Sea Wolf
Leaves in the River
2007
Is it a coincidence Leaves in the River is released only mere days after the official Autumn Equinox? I doubt it. Like the symphony of crisp autumn leaves drifting into the chilly fall breezes, Sea Wolf echoes deep lyrics that swoon with gentle reflection, introspection and sentimental thoughts. Sea Wolf front man, Alex Brown Church, warmly crafts an album I envision listening to while cuddling up with my sweetie, sipping on spiced cider, or walking through a forest of red, orange, and yellow hues.
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The National
Boxer
2007
When I think of The National, I think of the term Tongue-in-Cheek. The subtly mocking lyrics of this New York based band are portrayed in a half serious, half satirical sort of intoxicated imagery. Although this may be true, Matt Berninger is an immensely gifted lyricist, who’s able to conjure up a myriad of feelings and emotions through his eccentric writing style that speaks of everyday happenstances.
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Jim Noir
Tower of Love
2006
A lot of bands have been compared to the Beatles over the years (a lot, a lot), but few have deserved the comparison as much as Jim Noir. Tower of Love, the debut full-length from the bowler-clad British tunesmith, collects the finest tracks from his first three EPs into a package of catchy, innocent, pop songs that echo the sound and spirit of the Revolver-era Beatles’ lighter side.
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Delicate Noise
Diversion
2006
On a rare occasion, ambition, talent, and the subconscious combine themselves with means, technology, and a little luck to form an experience that transcends its art form. The result of such a cosmic equation offers something to be held, thought about, and discussed in great and lengthy detail. This is not the story of one such occasion.
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Mew
The Zookeeper’s Boy EP
2006
For a long time, Mew have been a collection of almost-rans. After nearly 10 years and 3 space-pop pieces, they still have neither the credibility nor the renown that they deserve. Instead, they’re often pegged as lesser Danish pop, the band critics may applaud but the masses deride. Or rather, would deride if they were aware of said band’s existence.
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The Submarines
Declare a New State
2006
There’s a reason for the old adage never to date someone in your band. Sure, Sonic Youth and the White Strips (we think) pulled it off, but Fleetwood Mac crumbled under its weight and there’s always been that joke about the Libertines, hasn’t there?
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Starlight Mints
Drowaton
2006
I could easily classify myself as someone completely and utterly enamored by twisted genres of art, being a huge fan of Camille Rose Garcia and Mark Ryden whose creations include the little girl with the overly-round bug eyes picking skull-topped flowers out of a blood red garden, the half octopus/half woman nihilist rationing out poisons, the frightened children fiendishly imprisoned at Creepcake's bakery, and even a painting depicting an albino girl squirting milk from her nipples into a tiny elephant's mouth as Jesus watches from a corner, I find nothing but overly charming and magical in their display. So why am I telling you this? Well, that's because if the Starlight Mints were to be hung in a museum, I think they would be somewhere in the wacky vicinity of these guys.
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The Dresden Dolls
Yes, Virginia
2006
After listening to Yes, Virginia, I find myself reaffirming what I already know - the ambiguous duo that form the fascinating and siren-esque Dresden Dolls blows my fragile music-loving mind. Not only are they amazingly talented writers and musicians, they’re some of the most extraordinary live performers I’ve ever encountered, and to top that off, their superlative, cabaret-inspired style is unparalleled.
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The Flaming Lips
At War With the Mystics
2006
Forget all the lukewarm or downright chilly reviews you’ve read of At War With the Mystics, four years later the Flaming Lips still have it and you are going to love this album.
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Mates of State
Bring it Back
2006
When people think of smashingly talented husband and wife musician duos, typically the first to come to mind would have to be the infamous Johnny and June Cash. Undoubtedly they are historically significant in the music industry and in a league of their momentous own having become nothing short of music legends. Having said that, I think it is time for another amazingly talented pair to be in the spotlight: Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel – the husband and wife duo who compose the feisty and ferociously catchy Mates of State. more
Reverend Horton Heat
Revival
2005
Be prepared. Expect the unexpected. Reverend Horton Heat is rockabilly blazed with sinister twang and firework fretjobs that could put a bluegrass banjo player to shame. Not that they even compare, though. They’ve got the energy, they’ve got the sass, and they own the passion to deliver this album with such an unprecedented vibe that you’ll hardly be able to control yourself, let alone the volume on the stereo.
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Louis XIV
The Best Little Secrets Are Kept
2005
Sexually supercharged and long overdue for an ejaculation, Louis XIV have come to arouse everyone into joining their escapades with the release of their debut, The Best Little Secrets Are Kept (Pineapple Recording Group, Atlantic; 2005).
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Elanors
A Year To Demonstrate
2005
From Champaign, Illinois comes a band so uncommonly close to Radiohead, that it’s almost unbelievable. The group, which sports Noah M.S. (vocals, guitar, piano) and Adriel Harris (vocals, baritone guitar) as the husband-and-wife duo backed by close friend Joshua Lucas (drums), is absolutely the greatest indie band to come out of the Chicagoland area for a very long time. This is the band that everyone has long awaited to show the others how it’s done, and without further ado, here they are.
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Beck
Guero
2005
In Beck's new release Guero (Interscope Records, 2005), he lyrically whips up and whips out his most incredible work to date.
Grabbing from every group he can, Beck has created a musical masterpiece that practically lives and breathes on its own. It comes to life all by itself. More experimentalization. More creativity. More innovation. Beck brings true meaning to being an artist and puts it literally-- he is a musician who creates audible art.
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Doves
Some Cities
2005
Not to worry Doves fans -- the Mancunian men are back with the same sweet celestial tunes we’ve all grown to admire.
With Some Cities (Capitol/EMI Records, 2005), the band will manage to appease both their current fans and those of Sub Sub, the former electronica band consisting of the same trio. And that trio is noneother than Jimi Goodwin (vocals/bass/guitar), and brothers Jez (guitar/keyboards) and Andy Williams (drums).
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The Wedding Present
Take Fountain
2005
Longtime indie icons The Wedding Present have returned after a nearly nine-year break, and released Take Fountain (Manifesto, 2005) as their entrance piece back into the musical world. Lead vocalist and concrete member David Gedge has set his side project, Cinerama, on the back burner to take up The Wedding Present once more. more
Joy Zipper
American Whip
2005
After being held back from release due to legal and financial problems with previous label 13 Amp, we finally get to hear American Whip, Joy Zipper's follow-up to 2003's Ep The Stereo and God, and their first long-player since their 2000 self-titled debut. And what a follow-up it is. Mixing classic 60's pop with Post-rock leanings and an affinity for Brian Wilson's best Beach Boys productions, the duo of Vincent Cafiso and Tabitha Tindale have constructed their own timeless album with American Whip. more
Blanket Music
Cultural Norms
2004
I have a theory that Chad Crouch’s Blanket Music is the musical equivalent of an Ira Glass piece from “This American Life.” Crouch delivers his songs in the same disarming and witty vein as Glass plays out his narratives, and both men have a kinetic energy that gives an edge to what each of them respectfully does, which is to give a running social commentary on modern American society in the most personable terms possible. Cultural Norms is the band’s third release, and its lofty goal of making the “Great American Album of our time” doesn’t miss the mark by all that much. more
Illumina
Nightlight
2004
Philadelphia-based Illumina is the group that I’ve been dreaming of for a while now. Music writers all long for that one band to come along and deliver an album that makes them a fan from the get-go, before they’ve even thought about formulating a single sentence. What makes it all the more sweeter is when it comes from such a young band that is already so “there” that all you can do is just sit back and smile stupidly to yourself while the cd plays. Illumina whispers in my ear that they love me, and I believe it. more
Paul Westerberg
Folker
2004
Paul Westerberg is certainly one of the best songwriters of my generation, or, of any generation for that matter. The long list of classic songs he has written is a testament to this ability, and he is arguably one of the most imitated artists of our time. Since the demise of The Replacements however, his solo work has been spotty at best, and Westerberg had mostly been written off as a has-been until 2002’s Stereo/Mono rewarded his long suffering public with his best album to date. more
Moonbabies
Orange Billboard
2004
"The ultimate shot of random procedure"
It's the fifth line on The Orange Billboard's first track, "Fieldtrip USA" and could probably suffice as an adequate album review. The 'random procedure' they speak of could certainly describe the music on this album, but only half baked. It's random to the ear because this is not the same formula re-done in different keys over and over ad-nauseam, this is passing fireworks over three different towns on your way home from grandma's. Things are just happening in every direction on this record and all of them seem inherently good and important to The Moonbabies big, bright picture. more
M Hederos & M Hellberg
s/t
2004
Simplicity is to courage as sparse is to confidence. Martin is to Mattias as Hederos is to Hellberg. Taking a lengthy hop away from their own bands, Martin Hederos and Mattias Hellberg combined to create a short disc of "candlelit covers" on Hidden Agenda earlier in this ever ripening year of ours, 2004. What they captured on this disc is a beautifully plain, straightforward collection of barebones renditions of some of music's finest elder artists. more
Modest Mouse
Good News For People Who Love bad News
2004
...a little band called Modest Mouse was making some big sounds. They released their first full-length, This Is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About on Up Records and introduced a truly unique sound led by the unique voice of Isaac Brock. By the time they released Lonesome Crowded West in 1998, heads were turning, it was now obvious that this was no ordinary, fly-by-night band. Their songs were honest, irreverent, and plain rockin' enough to get crowds of statuary indie/emo fans moving. And if they weren't dancing before, they will be now...
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Lost Sounds
Rat's Brains & Microchips
2004
Ok. This is probably my favorite band ever. I’m trying to remember the first time I saw them play, I know it was like their second show and I think it might have been at this little bar in downtown Memphis called the South End Saloon…anyways, I fell in love with them that night. Like serious I think my eyes were bugging and my jaw was dropped at what I’d heard that night. I had been a fan of the Reatards for a while and in conversation with Rich Crook, the drummer of both bands, he mentioned that Jay (Reatard) and he were in a new band called The Lost Sounds and I should check it out because it was pretty cool. Ok why not? The rest is history for me. I swear I’d go see ’em every time they were around and I was consistently impressed with the absolute ferocity and power of the music. more
Pedro the Lion
Achilles Heel
2004
Pedro the Lion is a rock/indie band with a lot of Christian themes that come from songwriter David Bazan, a musician who produces good music and with genuine, thought-provoking lyrics that are completely devoid of preachiness. I didn’t even realize it for a while, maybe because it was great music and I didn't expect Christian themes or maybe it’s because a lot of the meanings were underneath the surface and I didn’t look hard enough. Another reason may be that Bazan has spent his musical career not only tackling issues of faith, but also political, personal, and cultural issues. For example, in the past, he has criticized legislation, both in lyrics like “I feel the darkness growing stronger as you cram light down my throat” as well as in interviews, commenting that in general, people should figure out on their own what is morally wrong or right. And this album is no exception, Bazan touches on some of the most vulnerable spots in our culture and our souls through his ever-sweet, ever-straightforward storytelling. While this album is not a tale in itself like his previous two were, he does present a string of masterfully crafted stories in Achilles Heel.
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Sun Kil Moon
Ghosts of the Great Highway
2003
Mark Kozelek mastered extreme lo-fi with his group, Red House Painters, where the songs drifted like dust bunnies on a hardwood floor: softly, slowly, and reflectively. This band put out a few true gems, like the hauntingly beautiful “Katy Song,” but for the most part, I just couldn’t get into this group. This is why I entered into listening to Kozelek’s new band, Sun Kil Moon, with a little apprehension, but only a little because I had a good recommendation from a trusted source to check out their debut, Ghosts of the Great Highway.
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The Shins
Chutes Too Narrow
2003
Imagine a musical land filled with beautiful, meandering explosions of sounds. Where every song lives in its own world, incorporating entrancing melodies with exquisitely crafted lyrics. A place where the streets are lined with sounds of glistening vocals intertwined with haunting instrumentation. In this Utopia undoubtedly Modest Mouse would reside there and I’m guessing The Shins would live next door.
The Shins have been described as an example of what separates good pop from bad. The 2001 debut album Oh, Inverted World became one of that years biggest indie rock surprises, as the New Mexico foursome suddenly found themselves being bombarded with praise from critics and audiences alike.
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Sigur Rós
( )
2002
Since the turn of this young century there have been few albums that have been showered with as much praise as Sigur Rós' 2000 release, Ágætis Byrjun (a good beginning), an album filled with epic sonar scenery of glacial landscapes and the magic of the ghosts and mythology of their homeland, Iceland. The sound was as full as sound gets, had an energy and enthusiasm the likes that are rarely heard, and evoked strong emotions and colorful pictures. The band may have overstepped things when they claimed “we are simply gonna change music forever, and the way people think about music. And don't think we can't do it, we will,” but their big egos weren’t unwarranted, they introduced a new energy to a listless scene waking from the grunge-filled ‘90’s.
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The Streets
Original Pirate Material
2002
With British geezer Mike Skinner, aka The Streets, releasing a new album in the spring of 2004, now is a good time as ever to review Original Pirate Material, the debut smash that generated a whole new chapter in UK urban expressionism.
Accused by North American critics and music listeners alike of being a poor British export, akin to a white Eminem, dissing the hip-hop genre with nothing but lame poetical lyrics mashed on top of a ten-dollar battery operated keyboard, The Streets was and still is, sorely misunderstood. more
Ugly Casanova
Sharpen Your Teeth
2002
Beauty lurks in the strangest places and Ugly Casanova undoubtedly embodies this notion. Ugly Casanova is a side project for Isaac Brock, lead singer/songwriter of Modest Mouse. Other members to Ugly Casanova include Brian Deck & Tim Rutili from Red Red Meat & Califone, Paul Jenkins of Black Heart Procession and John Orth of Holopaw. When you break it down Ugly Casanova is more a super group than a side-project. But while a certain number of this audience no doubt has a good amount of the other band members' records in their stacks, the real story is Isaac Brock.
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