at the time. Come November they will prepare to enter their fourth U.S. presidency. Their longevity outlives most independent…
