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Wednesday, June 02, 2010
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Pale Sunday - Shooting Star EP (Matinée) [upcoming shows] [audio]
Pale Sunday are back with a new Matinée Records release, bringing another splash of sunny cheer into your humdrum life with just four songs. These Brazilian indie-poppers outshine their jingle-jangly competition with their perfect harmonies and guitar-driven grooves that are so deep you'll fall in head first. Don't think I'm serious? Try "Before I Found You" on for size. Fans of The Lucksmiths, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and (of course) Teenage Fanclub will find this EP to be the perfect summer companion.
- cormac
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Released 01.14.2010
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Monday, January 04, 2010
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Propagandhi - Supporting Caste (Smallman) [audio] [upcoming shows]
Supporting Caste!!!!!......get it!!????!! It's a pun!!! Ugh, another lousy pun. Anyways, Propagandhi is back and keeping up their fondness for metal-inspired punk. Fans of "I'd Rather Be Flag-Burning" or basically anything from the '90s will be brutally disappointed. Sure it rocks, but the message is far too forthright to be considered tongue-in-cheek, and this gets old quick. Real quick! Back in the mid-90s when punksters were debating whether or not the singer was gay was when I stopped caring. I'm going to listen to The Weakerthans in protest.
- cormac
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Released 08.10.2009
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Monday, October 19, 2009
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Pissed Jeans - King of Jeans (Sub Pop) [audio] [upcoming shows]
Pissed Jeans have no time for your bullshit. The release of pent-up anger in "False Jesii Part 2," slams you in the face with a shovel and kicks off their new album King of Jeans. The rest of the record's eleven tracks dig your grave with heavy, pulverizing guitar rock. Blaring aggression is Pissed Jeans' strength, a lesson channeled from the greats: The Jesus Lizard, Flipper and The Stooges, to name a few. The Recession got you feeling down? Pissed Jeans don't really care.
- corey c
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Released 08.18.2009
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Wednesday, September 30, 2009
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Pinhead Gunpowder - Kick Over the Traces (Recess) [audio]
Pinhead Gunpowder has been occasionally releasing the best pop punk around for almost twenty years, so in their case it is only slightly bizarre for an indie punk band to have a greatest hits disk. And although this band includes a rock & roll millionaire, it has always been drummer Aaron Cometbus's baby; a chance to showcase his lyrical stories by magically bouncing them back and forth from Billie to Jason. With 23 songs in 43 minutes, they could easily tack on another dozen songs and there wouldn't be a dud in the bunch.
- cormac
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Released 06.16.2009
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Monday, September 28, 2009
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The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Higher Than the Stars EP (Slumberland) [audio] [upcoming shows]
I've had my eye on The Pains of Being Pure at Heart since late last year, and was occasionally impressed by a single or outtake that leaked out. Then the album arrived and revealed a band with self-assurance and complete mastery of their own aesthetic. This ep goes leaps and bounds further in cementing their notoriety as incredible dream pop revivalists, with "Higher Than the Stars" possibly being the greatest thing they've recorded yet. Three other new tracks follow, each good enough to be its own single. Wow.
- paul
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Released 09.22.2009
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Monday, September 21, 2009
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Pearl Jam - Backspacer (self released) [audio] [upcoming shows]
After nearly 20 years together, Pearl Jam finally relaxed enough to bang out a quick and dirty album without the pressure that comes from being Pearl Jam. The opening three-song salvo conveys in just eight minutes what the album's really about; a vehicle to go back to the beginning. Not Ten, but the very beginning. There's so much positive energy here that it sounds like the work of unjaded twenty-somethings. "The Fixer" is one their best singles to date, but it's really a case of pick-your-favorite with Backspacer.
- paul
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Released 09.20.2009
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Friday, September 11, 2009
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The Postmarks - Memoirs at the End of the World (Unfiltered) [audio] [upcoming shows]
The Postmarks are taking their brand of lullaby-rock to yet another new place on their third full length, following up their album of covers with what could be the soundtrack to the next Bond film. Blaring horns, menacing guitars, and breathy vocals are blended with precision into the lush instrumentation of The Postmarks' already established retro-euro-pop sound. Indie pop has never sounded so sweetly sinister.
- cormac
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Released 08.25.2009
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Wednesday, August 12, 2009
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Robert Pollard - Elephant Jokes (Guided By Voices, Inc.) [audio] [upcoming shows]
Elephant Jokes is the latest release (as of this week) from former Guided By Voices leader Bob Pollard and, of his post-GBV work, it's one of the best. However, when considering this era of work, it's important to note that, though much of it is consistently good, the amazing highs common in the GBV days are seldom found. "Johnny Optimist" and "Stiff Me" are the most blockbuster rockin' songs in this set, but ultimately come up short if you fall into the comparison trap. It all used to sound like play. Now it sounds like work.
- paul
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Released 08.11.2009
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Tuesday, August 11, 2009
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Pomegranates - Everybody Come Outside! (Lujo) [audio] [upcoming shows]
I first heard Pomegranates a few years ago when they were giving away some demos on their blog. I didn't think much of them. They've since matured into a really ambitious indie pop band, with the talent to support it. Everybody Come Outside! recalls the best sonics of the E6 years, the pop sense of Stephin Merritt and the penchant for impulsive left turns of The Flaming Lips. This may not be anyone's favorite album of the year, but if you hear it once you'll want to hear it again.
- paul
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Released 04.14.2009
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Thursday, July 16, 2009
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The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (Slumberland) [audio] [upcoming shows]
There seems to be an infinite supply of '80s and '90s twee from around the world that combines elements of saccharine sweet, dreamy shoegaze, and bubblegum garage punk. With so much out there from way back when, it's almost shocking to hear something so good that would fit in so long ago. On their debut album mixed by Archie Moore (Velocity Girl, The Saturday People), NYNY's TPOBPAH ("tuh-po-bup-ahh") confidently belt out twee-centric rock'n'roll that will no doubt be compared to British influences like Ride and The Smiths.
- cormac
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Released 02.03.2009
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Monday, May 11, 2009
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The Poles - Twelve Winds (Double Plus Good) [audio] [upcoming shows]
While always I thought Eric Bachmann was the only singer in Archers of Loaf with the deep baritone vocals, I realized thirty seconds into this album I was dead wrong. Joined by former members of Band of Horses and H.Chinaski, Twelve Winds is evidence that it is the older guys who are being relied upon to put the "rock" into indie rock, as it drifts into Seals & Crofts-ish territory. If the varied experiments of Crooked Fingers have left you wondering what happened, someone else has finally landed on their feet.
- mark
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Released 04.28.2009
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Thursday, April 30, 2009
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Poorly Drawn People - Motion Not Emotion EP (self released) [audio] [upcoming shows]
It's tough enough dealing with a stubborn music scene in the smallest state in the country, but Rhode Island can rest assured hip hop is covered with these cats. This collective of rappers isn't getting the respect they feel they deserve. After days of listening, I finally filed this in my collection next to my People Under the Stairs records, only to take it out the next day, slam it in the dash and start singing again, "Five dollars is the new ten dollars and I still won't pay five for your whack record!"
- jason a.
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Released 03.31.2009
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Tuesday, April 28, 2009
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Peaches - I Feel Cream (XL Recordings) [audio] [upcoming shows]
The devil is in the details on I Feel Cream, because any new Peaches album is 99% the same as any other Peaches album. What to look for here are the softer, much more melodic moments like "Lose You" and "Relax" and the straight-faced heart-on-sleeve emotion of "Talk to Me," one of few songs Peaches has ever done with actual commercial radio potential. All in all, I Feel Cream wins by virtue of satisfying the artist's impulses first and ours second, but it doesn't hurt that she's reaching out a hand.
- paul
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Released 05.05.2009
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Wednesday, February 04, 2009
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Pinhead Gunpowder - West Side Highway 7" (Recess) [audio]
The Traveling Wilburys of punk are back with a few songs that fit in quite neatly to their slowly expanding three-chord discography, and as always it's comforting to hear that familiar sound. Billie and Jason trade off vocals on the up-tempo "West Side Highway", a ditty that would fit in well on '95's Carry the Banner. "Anniversary Song" is more of a Shoot the Moon number, an example of their trademark fast-strumming three-chord reputation, while the acoustic "On the Ave." picks us up where they dropped us off in 2000.
- cormac
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Released 08.12.2008
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Wednesday, November 19, 2008
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Palodine - Garden of Deceit (Tarnished) [audio] [upcoming shows]
I should have lined this up to run on Halloween. Palomine has followed up their debut with another round of spooky gothic indie folk. You've got scars, graves, Cain running amok, and drowned bodies "floating naked and bloated." Yippee! Katrina Whitney's hypnotic voice, against layers of Michael Aryn's ominous guitars, conjures the atmosphere of an Edgar Allen Poe story. They'd do well on a double bill with The National Lights.
- meredith
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Released 03.25.2008
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Monday, November 10, 2008
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Peter Bjorn and John - Seaside Rock (Almost Gold) [audio] [upcoming shows]
This is one of those things that bands do. It's fine for jazz musicians, but why do indie rock bands even bother? I assume even good bands make mistakes. Mercury Rev did it this year with Strange Attractor. Is there a market for this? Can diehard fans, even impassioned geeky music snobs, honestly claim to give these albums repeated listens? Is it the band's initial concept for the album, or just a convenient packaging of scrapped and unfinished material? Why, oh why, do good rock bands put out instrumental albums?
- cormac
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Released 09.23.2008
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Monday, October 06, 2008
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The Precious Mings - Every Time I Sell a Record a Kitten Dies (Weekender) [audio] [upcoming shows]
The Precious Mings is the side project of Chikinki keyboardist Boris Ming, along with another twenty or so people also going by the last name Ming. Like Chikinki, The Precious Mings reside in the peculiar gap between the Devo of 1979 and the Blur of 1994, sounding so very very English while banging away on cheap synthesizers and detuned guitars over odd-yet-danceable beats. Not the arty nightmare it sounds like, but a whimsical, left-of-center pop record.
- paul
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Released 09.16.2008
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Thursday, September 18, 2008
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Jean-Jacques Perrey & Dana Countryman - Destination Space (Oglio) [audio]
[upcoming shows]
This is the 22nd album from the 80 year-old French electronic pioneer. Focusing almost exclusively on instrumental lounge and laid back surf, a la Martin Denny or Esquivel, there are many goofy sound effects to lighten the mood—dogs barking and crowd noise usually closely followed by Moog madness and the rare vocoder drenched vocals. Even the more poignant tunes, "Rhapsody" for example, are dripping with Moog, turning a funeral dirge into an upbeat toe tapper. Lounge is the novelty that is always in style somewhere.
- mark
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Released 09.23.2008
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Monday, June 16, 2008
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Ryan Purcell - Kick the Dirt (self released) [audio] [upcoming shows]
Booze and hatin' on the President, is anything more American than that? According to Ryan Purcell, who is joined by ex-members of Young Fresh Fellows and Screaming Trees, no. With titles like "The Decider" and "Guantanamo," following the tradition of songwriters like Steve Earle and Johnny Cash, Purcell's battle-scarred vocals lead the singalongs on topics like whiskey, gambling, Alabama, marijuana, beer, Jesus, mud, lying to himself, politics, being forty-four years old, gin, sweat, gunpowder, blood and just flat out anti-war rants.
- mark
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Released 03.11.2008
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Thursday, May 22, 2008
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Puscifer - "V" is for Viagra — The Remixes (self released) [audio]
Wow. Remix albums usually seem like a half-assed attempt to sell you the same product twice with the original vocal tracks thrown over some shitty drum loops. This is nothing like that. Maynard James Keenan enlisted some great talent to put together this creative reconstruction of Puscifer's dance/electronic music. The resulting sounds are so unique that this does not come across a remix album at all. If for no other reason, buy this album for "Country Boner (Disco Viagra Mix)" by 8MM.
- j.p.
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Released 04.29.2008
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Friday, February 01, 2008
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Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Raising Sand (Rounder) [audio] [upcoming shows]
This is apparently what happens when musical deities make albums together. They already know they are the shit, so they can make confident, understated tracks of badassery. This is like Plant and Krauss unzipping and pulling out their collective phallus and saying, "Oh, I'm sorry, you hadn't heard? We are Plant and Krauss. We let lesser duets albums try to impress you; we don't have time. Gaze upon our collective phallus of power and bow in awe." I could not love this album more.
- tom d.
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Released 10.23.2007
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Wednesday, November 21, 2007
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Pink Floyd - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (40th Anniversary Edition) (Capitol)
So far, very few rock and roll albums have a digitally remastered 40th anniversary edition. To celebrate, you'll find both mono and stereo mixes of the album across two cds. Disc 3 has the bonus tracks, including their singles from 1967, b-sides "Candy and a Current Bun","Paintbox","Matilda Mother","Apples and Oranges" and two unreleased versions of "Interstellar Overdrive". This album helps preserve the legacy of Syd Barrett, who wrote most of the songs himself and then quickly became a musical casualty.
- mark
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Released 09.04.2007
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Friday, November 16, 2007
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The Pipettes - We Are the Pipettes (Cherry Tree/Interscope) [audio] [upcoming shows]
Count me in on the Pipettes love. They sound like Amy Winehouse's perky kid sisters, full of the self-worth she drank away: track 1 announces that they're "the prettiest girls you've ever met." Sure, they're sad when the boy they like doesn't notice them on the dance floor, but they're busy kicking plenty of other boys to the curb: "Leave me alone, you're just a one night stand." And they sound so CUTE while they're saying it! Such sweetly innocent harmonies! Such toe-tapping '60s-style dance instrumentation! Very fun.
- meredith
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Released 10.02.2007
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Monday, October 29, 2007
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Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror DVD (The Weinstein Company) [trailer]
The first half of the theatrical Grindhouse experience is loads of fun. This 2-disc set features an extended cut of Planet Terror and a decent amount of special features. Some of those features include an audio commentary with Robert Rodriguez, a 10-minute film school, a piece on the casting of the film, a short on the special effects that were used and the trailer for Machete (my personal favorite) . If you thought Death Proof was too talky, Planet Terror might be up your alley if you like old John Carpenter films and zombies. I know I do!
- kyle j.
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Released 10.16.2007
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Wednesday, August 22, 2007
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Paramore - Riot! (Fueled By Ramen) [audio] [upcoming shows]
The songs on Paramore's Riot! are crafted for two main purposes; to hit the charts and to illicit a rousing crowd response during live performances. The album doesn't contain a great deal of lyrical or musical depth and the production often borrows from the styles of other popular female-fronted acts. However, the songs are quite catchy and Hayley Williams, the highlight of the band's punk-pop style, has an incredible voice. Riot! is a fun album to listen to so long as you don't expect anything groundbreaking.
- j.p.
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Released 06.12.2007
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Tuesday, August 07, 2007
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The Pipettes - Your Kisses Are Wasted on Me EP (Interscope) [audio] [upcoming shows]
The Pipettes are cheeky British birds from Brighton doing a present-day
version of the '60s girl group sound and getting everything right. They
owe the sound of their two minute songs to the likes of The Supremes and
The Ronettes, but fit in with current bands like The Go! Team and Cansei
de Ser Sexy. It's a bit camp, but never enough to make you recoil in
embarrassment. You'll dance, you'll laugh and you'll dance some more.
These songs belong on your summer mix tape.
- cormac
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Released 06.05.2007
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Monday, July 09, 2007
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Pissed Jeans - Hope for Men (Sub Pop) [audio] [upcoming shows]
Like it heavy? Early Butthole Surfers, Flipper, Black Sabbath, Six Finger Satellite and Laughing Hyenas heavy? How about Andrew Weiss-era Rollins Band heavy? In fact, "Secret Admirer", "A Bad Wind" and "My Bed" sound so much like the Rollins Band, they could be outtakes from twenty years ago. Pissed Jeans will remind you that there will never be anything wrong with genuinely kickass sludgey Sabbath-influenced blues with blood curdling vocals to freak you the fuck out.
- mark
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Released 06.05.2007
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Wednesday, May 23, 2007
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Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet (We Put Out/Atlantic) [audio] [upcoming shows]
Porcupine Tree's 56th album (or something like that) is a gallery of moody,
almost supernatural prog rock with skyscraper-high songs that pour from an
always-on faucet of beauty and throbbing heaviness. Not familiar with Steve
Wilson and Co.? Well, Alex Lifeson (Rush) and Robert Fripp (King Crimson)
make appearances and while the 'Tree shares only the "prog" tag with those
bands, they could've toured together in 1981. If you choose to navigate the
Seven Seas of Porcupine Tree, begin by hoisting your sails
here.
- jason m.
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Released 04.24.2007
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Thursday, May 03, 2007
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The Postmarks (Unfiltered) [audio] [upcoming shows]
A girl named Tim with a charming hush of a voice is one third of The
Postmarks, a band that sound as if they come from a Nordic country rather
than Miami. The style on their debut is a beautiful blend of '60s euro-pop
and modern-day sweetness. It seems to twirl and glide through the air and
into your ears. Listening to this album is the musical equivalent of
diaphragmatic breathing—it's bound to leave you relaxed and feeling at
peace with the world.
- cormac
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Released 02.06.2007
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Wednesday, May 02, 2007
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Panda Bear - Person Pitch (Paw Tracks) [audio] [upcoming shows]
Panda Bear can best be described as Brian Wilson catapulted into the 21st century, decorated with airy, jumbled vocals, strumming guitars, delightful, floating melodies, field recordings, and intricate sample rhythms. The tracks on Person Pitch dramatically change and blend into each other, creating a cohesive, yet dynamic composition. This Animal Collective member's third solo release should easily make most critics' Top 10 of the year, and should not be missed.
- ShaneB
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Released 03.20.2007
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Wednesday, February 28, 2007
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Palodine - Desolate Son (Tarnished) [audio]
Swathed in American Gothic—as in Stephen King, not Grant Wood—Palodine sound a lot like labelmate Vivian Linden; Katrina Whitney's voice can also be confused with Cat Power or Dolores O'Riordan, depending on the track. Seemingly innocuous guitars and percussion morph into a gloom of menace, as the songs cover such uplifting topics as murder, abuse, "broken down cars and broken down dreams," and a mining death. But they make tragedy sound lovely.
- meredith
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Released 09.12.2006
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Friday, January 05, 2007
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Princeton - A Case of the Emperor's Clothes EP (self released) [audio]
Princeton is three guys making acoustic indie music. A Case of the Emperor's Clothes will not blow your mind, but you will certainly want to give it a second listen. That will most assuredly lead to a third, fourth, etc. These are the kind of songs that grow somewhere in your head when you don't even realize it. Also, the band probably includes the most talented folk pop acoustic songwriting twins this side of The Proclaimers. I look forward to the future of Princeton.
- cormac
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Released 09.26.2006
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Thursday, July 27, 2006
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Pony Up - Make Love to the Judges with Your Eyes (Dim Mak Records) [audio]
With wry observatons - track 2 is called "The Truth About Cats and Dogs (Is That They Die)" - set to a guitar/cymbal/keyboard soundtrack, Pony Up bring The Casting Couch, The Like, and Suddenly, Tammy! to mind ... and a little bit of Avril Lavigne. Laura Wills and Sarah Moundroukas trade vocals; I prefer the scratchiness of Sarah's voice, but both sing of the cycle from desire and longing ("What harm could I do to you?") to being trapped and lonely ("I miss not knowing you so well").
- meredith
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Released 05.09.2006
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Monday, July 03, 2006
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Peeping Tom (Ipecac Recordings) [audio and upcoming shows]
Don't buy this. A part of your brain will tell you to, because it can be interesting at times, and weird, and different, and the discerning music elite side of your brain will compel you to get it. And you'll listen to it for a week or two, trying to decipher it. And then you will go back to your Gnarls Barkley album and never look back, because different, in this case, means "not that good". Save yourself the headache.
- tom d.
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Released 05.30.2006
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Tuesday, June 27, 2006
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Phoenix - It's Never Been Like That (Astralwerks) [audio] [upcoming shows]
They've come a ways from the slouchy yacht rock leanings of their debut, but Phoenix still has plenty of the Hall & Oates-isms that made you fall in love with "Too Young" way back when. While that song was arguably the greatest single ever written, "Long Distance Call" does the same job here. Most of the stuff is more revved up, jitterier so much so that they're starting to sound like a French Strokes, which isn't a bad thing actually.
- eric
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Released 05.23.2006
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Monday, June 26, 2006
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Persona - Accident (B Core Disc) [audio]
Is it that time already? Trend pilfering has reached the '90s now, thanks to Spanish upstarts Persona. Their new album Accident is rife with the stopwatch rhythms and jagged guitars that Drive Like Jehu and Jawbox championed a decade ago. Persona never come across as a retro act, though. It's more like they picked up a dropped ball and are continuing to run with it. The best thing that happened after hearing Accident is that I remembered I really like this stuff, and you probably do too.
- paul
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Released 05.30.2006
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Tuesday, June 20, 2006
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Placebo - Meds (Astralwerks) [audio] [shows]
Either you like Placebo or you don't. I do. So I like this album (even if, like with Mike Doughty, all of the songs seem to be in the same key - although they do change tempo from time to time). Brian Molko's whiny drone, set over driving guitars (with a ballad here and there), is complemented by harmonies from Alison Mosshart of The Kills, and my original whiny boyfriend Michael Stipe. The title track's hypnotic "Baby, did you forget to take your meds?" and the chanting of "Post Blue" make up for any missteps.
- meredith
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Released 04.04.2006
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Friday, February 10, 2006
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Proton Proton - EP (self released) [audio] [upcoming shows]
The "gass" drives the rhythm, a homemade instrument that combines the sounds of a guitar and a bass, in this case resulting in the throbbing bass lines and guitar licks of the Jesus Lizard into one driving rhythm source. This Brooklyn-based trio also tosses in some Mission of Burma-like arpeggio guitar tones to mix up the heaviness and the quirkiness of more recent bands such as Bloc Party over pounding stop and go, more loud than fast drums, slight hand claps, with vocals reminiscent of John Lydon.
- mark
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Released 10.10.2005
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Tuesday, February 07, 2006
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Polysics - Now is the Time! (Tofu Records) [audio] [upcoming shows]
Direct from Japan, obviously inspired by Devo and surf music, complete with the matching uniforms, much like their disbanded American counterparts Servotron and Supernova. Sometimes singing in Japanese, other times in English, this is a shtick with a tough act to follow and when done right and is nothing to be ashamed of. But the best you can say is "Wow, they are a lot like a japanese version of Devo- slightly more schizophrenic and high energy Devo" and since they rock, this rocks also.
- mark
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Released 02.21.2006
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Friday, December 09, 2005
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Private Eleanor - No Straight Lines (The Beechfields) [audio/video] [upcoming shows]
The majority of the tracks by Baltimore's Private Eleanor are quiet, delicate pop songs featuring gently stroked acoustic guitar, filled out by piano, tamborines and violins, marked by melancholic double tracked vocals and occasional sullen male-female vocal harmonies. They are broken up by extended jam outs and bouncy pop-driven organ. Obvious reference points would be Wilco and Elliott Smith. In the most complimentary sense, this could have been the final album Elliott Smith should have made.
- mark
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Released 08.01.2005
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Thursday, November 17, 2005
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Parker and Lily - The Low Lows (Warm Electronic Recordings) [mp3s]
You're alone in a bar in the middle of nowhere, some nameless Western state. It's the middle of night, your life's in shambles, letters to your ex-lover in your head, crying in your beer. But for a fleeting and unexpected moment it's all perfectly right: a hypnotic and haunting vision set to orchestrated country guitar twang, organ, and reverb vox. Everything in cinematic Doo-Wop slo-mo. How can anything so wretchedly sad sound so sweet?
- tim p.
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Released 01.25.2005
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Wednesday, October 12, 2005
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Liz Phair - Somebody's Miracle (Capitol)
[audio/video]
[upcoming shows]
Music probably means more to you than it does to Liz Phair. She's
just always happened to be at the right place at the right time.
Early on, she sold pre-packaged feminine rage to disaffected college
freshmen. And when she could sell highly manicured metaphysical pop
to critics, she did it. Now that she's targeting desperate housewives
and the Starbucks faithful, it seems to be working as well. I won't
fault her for being a savvy operator, but I can't forgive her for
embracing banality.
- paul
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Released 10.04.2005
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Monday, September 12, 2005
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The Pope - The Jazzman Cometh (Wantage) [audio] [upcoming shows]
Those still waiting for the heirs to the throne of short haired metal (I miss you Karp) can now come out of their mom's basement, roll up their sleeves to show off those faded tats' and finally finish that English doctorate. The Pope is waiting for them with distorted screaming vocals that would make Unsane, Slug and Godheadsilo stand and applaud. My cornerman threw in the towel during the third song, when my face melted off and my cats lapped at the bloody pile of flesh.
- mark
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Tuesday, August 16, 2005
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Portastatic - Bright Ideas (Merge) [audio] [upcoming shows]
If Mac McCaughan has written a better song than "Through With People"
in the last ten years, I've overlooked it. The fact is, pretty much
all of Portastatic's new album plays back like a boisterous manifesto. With Superchunk on indefinite hiatus, the rock has to leak outsomewhere. So instead of starting one more band, he's rewired
Portastatic to accomodate the overflow. It's the hottest part of
summer.Why don't you go for a swim?
- paul
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Released 08.23.2005
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Thursday, July 21, 2005
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The Perishers - Let There Be Morning (Nettwerk Records) [audio/video] [upcoming shows]
The delicate-piano-and-spare-guitar soundtrack to washing the dishes while weeping over life not having turned out the way you expected. Which is not to say all the songs are depressing. In fact, "Weekend" is quite encouraging in a morose way. And the title track ends the album on a hopeful note... even if the protagonist is on his deathbed. The highlight, however, is "Pills," a hearbreaking duet about the end of a relationship that neither one wants to admit to. File next to Athlete, Keane and Snow Patrol.
- meredith
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Released 04.12.2005
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Wednesday, June 29, 2005
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The Purrs – No Particular Bar, No Particular Town [audio] [upcoming shows]
Who knew the Verve had gotten back together? With Evergreen-era Echo and the Bunnymen? Uncanny how a boy from Seattle can channel Richard Ashcroft and Ian McCollough. Backed by the same dreamy guitars and sparkling cymbals as the bands they fronted. With a splash of Love and Rockets. Another EP that makes me look forward to the full-length album.
- meredith
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Friday, June 17, 2005
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Pernice Brothers - Discover A Lovelier You (Ashmont) [audio] [upcoming shows]
Whether or not you've read the book Joe Pernice wrote about the Smiths' Meat Is Murder, you should know before listening to
Discover A Lovelier You that he betrayed his intentions ahead of time. More than any other album he's made, this one revels in the sound of mid-'80s London. The guitars are crisp and bright; the tempos upbeat and merry. His voice lies atop the music with a
> melancholy joy as it usually does, but in a new context. Discover could be one of the better albums of both 1985 and 2005.
- paul
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Released 06.14.2005
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Wednesday, March 09, 2005
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Sam Prekop - Who's Your New Professor (Thrill Jockey)
[upcoming shows]
In the grand scheme, the differences between a record from The Sea & Cake and a solo Sam Prekop record are marginal at best. Closer
analysis, though, will reveal that Prekop exploits the breathing room
created by not fronting a proper band. Who's Your New Professor proudly twists and turns in ways The Sea & Cake can not. Without the pressure of adhering to a tested formula, Prekop sounds recharged and revitalized... well, for a guy whose oeuvre consists mainly of jazz lullabies, anyway.
- paul
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Released 03.08.2005
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Monday, December 06, 2004
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Poster Children - No More Songs About Sleep and Fire (Hidden Agenda)
[audio]
[video]
I ♥ Poster Children. And, after listening to No More Songs About Sleep and Fire for the whole year, I'm ready to proclaim it "the best Poster Children album ever!" Show me another 17-year old indie rock band who released their best album this year and I'll buy you a hot dog with any toppings you want.
- paul
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Released 01.27.2004
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Monday, June 14, 2004
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Harco Pront - Jibberish (Music For Speakers)
[audio]
Much of this lo-fi collection of 33 song miniatures can be grouped into one of two camps: drunken Tom Waits-style ramblings over loose percussion or tight, funky Prince-ish jams with repetitive phrases. While Mr. Pront excels in each formula, it's the less easily categorizable moments on Jibberish which truly work; the ambient leanings of "Inhale" or the outer space disco thump of "Beatless," in particular. Taken as a whole, Jibberish may be the incedental music that runs through the mind of a genius (or a crazy man).
- paul
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Friday, May 21, 2004
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Joel Phelps - Customs (12XU/Moneyshot) [audio/video]
Joel Phelps has consistantly released the most genuine music in the indie rock world for the past decade, yet no one is more overlooked or less appreciated. This latest release is another dose of pure heartbreak characterized by Phelps' immediately recognizable wail and traditionally sparse arrangements by The Downer Trio. Although dominated by ballads, The Downer Trio also unexpectedly switch gears and play fast and tight. Known for his ability to reinvent cover songs, limited copies include a bonus EP with covers of Joy
Division and The Chills.
- mark
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Tuesday, May 18, 2004
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Bob Pollard - Fiction Man (Fading Captain) [mp3]
For me, Bob Pollard's Fading Captain series has been living up to its title. Then the man releases Fiction Man, a project where the Guided By Voices frontman writes the songs, provides the vocals, and hands off the instruments and production to Todd Tobias. Tobias's organic production combined with some of the poppiest tunes Pollard has written in a long time produce a record that bears repeated listening, and bodes well for Robert Pollard's post-GBV solo career.
- dave
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Wednesday, April 28, 2004
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The Party of Helicopters - Please Believe It (Velocette/Bifocal) [mp3s] [upcoming shows]
Those crazy kids in PoH have pulled off a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup scheme of massive proportions: they got their indie in their metal in their prog in their Led Zepplin; added a layer of falsetto vocals like Chet Baker channeling Rob Halford; wrapped it all around songs about moustaches, car stereos, getting your ass on the dance floor, children who are actually alien spies; and came up with a candy treat you just can't put down.
- jeremy
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Tuesday, April 13, 2004
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The Pills - A Fistful of Pills (Primary Voltage) [mp3s] [upcoming shows]
More than thirty years on, the spectre of Big Star still haunts every garage band who choose Rickenbackers over Les Pauls. Boston's Pills are a long way from Memphis, but the ardent (pun intended) southern hospitality of Bell and Chilton's classic recordings is very much alive on A Fistful of Pills. If there's a better traditionally-minded power pop album to be released this year, please point me in its direction. This one's hard to beat.
- paul
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Friday, March 12, 2004
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Papa M - Hole of Burning Alms (Drag City) [upcoming shows]
Rarely does an odds & sods compilation make a cohesive album when all is said and done, but we've never been privy to one comprised of Dave Pajo's work until now. Most appealing here is the long out of print contribution to the Travels in Constants CDEP series; a 13+ minute patchwork of shorter song ideas woven into one schizophrenic epic. And, even though the remaining original material is top notch, missing his covers of the Misfits' "Last Caress" and the Byrds' "Turn! Turn! Turn!" would be criminal.
- paul
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Wednesday, February 18, 2004
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Probot (Southern Lord) [video]
Fucking Probot. That's how this "band" should always be addressed. Maybe Motherfucking Probot. Or Goddamn Motherfucking Probot. One thing's for sure, this ain't a record for sissies. Lemmy will stomp your fucking ass.
NOTE: This record is kinda lacking in double bass-drummery.
- brian
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Wednesday, October 29, 2003
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Panthers - Let's Get Serious EP (Dim Mak) [mp3s] [upcoming shows]
The Panthers' second recorded attempt at MC5-esque punk boogie is light years ahead of their debut, Are You Down. Their academic conceptualism is still polarizing - some might say "pretentious" - but at least this current batch of songs (particularly "Sexist Not Sexy" and the ambitious, jazzy "It's Not the Heat It's the Humility") has the sense to tone down the rhetoric, turn up the amps, and kick out the jams, motherfucker.
- nick
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Friday, September 19, 2003
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Phosphorescent - A Hundred Times or More (Warm)
The last thing the world needs is another young, white, anguished poster-child for anti-depressants. But fuck that. This is the album the others wish they could write. It melds Rex, Fevers-era Bright Eyes and Palace Brothers, including a sing along in which it is obvious not everyone in the chorus was given a copy of the lyric sheet. The sequencing is the one complaint - it takes until track three to get the ball rolling, but this is the album that proves Lifted... was a complete pile of shit.
- mark
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Friday, May 23, 2003
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Pinback - Offcell EP (Absolutely Kosher) [upcoming shows]
Any hipsters out there not listening to Pinback are probably the ones that skipped the final during Indie Rock 101. Pinback records seem to be a standard fixture of indie-rocker's CD collections, though they're rarely spoken of or written about. Their excellent new EP, Offcell, will probably appear on record store shelves with little fanfare, and yet, I'm fairly certain it will end up in a hell of a lot of CD players. It's understandable, actually, now that I think about it...I mean, what's to say, really? When the music is this good, who needs hype?
- ryan
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Thursday, April 24, 2003
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The Postal Service - Give Up (Sub Pop) [mp3]
Hailed as the great perfect combination of electro-IDM and Indie Rock Songwriting (tm), the duo of Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie) and Jimmy Tamborello (DNTEL) produced Give Up by trading ideas through the mail. The result is an indie kid's wet dream: glitchy electronica with sensitive-boy vocals layered on top. But the album is less genius collaboration than an 80's pop rehash, and the duo end up sounding more like O.M.D. with a bad meth problem. After five minutes I started scratching the skin off my arms. Ouch.
- cory
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Monday, December 16, 2002
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Primal Scream - Evil Heat (Epic)
The 'Scream follow up their vowel-challenged electro epic "Xtrmntr" with an 11-track disc that runs the gamut from straight-ahead drug rock, to drug rock with a sleazy house beat, to drug rock that's really a Nancy Sinatra cover with Kate Moss on backing vocals. My Bloody Valentine mainman Kevin Shields takes some time off from his busy schedule of never writing a Loveless follow-up to lend some sweet fuzztones and production help, as do the Reid brothers from JAMC. Hiz-ott.
- nick
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Tuesday, October 22, 2002
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Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted [Remastered] (Matador) [mp3]
Ten years have passed since Pavement single-handedly changed the ambitions of bedroom slackers everywhere by proving that with some great ideas and decent home recording equipment, anything is possible. This hardly sounds ten years old, probably because so many characteristics of Pavement's sound have become practically the standard now - loud/soft changes, spoken/sung vocals, and one take and it's done mentality. Matador expands this release into a 48 song, 2 cd collection by including a live show, some ep's and peel sessions.
- mark
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Thursday, October 03, 2002
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The Pattern - Real Feelness (Lookout!) [mp3s]
Garage rock is the bomb (as any RFTC tattoo could tell you). The problem is that most new-schoolers are more fashionable than explosive. Fortunately, Berkeley non-hippies/hipsters The Pattern know how to kick out the jams something fierce. Immediate and subtly clever, Real Feelness rocks with aplomb - especially on the rollicking "She's A Libra" - befitting rockers who know how it should be done (plus, there's a pretty little out-of-character acoustic song at the end, and I’m a sucker for that stuff).
- nick
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Thursday, June 06, 2002
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Pedro the Lion - Control (Jade Tree) [mp3, mp3]
Pedro the Lion are back with their trademark unremarkable yet immediately recognizable sound. A bit like a sober Sebadoh playing at an AA meeting minus Lowenstein and fronted by Charles Grodin's tone deaf grandson. This is noticably noisier and harder than past releases, not because of fast tempos but because of a rich full sound and pounding drums. Far better than adequate, yet not quite amazing, whether alone on his guitar or fronting a full band, the vocal delivery is always stoic - really good music for feeling bad.
- mark
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Wednesday, March 20, 2002
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The Promise Ring - Wood/Water (Anti) [mp3]
"Rocker comes to terms with own mortality, writes best album of career" is a common theme, yet who’d have predicted just how good Davy VonBohelen and Co’s latest would sound? Lovingly orchestrated pop magic in every sense of the word; the sonics can get a bit too sleepy-eyed for my tastes (especially following Very Emergency’s joyful noise), but in no way does it detract from an expansively beautiful album.
- nick
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Princess Superstar - Is (Rapster) [audio]
Possibly the only female MC to pen a track called "Bitch Betta Have My Money," Princess Superstar is a cunning linguist who’d make even the most incorrigible thug moist in the drawers. From sugar-mommy pimp fantasies and "Bad Babysitter" tales, to basic underground MC show-and-prove, PS’s latest comes strapped with enough tongue-twisting wordplay and magnetic charisma to back up the most brazen of her boasts, silencing playerhaters whilst justifying her royal namesake once and for all.
- nick
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Tuesday, February 26, 2002
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Pleasant Grove - Auscultation of the Heart (GLIT) [mp3]
Dallas band Pleasant Grove, who is self-described as wanting to "play music that captured raw melancholy melodies laid out over slow spacious rhythmic harmonies" has released one of the best albums I have listened to in quite a while. Sincere lyrics like "So I'll just keep to myself; think and drink by myself... build the biggest wall around myself" are combined with soothing pedal steel and infectious vocal lines. This collection of down tempo rock songs are perfect for a rainy day, or every day if you are like me.
- neil
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Wednesday, January 16, 2002
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Pinebender - Things Are About to Get Weird (Ohio Gold) [mp3]
Andy Mueller's cover art attracted me to what should have been a decent album. Lethargic rock tracks are stretched long, while senseless lyrics drown in distorted guitars. After multiple listens the lack of bass becomes painfully apparent and the songs bloated. Aptly sharing a name with the Greek god Sinis, listening to this record is like being tied to two bent pine trees, then being torn apart when they are released, though very very slowly.
- jules
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Friday, December 14, 2001
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The Prima Donnas - Drugs, Sex & Discotheques (Peek-A-Boo)
A conceptual sexified British Casio-rock group, the Prima Donnas released a handful of infectious singles in the mid to late '90s. Drugs, Sex & Discotheques assembles tracks from those records, forming something of a best-of collection -- replete with liner notes that fuel the band's unbelievable mythology. While the package represents a fine chronicle of a fairly interesting project, its musical shtick begins to run thin after about 20 minutes. The group's best moments, highly enjoyable and worth hearing, are included, but, as a whole, this album is hardly essential.
- chris
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Tuesday, November 27, 2001
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Portastatic - The Perfect Little Door EP (Merge)
At some point I cannot recall, I found myself listening to Portastatic a lot more than Superchunk. Not to slight the champs of indie rock but I guess I needed something less hyper while still getting my fix. Joining Mac on this EP is Ken Vandermark, perhaps the busiest jazz musician in indie rock circles. Although two songs end or begin in all-out skronk fests, he blends in nicely and it's a natural pairing, creating a fresh layer on some reworkings of early songs. Highlighted by the live track, this is the best release by Portastatic in a few years.
- mark
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Monday, November 26, 2001
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Plug Spark Sanjay - Fuse Time For The Working Force (Childlike)
The streets of dirty Jersey join together with the cremé de la windy city to form an unlikely rock and roll superpower. Like a cross between your favorite indie rockers and your favorite hard rockers, Bob Weston and Steve Albini have worked their magic with these guys to provide that crisp, edgy sound you know and love. It is said that Jersey bands have formed their own, unique style to accomodate the sound system at Maxwell's. This album is living proof.
- jon
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Tuesday, November 20, 2001
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The Pattern - Immediately EP (Wichita/Lookout!)
Do the Math by The Peechees is a favorite record of mine and regardless of their later material, I will always defend that release. Their singer appears here in all his snotty glory, recalling the best era of The Who if Roger Daltrey lost a knife fight to the cast of West Side Story. Not as fast as The Peechees, The Pattern trade speed in exchange for power chords. A perfect six songs in 14 minutes, some may argue the best releases are just too damn short and if so, this is one for the prosecution.
- mark
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Monday, November 05, 2001
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Preston School of Industry - Goodbye To The Edge City EP (Amazing Grease Records)
The breakup of the band Pavement has given birth to this new musical morsel from former band member Spiral Stairs. This five song EP contains nothing but pleasant low-fi pop songs- nothing that will change the world but all are solid. The last track, a simple instrumental ditty with a drum machine that sounds like it was borrowed from Ween's "The Pod" sessions, seems to sum up the casualness of these songs. While not quite the Silver Jews, another Pavement offshoot, PSOI is no slouch.
- mark
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Friday, October 19, 2001
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Prefuse 73 - Vocal Studies & Upright Narratives LP (Warp Records)
Not quite danceable but enough down tempo beats to pull off a robot-dance in the solitude of your bedroom. For fans of Placebo Records and Land of the Loops with bonus points for the Dinosaur Jr sample. This would please the obligatory boy band thug without making him head for home for fear of a good old fashioned ass-whuppin'. Dare I say, the Steely Dan of home hip-hop. Left me feeling like a continental breakfast, there was something on the plate but not enough to fill me.
- mark
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