Music
Review: Merchandise – Totale Nite EP
This new EP is very much a companion piece to last year’s Children of Desire, and very much pushes Merchandise’s sonic palate further. “Anxiety’s Door” is an awesome rock n’ roll epic adventure that showcases Dave Vasalotti’s guitar skills. … read more
Review: Luke Winslow-King – The Coming Tide
When it comes to contemporary roots music, the easy route is to punk things up—play it faster or with an edge—but roots music transcends time and period. Luke Winslow-King walks that fine line between slavishly authentic and radical change just for the sake of change. … read more
Review: Little Boots – Nocturnes
Little Boots deliver an album stocked full of synthpop electronic-style tracks with catchy vocals. … read more
Review: La Armada – Self-Titled
Cynical Spanish punk with ice water in its veins and acid on its breath. Gringo friendly translations showcase some compelling ideas here (“in the man-vomiting society/the most severe scarcity is/ the inevitable counterpart of being devoured by the machine”) even if the “todo es caca” sentiment is age-old. … read more
Review: Woodsman Orphan – My Name is Ishmael Ali
The odds are against you as a singer if you attempt to pull off the Neil Young signature whine-and-pine style of vocalizing. … read more
Review: The Uncluded – Hokey Fright
Hip hop meets nursery rhymes with this collab from Aesop Rock and Kimya Dawson. … read more
Review: TesseracT – Altered State
After going through the heinous task of finding a new lead singer, the djent-prog outfit have returned with a massively infectious new record that is a definite achievement. … read more
Review: Small Multiples – Self Titled
No songs on this EP, put out by Craig Hartley and Eli Friedmann, sound like they belong on the same album together. … read more
Review: Small Black – Limits of Desire
In the supposedly genre-less world we live in, being pigeonholed into a nascent musical genre is probably the biggest challenge a 20-something Brooklynite will ever face. Enter Small Black. … read more
Review: Pharmakon – Abandon
The sound and mood on Abandon aren’t unsettling in the manner that being forced into an uncomfortable conversation can be. … read more