Year: 2004
Review: The Occasion – Self-Titled
THE OCCASION THE OCCASION Say Hey Records From the haunting opening of “The Midwife,” you know you’re being kidnapped and there isn’t anything you can do about it. Hailing from New York and having opened for band as diverse as Interpol, The Unicorns and Franz Ferdinand, The Occasion sound nothing like their surroundings. Where there
Review: The Lamb Of God – Ashes Of The Wake
The Lamb Of God Ashes Of The Wake EPIC The Lamb of God precision attack is honed and ready to destroy everything in its…wake. Ashes Of The Wake is the latest from L.O.G., and like its predecessor, As The Palaces Burn (2003), Ashes… is comfortably situated as one of the best albums of the year.
Review: The Great Depression – Unconscious Pilot
THE GREAT DEPRESSION UNCONSCIOUS PILOT Princess As the name of the band might suggest, The Great Depression, this lot create music with a predominantly mellow and melancholy tone. Not to say that there isn’t some lovely drum work to keep things from bottoming out and the occasional piano bit to swing away from the cascading
Review: The Black Swans – Who will Walk In The...
THE BLACK SWANS WHO WILL WALK IN THE DARKNESS WITH YOU? Delmore Recording Society Having recently listened to The Tiger Lillies masterpiece Shockheaded Peter: A Junk Opera I was primed for a slice of this overtly theatrical debut release from Jerry DeCicca and Co. What makes Shockheaded Peter brilliant is that even though it is
Review: The Coffee Kids – Dangerous Frequencies
THE COFFEE KIDS “DANGEROUS FREQUENCIES” MN2S Records Causing quite a stir among the likes of Miguel Migs, Sandy Rivera and Brian Tappert, this jazz-filled flight will engage you on an energetic journey to club land. Produced by Cricco Castelli (coffee king) and Gavin ‘Face’ Mills (Copyright), this full-blooded house groove reminds me of a hybrid
Review: Terrorfakt – Cold Steel World
TERRORFAKT COLD STEEL WORLD Metropolis 4/5 If you’re not familiar with them already, then now is a good time to discover the caustic rhythms and dance-club war-zone created by Terrorfakt. With only the second release, Cold Steel World, they have raised the bar for acts to follow. Simple yet powerful rhythms compose each of the
Review: Soul Magic – Yah Yah
SOUL MAGIC “YAH YAH” Soulfuric Deep With releases on Swing City and Morehouse, this man can do no wrong. Soul Magic, a.k.a. Morten Trust, has been producing and DJ-ing on the international house scene for more than a decade. From an early age, Trust has played in bands and eventually progressed into one of the
Review: Strange Boutique – The Collection 1988-1994
STRANGE BOUTIQUE THE COLLECTION 1988-1994 Metropolis Faith and the Muse is certainly a fine band with their ethereal rock and theatricality, but I’ve always felt that Monica Richards’ best work was locked in a secret capsule called Strange Boutique. The sound isn’t all that far removed from Faith and the Muse; I always felt like
Review: Stained – Imperanon
Stained Imperanon Nuclear Blast Stained is the debut from Finland’s Imperanon. With an average age of 20, and considering this album is their debut, you’d expect to hear metal with training wheels, but that’s not the case—not even close. This is ten tracks of highly-technical music that will make you sit up and listen from
Review: Skinlab – Nerve Damage
Skinlab Nerve Damage Century Media As a thank-you to their fans and to mark 10 years as a band, Skinlab are releasing Nerve Damage. What started out originally as an EP of unreleased songs soon turned into a full album of unreleased material, which ultimately morphed into the double album Nerve Damage. This two-disc set
Review: Seek – Everafter
SEEK “EVERAFTER” (REMIXES) GoGo Music Seek originally released this album in late 2000 on Giant Step Records, this latest interpretation is right on target with the soul-disco era of house music. As GoGo Records continue to release more quality house, this adds a timeless vibe to the label’s catalogue. The “Ralf Gum & Crisp” mixes
Review: Singapore Sling – Life Is Killing My Rock’N’Roll
SINGAPORE SLING LIFE IS KILLING MY ROCK’N’ROLL Stinky Singapore Sling’s debut album, The Curse of Singapore Sling, was greeted by over-anxious critics who hailed this Icelandic import as the rising sun. I was numbered among those critics. This isn’t to say they weren’t worthy of a little attention. Their sonic wall of distorted haze was
