Issues: Issue 300 - December 2013
![Review: Schooner – Neighborhood Veins](/uploads/300/6781-schooner-crop-396x288.jpg)
Review: Schooner – Neighborhood Veins
Spooky country songs bleed into ’50s rockers and soulful harmonies accent slow ballads. Like I said before, this is what indie should be: With every chance they get Schooner exercise the freedom they’ve cultivated for themselves. … read more
![Review: Robert Pollard – Blazing Gentlemen](/uploads/300/6806-robert_pollard_blazing_gentlemen-crop-396x288.jpg)
Review: Robert Pollard – Blazing Gentlemen
Robert Pollard’s musical universe (and it is a universe—he’s written thousands of songs) often sounds like some alternate through-the-looking-glass world, resembling classic rock, with riffs and lyrical tropes that seem somehow familiar, but from some other far-off constellation. … read more
![Review: Piano Interrupted – The Unified Field](/uploads/300/6776-piano%20interrrupted-crop-396x288.jpg)
Review: Piano Interrupted – The Unified Field
The mix feels like a series of hymns performed in a discotheque, transforming a club-like atmosphere into an experience both spiritual and mind-expanding. … read more
![Review: Poor Remy – Bitters](/uploads/300/6777-poor%20remy-crop-396x288.jpg)
Review: Poor Remy – Bitters
Folk transforms into alt-country at the end of “Cave Eyes,” concluding the album pleasantly. Try this one out for a hiking trip or a day in nature. … read more
![Review: Psalm Zero – Force My Hand](/uploads/300/6778-psalm%20zero-crop-396x288.jpg)
Review: Psalm Zero – Force My Hand
It’s tough to rate the band on this debut single, because one of the two songs is a cover of Today Is The Day’s “Willpower,” which they transformed from its distorted, noise-metal roots into a gothic dirge with what the band calls “medieval vocal harmonies.” … read more
![Review: Poison Idea – Kings of Punk [Reissue]](/uploads/300/6800-poison%20idea-crop-396x288.jpg)
Review: Poison Idea – Kings of Punk [Reissue]
Southern Lord’s love affair with reissuing old PI records hasn’t let up, and (for once) this reviewer isn’t complaining. Few hardcore bands deserve more praise than Poison Idea, and these loving reissues are a testament to that. … read more
![Review: Odessa Chen with the Invisible Stories Ensemble – The Act of Loving You](/uploads/300/6770-odessa%20chen-crop-396x288.jpg)
Review: Odessa Chen with the Invisible Stories Ensemble – The...
While it comes across like a Broadway soundtrack, the sincerity of the lyrics with the intoxicating quality of Chens’ voice makes the album approachable by even those who are not so theatrically inclined. … read more
![Review: of Montreal – Lousy with Sylvianbriar](/uploads/300/6771-of%20montreal-crop-396x288.jpg)
Review: of Montreal – Lousy with Sylvianbriar
Lousy with Sylvianbriar takes elements of the Satanic Panic and Hissing Fauna–era that we know and love, and flips it into something totally new. Kevin Barnes intensifies the lyrical quality, making them more poetic, but thankfully not cryptic. … read more
![Review: Orchestra Of Spheres – Vibration Animal Sex Brain Music](/uploads/300/6772-orchestra%20of%20spheres-crop-396x288.jpg)
Review: Orchestra Of Spheres – Vibration Animal Sex Brain Music
It’s clear by the title of the album that not even Orchestra Of Spheres know quite what to make of it. If you think that the electro-punk (another fitting definition for OOS) of LCD Soundsystem is too tame of a classification, then maybe this band is for you. … read more
![Review: Ovlov – Am](/uploads/300/6773-ovlov-crop-396x288.jpg)
Review: Ovlov – Am
Ovlov’s instrumental simplicity is reminiscent of indie-precursors like Pavement or Mclusky. The vocals have a bit of that post-punk whininess and the lyrics are, for the most part, indiscernible, but they do it well. … read more