February 2014
Review: Cryogenic Echelon – Taste of Failure
It bridges boundaries, and various types of music lovers will find it appealing. I will most certainly be mixing “Fall of the Reptiles (Grendel Remix)” into my set lists at the club—it’s perfect for the transition from synth pop to industrial. … read more
Review: Culted – Oblique to All Paths
Oblique to All Paths sounds like a musical rendition of a passive-aggressive argument at band practice. Embarrassingly self-indulgent and lacking any kind of major, defining characteristic, Culted end up writing the doom metal equivalent of cold oatmeal. … read more
Review: Chris Wilson – It’s Flamin’ Groovy
The opening track, “All the Action,” bursts out with an upbeat rocking ballad, sung with wailing, western-styled vocals. “She Satisfies” follows with a heavy bass line and sick guitar riffs that no doubt take influence from Keith Richards. … read more
Review: Color War – It Could Only Be This Way
The beats, crafted by band member Billy J, are clean and resounding, and Lindsay Mound’s layered and dreamy vocals nicely complement the album. But to me, nothing about the album screamed innovation, and it wasn’t all that memorable. … read more
Review: Carlos Cipa & Sophia Jani – Relive
For those of you who enjoy listening to piano while cramming for that big ass final you have the next morning, this duo will certainly calm your nerves. … read more
Review: Blood Orange – Cupid Deluxe
Cupid Deluxe encapsulates the finest that pop has to offer from the ’80s to now. Sexy pop stars from Prince to Michael Jackson infiltrate Hyne’s stylings while he manages to sound less pretentious and just as mysterious due to his lyrics, which revolve around heartbreak and bitterness. … read more
Review: Bones – Sons of Sleaze
Sons of Sleaze is an appropriate title for this romper stomper of a record. It’s funny how it sounds sloppy as hell but it all congeals into a mess of a crusty death metal record. Its speed is built up on punk and hardcore anthems of old but has the grit of an OSDM record. … read more
Review: Blank Realm – Grassed Inn
On one end, there is the dance of the psychedelic and electronica with a splash of synth that makes up most of the tracks like “Violet Delivery” and “Reach You on the Phone.” On the other end, there is the steady, catchy beat of “Falling Down the Stairs” that evokes a nostalgia for Echo and the Bunnymen. … read more
Review: Birds of Passage – This Kindly Slumber
On her latest album for Denovali, Merz steps in front of the microphone and behind the thousand blinking lights of pedals and sequencers to create an album full of elegiac drones and deconstructed neofolk tunes that form out of the ether like a heavy mist across a bog or clouds quietly forming on the horizon. … read more
Review: Big Sexy Noise – Collision Course & Trust the...
Ultra fuzzed-out guitars, combined with weird-ass background effects fill up most, if not all of the space behind the lyrics. Lydia Lunch, an impressive vocalist, usually sounds incredibly creepy and will probably haunt my dreams for the remainder of my life. … read more
Review: Be Like Max – Just Tryin’ To Fit In…...
For me, when I thought of reckless, social commentary ska-punk, bands like Less Than Jake and Reel Big Fish came to mind—now I can officially add Be Like Max to that list, though I had trouble getting into this album with its first two tracks. … read more
Review: Asheru – Sleepless in Soweto
Asheru delivers his vision of global African unity in Sleepless in Soweto, and if it weren’t for the blending of rapid-fire rhymes combined with elements of Afro-beat and American hip-hop, I would have been bored by the amount of R&B present in this album. … read more
