Music
Review: The Cloud Room – Self-Titled
The Cloud Room Self-Titled Gigantic Music Street: 04.19 The Cloud Room = new wave + post-punk + New York City It’s hard to get your head around this album. There is evidence that suggests that it is simply a concoction of everything popular in independent music these days. At one turn you’ve got the bouncy
Review: Universal Hall Pass – Mercury
Universal Hall Pass Mercury Sneaky Street: 10.23.04 Universal Hall Pass = Bjork + Jem + Venus Hum + Sneaker Pimps I don’t know how this album fell through the cracks and never garnered a lovely amount of hype, seeing as how the general public loves a witty woman with a fantastic voice and a sense
Review: Minmae – I’d Be Scared, Were You Still Burning
Minmae I’d Be Scared, Were You Still Burning Greyday Productions Street: 06.07 Minmae = Lou Reed – David Bowie + Swans – Brilliant lyricism It’s that deadpan vocal, not quite singing but more dramatic than simple narration, that worked for everyone from Lou Reed to Jarvis Cocker and in a regard, Joy Division. But there
Review: A Northern Chorus – Bitter Hands Resign
A Northern Chorus Bitter Hands Resign Sonic Unyon Street: 05.03 A Northern Chorus = Low + Elbow + Strings + Mogwai’s Distortion Peddle While many might find the pacing of Bitter Hands Resign cumbersome, they’d be missing the intricate details that make this melancholy release particularly unique and beautiful. It’s all caught up in the
Review: Mazarin – We’re Already There
Mazarin We’re Already There I & Ear Records Street: 07.26 Mazarin = James – Glastonbury + Flaming Lips – Aliens Historians have a luxury not offered to the rest of us. Rather than looking forward, they can peel back the events as they happened and find the foreshadowing with a fair amount of accuracy. Of
Review: Gene Loves Jezebel – Promise, Immigrant, Discover
Gene Loves Jezebel Promise, Immigrant, Discover (Reissues) Beggars Banquet Street: 06.07 Gene Loves Jezebel = Glam + Goth + Pop + Rock There will be those who suggest that the Jezebels were nothing more than a one-hit wonder, placing them among the brilliant and overlooked Psychedelic Furs, Soft Cell, etc., and in the money-making sense,
Review: Dead Hollywood Stars – Smoke and Mirrors
Dead Hollywood Stars Smoke and Mirrors Hymen Street: 07.11 Electronic Americana! Dead Hollywood Stars have pioneered across the dusty plains with spaghetti Western and have panned for gold in the Old West to sift out the finest nugget of country-esque music. After two successful full-length albums of Hollywood soundtrack Western music, John Sellekaers and company
Review: Dismantled – Breed to Death
Dismantled Breed to Death Metropolis Street: 04.25 As soon as I saw there was a cover of Paula Abdul’s “Straight Up,” I couldn’t wait to listen to Breed to Death, the preview to Dismantled’s third album, Standard Issue. I was never a fan of Dismantled (the whole trying-to-sound-like-Frontline Assembly thing turned me off), so I
Review: Rotersand – Welcome to Goodbye
Rotersand Welcome to Goodbye Metropolis Street: 06.27 The 90s industrial act The Fair Sex decided to update their sound and the name of their act to fit the new direction of harsh electronic music—creating their new shape in the form of Rotersand. With Welcome to Goodbye as their sophomore release, the act is growing as
Review: M2 – The Frozen Spark
M2 The Frozen Spark Ant Zen Street: 06.08 Squaremeter has always been consistent for keeping his signature beeping and for having intense negative space, but changing it up enough to keep it interesting. This time Mathis Mootz goes into a completely different direction with ominous, ambient soundscapes filled with hollow whispers and eerie consistencies. The