Year: 2013
Review: Alison Moyet – Live At Bush Hall & Changeling...
A simple, clean take of “When I Was Your Girl” reminds us what a dynamic live singer Moyet is, while a gorgeously delicate reading of “Filigree”—sans backing vocals—is not to be missed. … read more
Review: Aloa Input – Anysome
The styles the trio of Aloa Input (Cico Beck, Florian Kreier and Marcus Grassl) play with are multifaceted in their variations, but despite such a wide variety between the songs, the common thread throughout Anysome remains positively tropical. … read more
Review: Airstrip
Willing is the debut album of this Chapel Hill, N.C. outfit. It is primarily slow, rhythmic, guitar-driven rock with a few poppy, almost upbeat numbers thrown in. … read more
Review: Adventure – Weird Work
As soon as I stepped into Weird Work’s world, I found an immediate juxtaposition. Adventure hit you with beat-box 8-bit synth atop melodic keyboard and bell contributions. … read more
Review: Age of Taurus – Desperate Souls of Tortured Times
Three years after their promising debut, Age of Taurus return to bring down the heavy hammer of doom. Desperate Souls of Tortured Times might take some time to sink in, but once you give in to the unrelenting rhythm of its leaden dirge, there’s no going back. Very few modern metal bands are brave enough to draw comparisons to doom metal giants Candlemass, and fewer still do justice to the classic sound. Yet Age of Taurus seems to have hit on a unique sound, both heavily influenced by the golden age of doom metal and bravely departing from tradition. … read more
Review: Agrimonia – Rites of Separation
Part neo-crust, part post-hardcore, with a healthy heaping of sludge and doom, is the recipe for Rites of Separation by veritable super-group Agrimonia. … read more
Review: Against Me! – True Trans EP
The True Trans EP is an acoustic teaser for the band’s forthcoming full-length, featuring a pair of songs with excellent titles (“FuckMyLife666,” “True Trans Soul Rebel”) and weighty subject matter, but not a whole lot of punch. … read more
Review: Agnes Obel – Aventine
Sweet as dark chocolate, Agnes Obel combines sultry yet poppy chamber instrumentals with whimsical vocals that make the Danish singer/songwriter’s sophomore album an absolute delight. … read more
Review: Act Rights – Sweat Equity
Act Rights are too drunk to be the Raconteurs and they’re not drunk enough to be the Black Lips. … read more
Review: 3:33 – Bicameral Brain
While listening to this, I realized I had been taken on a journey into deep ambient darkness. The sounds of rain, thunder, hollowed echoing of the drumbeats, sizzling snare and pulsating bass had carried me into a sort of void. … read more