Album: Torres Artist: Torres Year Released: 2013 Of all the albums I’ve listened to in 2013, only one has clung to my consciousness and literally haunted my dreams. The album, Torres, by Torres, the musical pseudonym of Mackenzie Scott, is emotionally and audibly raw to the point where it is sometimes painful to hear, and yet, the… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Album Reviews
The Henry Clay People, Twenty-Five for the Rest of Our Lives: Album Review
Album: Twenty Five for the Rest of Our Lives Artist: The Henry Clay People Year:2012 It’s been a good summer for punk rock. Bands like Japandroids, Deer Tick, and to a lesser extent, Gentleman Jesse are proving that hard rock as a relevant sound is far from over. In the incredible heat of this July,… Continue Reading
Punch Brothers, Who’s Feeling Young Now?: Album Review
Punch Brothers calls themselves a bluegrass band, but I think the old-time bluegrass community might disagree. The instrumentation bears a strong resemblance to bluegrass, with the traditional combinations of guitar, fiddle (violin for you yankees out there), mandolin, banjo and bass, but the song structures are much more contemporary sounding, more in keeping with Nickel Creek than Bill Monroe.… Continue Reading
Purity Ring, Shrines: Album Review
Album: Shrines Artist: Purity Ring Year: 2012 As a genre, experimental rock isn’t particularly descriptive. With sub-genres including everything from house music to math rock to what is essentially instrumental post rock, albums placed under the experimental heading often struggle to define themselves. Case in point is the trippy and somewhat magical-sounding album Shrines from the… Continue Reading
Dirty Projectors, Swing Lo Magellan: Album Review
Album: Swing Lo Magellan Artist: Dirty Projectors Year: 2012 Dirty Projectors are a band I have listened to for years, but never honestly paid that much attention to, until now. With the recent release of Swing Lo Magellan, Dirty Projectors have leapt up a few rungs of amazingness, in my estimation. Swing Lo Magellan, like most… Continue Reading
DIIV, Oshin: Album Review
Album: Oshin Artist: DIIV Year: 2012 The Brooklyn-based post rock / indie rock band, DIIV (formerly Dive) is getting a fair amount of attention for it’s debut LP, Oshin, and rightly so. Oshin is a delicate, uplifting little album, the kind of music you play on a lazy Sunday afternoon but then find yourself listening to… Continue Reading
El-P, Cancer 4 Cure: Album Review
Album: Cancer 4 Cure Artist: El-P Year: 2012 My favorite thing about closely following new music is those rare moments when an album comes along that shines a new light on a tired sound or genre. Cancer 4 Cure, the latest release from Brooklynite Jaime Meline, a.k.a. El-P, is one of those albums. Just when… Continue Reading
Gentleman Jesse, Leaving Atlanta: Album Review
Album: Leaving Atlanta Artist: Gentleman Jesse Year: 2012 The idea of punk rock usually has more to do with it’s anti-establishment lyrics and short, fast-tempo music style than any other genre markers. This leaves the door wide open for interpretation as to what does and does not qualify as punk rock. Leaving Atlanta, the newest release from… Continue Reading
Kids These Days: The Up and Coming Talent of Leigh Ann’s Incisions
I trekked up to Marietta last Saturday to check out a metal-core band made up of high school kids called Leigh Ann’s Incisions at a little Marietta venue called Swayze’s. Admittedly, I was out of my comfort zone in a few ways. For one, I don’t often journey out of Atlanta to hear music, not… Continue Reading
Gillian Welch, The Harrow and the Harvest : Album Review
Album: The Harrow and the Harvest Artist: Gillian Welch Year: 2011 Gillian Welch is one of those artists who I always like but only occasionally love. With an eight year gap between albums, fans and critics alike had to wonder which Gillian Welch The Harrow and the Harvest would present. Would it be the Gillian… Continue Reading