Music
Review: Mark McGuire – Along the Way
Along the Way vibes off fluid instrumentation, sort of how “Aqueous Transmission” by Incubus creates a meditative, stoner track to get you in the zone. Once in this mystical environment of sound, the songs meld from these liquid tracks to sounds that are more similar to ’80s hair-metal, with an intense electric guitar dominating the melodies. … read more
Review: Marissa Nadler – July
While a bit cliché, Nadler’s voice is classic sounding, as if she could have come straight from a saloon in the 1920s with her loopy, sinister yet soothing soprano, making this an album I won’t dismiss. … read more
Review: Magik Markers – Surrender to the Fantasy
It’s the introspective turn into a fantasy realm, even if, instead of his grungy stuffed animals, it’s the evocation of some barefoot, unheated ’60s hippie collective walkup, with all the demonism and beauty that implies. … read more
Review: Liars – Mess
The band is now adept in the electronic manipulation they flirted with in WIXIW. Mess moves beyond the yearning of WIXIW and offers an alternative—a cheerfully dark counter to tradition and the world at large. … read more
Review: Laibach – Spectre
Although this release has some of the aggressive, cadence-type music that we are used to, it also has a variety of calmer music styles to it as well. It includes a touch of experimental, drum and bass, EBM and even dubstep on some tracks. … read more
Review: Jupe Jupe – Crooked Kisses
This quartet from Seattle is somewhere between Metronomy and the more emotional side of Duran Duran. Jupe Jupe’s presence, overall, is a bit too mellow for me, but it’s hard not to appreciate such a well-crafted album. … read more
Review: JG Thirlwell – The Blue Eyes Original Motion Picture...
Those who may be unfamiliar with Thirlwell’s name have heard his work if they’ve ever watched The Venture Brothers. The Blue Eyes is a dark affair, heavy on noir swells, plucked strings, drawn noise, and bass whispers. It sets and maintains a mood. I haven’t seen the film, but enjoyed the score. … read more
![Review: Jensen – Zero One [Redux]](/uploads/303/7300-jensen-crop-396x288.jpg)
Review: Jensen – Zero One [Redux]
I loved this album; it was raw, brutal and contained an explosion of angst and anger that turns this album into a must have for any fan of electronic industrial. … read more
Review: Isaiah Rashad – Cilvia Demo
Rashad takes his father’s abandonment and turns it into a moral imperative—a move that could have been trite in hands of a lesser MC. This, however, is a daring labor of love by a very gifted young man. These strong but flawed songs creep into your soul without you even realizing it—the same way that forgiveness can. … read more
Review: Indian – From All Purity
“Rhetoric of No” and “The Impetus Bleeds” seem to signal a return to the lively riffing of their previous albums, but then the band inevitably falls back into a yawn-inducing sound coma. Containing little substance to be admired, From All Purity marks the low point in Indian’s discography. … read more