Slingshot Dakota – Their Dreams Are Dead, But Ours Is The Golden Ghost!
August 20th, 2010 | by Kelly Scott | published in alternative, folk-rock, indie rock | 3 comments
Overall, this is a band worth knowing. Carly and Tom are masterful at injecting passion into a performance and whipping an audience into an emotive frenzy. The band will most likely be covering a lot of geography over the next year or so, be sure to check them out.
Preview: Ra Ra Riot – The Orchard
August 19th, 2010 | by Jen Verzosa | published in alternative, indie pop, indie rock | no comments
In The Orchard, an album of transition, Ra Ra Riot continues to create beauty of its chamber pop soundscapes but the band appears to be in lyrical limbo when compared to its previous LP, The Rhumb Line – and understandably so.
July 6th, 2010 | by Jason Grishkoff | published in alternative, rock | no comments
The first few seconds of “Time” begin with a piano-based riff that reminds me of work by European artist Mew. The similarity, however, stops there. What follows is something a bit closer to Paper Route, relying heavily on solid guitar licks layered over electronic-rock-based synth. I find certain parts of the song to be particularly captivating, such as the bridge that begins around 2:30.
June 15th, 2010 | by b aiken | published in alternative, blues, jazz, pop | 1 comment
A metro area local, Alex Vans is a guitarist/singer/songwriter who, according to lore, has attempted and failed at engaging in deviant liaisons with at least 7 different members of Congress. A bungle in sexual policymaking, perhaps, but what Vans lacks in “Hill Climbing” skill, he more than makes up for with his musical chops.
May 27th, 2010 | by Jason Grishkoff | published in alternative, indie rock | 5 comments
What I find odd is that with The National’s prior album “Boxer”, I didn’t feel as if it was a morning-only album. It worked at almost any time, so long as I was in the mood. Stranger still, “High Violet” very-much-so stays in line with their 2007 release. Why then, can I not get myself to listen to it with the same frequency that I did “Boxer”?
May 5th, 2010 | by camden andrews | published in alternative, indie rock, progressive rock | 8 comments
It’s true, bands do need to develop and grow to prevent stagnation and avoid the risk of becoming a novelty band. But “Omni” does this with weak, cheesy smoothness while abandoning all of the things that made Minus the Bear loveable to begin with. It’s as if the adorable neighbor kid from next door who used to like climbing trees and selling lemonade decided to put on a suit one day and call himself a CEO. This is an album that undeservedly takes itself way too seriously.
April 23rd, 2010 | by J Meagher | published in alternative, hip-hop | 7 comments
What I’ve discovered is this: Plastic Beach is just as much of a musical mess as their previous releases, while being less ambitious and more self indulgent. I just can’t get over the idea that the Gorrilaz project is solely for Damon Albarn’s amusement, which isn’t a bad thing, but did we really need Bobby Womack on two songs here? I don’t feel like I can take this seriously as a “concept” album because the narrative, with its environmental undertones, is so weak that it doesn’t really add anything to the album.
Free Energy – Stuck on Nothing
April 13th, 2010 | by b aiken | published in alternative, punk, rock | 2 comments
The band doesn’t get too technical, doesn’t employ too many effects, and generally rocks in an old-school fashion. For me, this is a pretty refreshing audio journey. Start to finish, Stuck on Nothing gives the listener something to bob head / stomp foot / whistle / sing-along to, without too much thought involved. Pick this up, tune in, chill out, and enjoy the listening.
Pavement – Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
March 18th, 2010 | by Jason Grishkoff | published in 90s, alternative, indie rock, rock | 2 comments
When I got my turntable a while back, I started to make a list of albums that I wanted to own on vinyl (and to keep me on track in my local record stores). The only criteria for inclusion on the list was that the record had to be an album that I usually listened to from front to back. “Crooked Rain” was one of the first two or three records that made it on the list.
March 15th, 2010 | by Jason Grishkoff | published in acoustic, alternative, female vocalists, punk | 1 comment
It was surprising to me that with 2010′s release of “Junior”, the acoustic/instrumental songs that marked her last album have been jettisoned to the interludes; in their place are a number of eclectic tracks that range from dance-punk to indie-rock. It was the last thing I was expecting from this album, and I couldn’t be happier about it.
