The Clearing and the Clear View It Lends: A Discussion with Phil Moore of the Bowerbirds
The Clearing, the Bowerbirds third album due out March 6th, 2012 on Dead Oceans, is a grand representation of Phil Moore and Beth Tacular’s outlook on the world, the life they live and the challenges that hail from that pursuit. By now, it should be understood that the Bowerbirds are a band enjoyed by many, especially those...
James Blake – Enough Thunder EP
Earlier this year, James Blake released his first full length, a self-titled affair full of dubstep studio tricks, piano ballads, and auto-tuned soul. Blake’s approach to the album was as a dubstep producer and as an accomplished pianist and songwriter. The Enough Thunder EP finds James Blake further exploring the intersection of electronic...
An Band On The Run
Howard Redekopp (The New Pornographers, Tegan and Sara, Mother Mother, 54-40) mixed their first record Rearrange Beds, then was brought in to fully produce Walls from the ground up. From the rhythmic barrel roll sound of "Dressed Sharply" to the softer and reflective Windows Acoustic Presence, you find intent to create a dynamic, listenable album,...
The Field – Looping State of Mind
The breadth of styles encompassed in Looping State of Mind may make it a difficult album to classify, but this difficulty is such a large part of its charm.
I Want To Be Well – A Discussion of Sufjan Steven’s The Age of Adz
t's taken me a long time to collect my feelings about one of my favourite artist's latest album, and I'm not quite sure what that means. After what seemed like a long silence, multi-instrumentalist singer songwriter Sufjan Stevens released his first song based album since 2005's Illinois in the form of The Age of Adz...
Washed Out – Within or Without
This is an album that begs listen after listen. It is lushly layered in such a way that embedded nuances and tones reveal themselves with each new spin. It's not filled with dynamic or sonically rich moments, but still incites similar emotive responses that those characteristics tend to, through utilizing texture.
Spirit They’ve Gone
Spirit They’ve Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished, henceforth known as Spirit, was the prototype to Animal Collective, and only included Avey Tare, who played most of the instruments on the record, and Panda Bear, who provided “perfect percussion.” Spirit proves difficult to get into, though, and was filled with crashing, off kilter drumming at times, and...
Battles – Gloss Drop
Gloss Drop helps make the case that Battles may very well be the most rhythmically sophisticated band in rock and roll. The interplay between Williams, Stanier, and Konopka produces dense, intricate compositions that keep things interesting after dozens of listens.
Sinking with Wooden Shjips
While I’m being transparent with you, I’ll give you a forewarning regarding my take on the latest Wooden Shjips (pronounced Shyips) LP, West: I know that the reason I like it is because nearly every essential part of the album as a component has always been something I could listen to.
Twenty Solid Minutes – A Review of MAX by Karl Blau
Max exceeds what many EP’s set out to accomplish. Throughout its short but extravagant twenty minutes, it conjures up a craving, a hope that its arrival will lead to a LP that matches up in levels of enjoyment, that the next release will be a junction from Max.
13 & God – Own Your Ghost
Own Your Ghost finds a way to combine the best of the constituent members’ past projects and previous 13 & God releases, while still sounding fresh. Whether employing power pop structures (“Old Age”), motorik Krautrock beats (“Et Tu”), or 70’s folk balladry (“Death Minor”), a unifying underlying approach remains.
Sensibly Disconnected: A Review of Panda Bear’s Tomboy
Never mind the plunge you will soon take as the luscious reverberations of Tomboy resonate over the engines, carrying you above lopsided grids of houses and poor excuses for order. What you’ve heard so far seems to embrace a swirling chaos. It makes sense to you, these wavering guitars so reminiscent of the...
