…Like Clockwork – Queens of the Stone Age – album review
Josh Homme has filled out. Two decades of Herculean-level imbibing, consuming, and partaking will do that to a rock star — even the most untameable, red-haired Lotharios eventually become bulkier, … Continue reading
Random Access Memories – Daft Punk – album review
Are machines imparted with the human characteristics of their creators, or are we destined to adopt theirs? People are prone to exchanging pleasantries with Siri, calling the Internet bad names … Continue reading
Silence Yourself – Savages – album review
All art has archetypes — those idealized forms to which all others must be compared. In the realm of post-punk bands, the definitive templates — Joy Division, Wire, PiL, and … Continue reading
Bankrupt! – Phoenix – album review
The first clue should have been the fruit. Thomas Mars and Laurent Brancowitz, one half of indie rock band Phoenix, chose Bankrupt!’s vibrant, oddly generic cover image after significant deliberation, admitting … Continue reading
Overgrown – James Blake – album review
James Blake is not unique in his predilection for bending, chopping, and fracturing melodies until all that remains is a sonic mosaic of meticulously arranged, stained-glass shards. He is also … Continue reading
Shaking The Habitual – The Knife – album review
During the Great Northern War pandemic of the early 18th century, the ghoulish, bird-like masks of Eastern European plague doctors became synonymous with death. Although appropriately macabre, their long, horned … Continue reading
Comedown Machine – The Strokes – album review
For all the don’t-give-a-fuck dishevelment and dingy basement brilliance of their early records, the Strokes have always possessed a certain air of suppressed refinement. All five members attended elite prep … Continue reading
The Next Day – David Bowie – album review
Happy birthday. 58! Isn’t it time you got a proper job? — Ricky Gervais, 42, comedian I have a proper job — David Bowie, rock god Word-for-word, that’s actual 2005 … Continue reading
Amok – Atoms For Peace – album review
Even the best of illusions can backfire. The song “Analyse” from Thom Yorke’s solo debut The Eraser (2006) played during the credits of The Prestige, Christopher Nolan’s underrated film featuring two rival … Continue reading
Pop Music’s Unyouth Movement: Why We Want To Remain 25 Forever
In a rare moment of candidness during last Sunday’s 2013 Grammy awards, pop music finally showed its age. An incredulous Nate Ruess, singer from the indie pop band Fun, had … Continue reading
m b v – My Bloody Valentine – album review
Around 3:35 pm on Saturday, February 2nd, a lot of folks cancelled their evening plans. My Bloody Valentine, the legendary shoegaze alt-rock giants who released 1991′s seminal work Loveless (an … Continue reading
Fade – Yo La Tengo – album review
Seven years ago, I bought a t-shirt with a Venn diagram on it — the left circle read “Music I Like,” the right circle read “Music You Like,” and the … Continue reading
Best Music of 2012: Honorable Mentions
Honorable mentions | 20-16 | 15- 11 | 10-6 | 5-1 Bat For Lashes “Laura” – The Haunted Man Like “Daniel” from 2009 album Two Suns, “Laura” is a bit of … Continue reading
Justin Timberlake – “Suit & Tie” – single review
Stream it: http://countdown.justintimberlake.com/ Justin Timberlake hasn’t released a single note of music since 2006′s appropriately titled FutureSex/LoveSounds (unless you count the marvelously inappropriate “Dick in a Box”), but he’s still … Continue reading
Best Music of 2012: #5-1
Honorable mentions | 20-16 | 15- 11 | 10-6 | 5-1 5) Japandroids “The House That Heaven Built” – Celebration Rock Japandroids’ galvanizing rock anthem “Young Hearts Spark Fire” revolved around … Continue reading
Best Music of 2012: #10-6
Honorable mentions | 20-16 | 15- 11 | 10-6 | 5-1 10) Swans “Mother of the World” – The Seer This album is frightening. Not in how good it is (although … Continue reading
Best Music of 2012: #15-11
Honorable mentions | 20-16 | 15- 11 | 10-6 | 5-1 15) How To Dress Well “Set It Right” – Total Loss What precisely is that emotion called, the indescribable flood … Continue reading
Best Music of 2012: #20-16
More so than ever before, 2012 was a year of astonishing variety in music. From rap and R&B, to indie rock and left-field pop, to dubstep and experimental electronica, 2012 … Continue reading
Turn On The Bright Lights (10th Anniversary Edition) – Interpol – album review
Rarely has time’s passage been so unkind to an artist’s reputation. Depending on your philosophy about how art is perceived in its context, Interpol’s Turn on the Bright Lights is … Continue reading
good kid, m.A.A.d. city – Kendrick Lamar – album review
On its cover, good kid, m.A.A.d. city is actually subtitled “a short film by Kendrick Lamar.” In many ways, it is. More than just writing a collection of great songs, … Continue reading
Shields – Grizzly Bear – album review
Plain and simple, critics adore Grizzly Bear. The Brooklyn foursome draw from a bevy of treasured older influences (Beach Boys, Nick Drake, the Band, and Crosby, Stills, and Nash) and … Continue reading
Coexist – The xx – album review
Appreciating the xx can be as much an exercise in restraint as is their songwriting. Their 2009 self-titled debut won the U.K.’s Mercury Prize and topped several critics’ best of … Continue reading
Centipede Hz – Animal Collective – album review
Music has always been closely tied to the notion of transcendence. From Gregorian chanting to South African shamanistic trance dance to ecstasy-fueled Western rave culture, music from all over the … Continue reading
Mature Themes – Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – album review
“You sunk my battleship!” To the typical American kid in the late 70’s and early 80’s, that phrase had special meaning; it’s the indelible tagline for the 1977 version of … Continue reading
Channel Orange – Frank Ocean – album review
Art isn’t appreciated or interpreted in a vacuum; songwriters’ experiences and intentions when creating their music are inseparable from the songs themselves. Sly Stone was fighting band members and doing … Continue reading
The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do – Fiona Apple – album review
You only need two images of Fiona Apple to understand the tension behind her fourth, and most personal, album. One is the photo that accompanies the iTunes landing page that’s … Continue reading
Celebration Rock – Japandroids – album review
On “The Nights of Wine and Roses” Matt King asks “Don’t we have anything to live for? Well, of course we do/ But ’til they come true, we’re drinking.” So … Continue reading
Bloom – Beach House – album review
Great albums can transport you to another place, but to truly appreciate Beach House’s latest effort I had to physically go there first. Although Bloom had been on my docket … Continue reading
Isn’t Anything, Loveless, and EP’s 1988-91 Reissues – My Bloody Valentine – album reviews
For many in my age bracket, nothing was ever quite the same after the four chord intro to “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” but music historians know it was Loveless, not … Continue reading
Bros, Angry Pacifism and M83 — A curious concert review
Right up until the moment the big guy punches me, the show is actually quite enjoyable. It’s my second time in five months seeing M83 at Boston’s House of Blues. … Continue reading
Lana Del Rey’s Image Is More Compelling Than Her Sound
In a February review of Lana Del Rey’s mixed bag debut LP, Born to Die, I postulated that her image was more compelling than her sound. Three months later, I’m … Continue reading
Top 5 Most Embarrassing Songs on My iPod
Everybody has those songs they are secretly ashamed to love. I’m not talking about the ones that you catch yourself humming along to when they’re played on the car radio, at … Continue reading
Port of Morrow – The Shins – album review
In many ways, the Shins’ albums have always had a seasonal quality to them. Their June 2001 debut, Oh, Inverted World, harkens back to that last summer of innocence before September … Continue reading
Kindred EP – Burial – review
Burial’s Street Halo EP and the “Ego”/”Mirror” collaboration with Four Tet/Thom Yorke were welcome additions to Will Bevan’s catalog in 2011, but they served as mostly a deluxe paint job and a … Continue reading
Visions – Grimes – album review
Claire Boucher has an affinity for in-between spaces. When describing her inspiration for a series of Mesoamerican and manga-inspired drawings she created as an art student at Montreal’s McGill University, … Continue reading
Born to Die – Lana Del Rey – album review
Inauthentic is the disconcerting, whispered word that seems to hound Lana Del Rey wherever she goes, but perhaps a gentler term would be contradictory. She seems to be everywhere, yet … Continue reading
Attack on Memory – Cloud Nothings – album review
OK, first the elephant in the room — yes, Steve Albini produced Cloud Nothings’ Attack on Memory. Few studio engineers can consistently construct a sound so distinct and desired that their name in … Continue reading
Best Music of 2011: Honorable Mentions
These five artists may not have made the top 20 of 2011 but are definitely worth a listen. Honorable mention | 20-16 | 15-11 | 10-6 | 5-1 The Antlers “I … Continue reading
Best Music of 2011: #5-1
Honorable mention | 20-16 | 15-11 | 10-6 | 5-1 5) Bon Iver “Perth” – Bon Iver, Bon Iver While reevaluating Bon Iver’s self-titled album back in July, I strangely … Continue reading
Best Music of 2011: #10-6
Honorable mention | 20-16 | 15-11 | 10-6 | 5-1 10) Wye Oak “We Were Wealth” – Civilian Sheer volume and raucous energy are two qualities most often cited when admiring … Continue reading
Best Music of 2011: #15-11
Honorable mention | 20-16 | 15-11 | 10-6 | 5-1 15) Eleanor Friedberger “Roosevelt Island” - Last Summer Eleanor Friedberger is better known as one half of The Fiery Furnaces, the … Continue reading
Best Music of 2011: #20-16
After 18 years of arranging songs on “best of the year” mix tapes & CDs based purely on how good they sounded together, I finally gave in to the power … Continue reading
The Smiths – Complete – The Smiths – album review
Smith’s legends abound: Johnny Marr being unable to reproduce the exact steps that went into crafting the oscillating, vibrato-flooded guitar line in “How Soon Is Now” (prompting Oasis’ Noel Gallagher … Continue reading
Mylo Xyloto – Coldplay – album review
Several years ago, an ambitious Amazon reviewer published a ten-step checklist, a sort of ”indie music for dummies” guide to albums you should own and listen to in precise order to achieve … Continue reading
Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming – M83 – album review
For nearly a decade, the pieces have been in place for Anthony Gonzalez’s one-man act M83 to make a truly outstanding album, but it’s still a wonderful surprise to hear … Continue reading
Biophilia – Bjork – album review
Bjork has made a career out of breaking barriers. She’s one of only a handful of artists in the last two decades who have truly innovated in popular music, combining … Continue reading
The Whole Love – Wilco – album review
Jeff Tweedy is no stranger to hardship. He’s front man for one of alt/indie rock’s most well-respected bands, but Wilco wouldn’t even have existed if not for the collapse of … Continue reading
Strange Mercy – St. Vincent – album review
Annie Clark is a slight, strikingly beautiful wisp of a woman who’s also musically gifted, poised and intelligent. So it was a shock to hear her gently sigh “I spent … Continue reading
Skying – The Horrors – album review
Whether it be a critique of ladies’ headwear at the Royal Wedding, opinions on the News of the World scandal or the near-pathological desire to crown British rock music’s next … Continue reading
Within and Without – Washed Out – album review
One song does not a genre make. But in the summer of 2009, “Feel It All Around” came damn close. It was the standout track on the Life of Leisure … Continue reading
