Year: 2013
Review: Lisa Papineau – Blood Noise
Often using the softer register of her varied instrument, songs like “Dream The Wild,” “Early Spring” and “Rainmaker” partially sound whispered and ghostly. … read more
Review: Korn – The Paradigm Shift
There are breakdowns and plenty of bass slapping going on, just not as much of front man Jonathan Davis’ screaming. For fans, this may be a nice bite of fresh Korn after the last dubstep collaborative album. Looking past “dubstep Korn,” this record fits right in with however many albums Korn’s recorded. … read more
Review: Justice – Helix
Justice = Michael Jackson + Sebastián … read more
Review: Kait Lawson – Until We Drown
Kait Lawson = Woody Guthrie + Nanci Griffith … read more
Review: Junip – Junip
Behind the ghostly voice of Jose Gonzales lie the subtle psychedelics that define Junip’s new album. Gonzales’ voice never soars, but is more of a “killing them softly” approach, with light reverb. … read more
Review: John Cale – Shifty Adventures In Nookie Wood
John Cale
Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood
Double Six
Street: 10.01.12
John Cale = Bauhaus + The Velvet Underground x Brian Eno
Stand back, kids … at 70, sporting pink dye in his white hair, legend John Cale (The Velvet Underground and too many others to name) is rockin’, and not in a rockin’ chair, son. This album is chockful of his smooth and unmistakable voice––like the voice Jim Morrison might have grown into––his standard drone and his louche lyrics that rival Leonard Cohen’s for their depth. You don’t so much listen to Nookie Woods as you get grabbed and bodily hauled in for some very shifty adventures, indeed. The opener, “I Wanna Talk 2 U,” a collaboration with hip-hop producer Danger Mouse, explodes out of your speakers. The masterful “Hemmingway” rattles you with its building intensity, while “Face to the Sky” is a gorgeous melding of electronic and organic elements, a swooping, woozy nod to Dali’s Car and Bowie. But lest all this ancient name-dropping makes you think the album is a throwback, worry not: there’s nothing old-fashioned about it. Cale seems committed to moving forward with music, playing around with over-processed autotune on “December Rain,” but he’s not afraid of organic acoustic sounds, as on “Mary.” If you don’t already know Cale, it’s time you met him, and a trip to the Nookie Woods is a fine place to start. –Madelyn Boudreaux … read more
Review: Judy Kang
A comparison to Bjork is not the way to my heart; her music is like listening to a fax machine have a nervous breakdown. … read more
Review: Jonny Manak and the Depressives – I Am Not...
Johnny Manak and the Depressives = The Von Bondies + The Dead Boys + The Ventures
Before the first track of I Am Not A Bum… I’m A Jerk ended, I held the vinyl’s cover next to the DVD case of Steve Martin’s The Jerk to confirm their visual likeness. … read more
Review: Kid Cudi – Indicud
Not masculine enough for gangsta rap, and not clever enough for backpack rap, Kid Cudi is akin to the middle school kid who discovered schwag, constantly reminding you that he loves weed. He removes all of the self-destructive wonder from drug use that rap, as a construct, has worked so hard to instill. … read more
Review: Kazyak – See the Forest, See the Trees
Peter Frey is the main man behind the adventurous chamber-pop band, Kazyak. The gentle finger-picking intro on “Pieces of My Map” immediately recalls the talents of Andrew Bird. … read more