Tilly and the Wall - O
July 25th, 2008 "We’re taking our turn with the kids who don’t learn," sing Tilly and the Wall on their 2006 album and second full length, Bottoms of Barrels. But it’s obvious with the release of their third album, O , these kids have learned - at least when it comes to putting out wonderful indie pop albums. O showcases an edgier, riskier Tilly, not afraid to give the middle finger one second and still sing about love, cities, and rock ‘n roll… while the percussionist, Jamie, still tap dances her little heart out and into each of ours. Read more…Mudhoney Hits Twenty Years
July 25th, 2008Mark Arm chats about their new record, the woes of the record industry and…dancing with Charo
by Andrew Lau
“I’ve been driving all day, so I may be a little dazed.” Mudhoney front man/guitarist Mark Arm is somewhere within the Mountain Time zone. The band is driving back from a recent East Coast tour in support of their latest album, The Lucky Ones .
Here’s a band written off in some circles years ago, maybe as long ago as 1992 when they signed to a major label. Here’s a band that’s continued to make good music not in the face of adversity (because there really hasn’t been any) but because they can . Sure, they’ve hit a few snags and even lost original bassist Matt Lukin when he decided to retire from touring in 2000. His replacement however, former Monroe’s Fur/ Lubricated Goat bassist Guy Maddison, gave the group a new wind. Read more…
Four Tet - Ringer
May 7th, 2008
Kieran Hebden returns to his Four Tet monkier with a 30 minute, 4 track ‘mini-album’ which perfectly fills the space between a traditional ‘full-length’ release and an EP. Hebden takes a break from his typical breakbeat laden music and treats us to a slightly dancier, techno centric album. Don’t fret, Ringer is a richly layered album and is anything but predictable. Read more…
Daniel A. I. U. Higgs: Atomic Yggdrasil Tarot
August 15th, 2007
Daniel Arcus Incus Ululat Higgs, the former frontman of Baltimore, Maryland’s Lungfish, has released a collection of six extended, hypnotic, instrumental, droning, experimental pieces played on guitar, toy piano, Jew’s harp and banjo recorded on a handheld tapedeck. On the opening cut “Luminous Carcass Ornament,” an explosion of distortion gives way to a furious, backwoods, hillbilly raga as Higgs shreds through notes in rapid succession. “Cocoon on the Cross” is an eleven-minute-plus Faheyesque acoustic guitar workout with a visionary clarity that that transcends the fidelity of the recording while “Spectral Hues” Read more…
Mirah and Spectratone International: Share This Place
August 15th, 2007
This may sound like novel or clinical subject matter for a concept album but fans of Advisory Committee know that Mirah’s voice can lend emotional weight even to lines as odd as “we communicate with chemicals” like on “Community” to the point where you can actually empathize with a hive of bees enduring tragedies like colony collapse disorder and want to hum “we get things done” along with them. While it may also come in handy as a study guide for entomology students, Share This Place says a lot about the human condition for an album of songs with titles like “Gestation of the Sacred Beetle” and “Emergence of the Primary Larva”. Read more…
St. Vincent: Marry Me
August 15th, 2007
As a touring member of Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens’ band, Dallas based multi-instrumentalist Annie Clark has accomplished a lot for a 23-year-old but her debut album as St. Vincent shows that the best is perhaps yet to come. “Now, Now” opens the album with an ethereal sheen and vocals reminiscent of Kate Bush. Clark’s intricate guitar work helps to punctuate the clever wordplay in songs like “Your Lips Are Red” and “Jesus Saves, I Spend”. She sang the title track to John Vanderslice every night on their tour together simply because his name just happened to be John and it fit with the lyrics. Read more…
Spoon: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
August 15th, 2007
Singer/guitarist Britt Daniels and drummer Jim Eno have created one more album of rhythmically reinvigorated rock. The lion’s share of the album was recorded with Mike McCarthy in the band’s hometown of Austin, TX. The one exception is “the Underdog” which Jon Brion handpicked from demos, produced in LA and even filled in on bass for. While the lineup has always kind of been in flux aside from Daniels and Eno, this is the first album in a while that did not feature Josh Zarbo on bass. Britt filled in on a couple of songs but most of the album’s bass tracks were laid down by new group member Rob Pope who is apparently more into being in a rock band than Zarbo. Read more…
Gravy Train!!!!: All the Sweet Stuff
August 15th, 2007
This Bay Area based quartet, who go by Chunx, Funx, Hunx and Junx (who replaced founding member Drunx), are known for their wild, (s)exhibitionist live shows and cheeky, lewd, hilarious, shock value lyrics and are basically a whole lot of fun. All the Sweet Stuff was released on San Francisco’s Cochon Records after not being picked up by Kill Rock Stars, the label who had put out 2003’s Hello Doctor and 2005’s Are You Wigglin? Read more…