Category: Print

Music, Print, Reviews

Album Review: City States – Geography

June 18, 2015

No two people explore loss in the same way, particularly when it comes to musicians. Whether it’s the dichotomous musical and lyrical tandem of Mike Ring and the Connection, the raw anguish of The Antlers, or the sprawling light-in-the-dark hopefulness of Arcade Fire, music as a coping mechanism is a powerful thing. Chicago-based City States uses their newest release, Geography, to do the same thing in honor of frontman Joel Ebner’s father. Joel was kind enough to answer a few questions about the band and the album.

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Music, Print, Reviews

Album Review: Deerhoof – La Isla Bonita

Imagine Speed Racer has just collided with a cargo train full of toxic sludge and candy. Dead and injured are everywhere, fire wrecks the countryside, as a shambling, stumbling figure emerges from the carnage. It’s the entity known as Deerhoof! Candy coated and chaotic, Deerhoof is here to lay waste to your musical comfort zones. They come armed with a 20-year discography, and minds that pump out frenetic, frenzied noise. Basically, you don’t stand a chance.

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Music, Print, Reviews

Album Review: A Place To Bury Strangers – Transfixation

After some much needed down time the trio reformed with a new and refreshed outlook on the project and proceeded to lay down the most raucous addition to their discography yet. On February 17th, APTBS released their new album, a perfect representation of why we need pop music and all its predictability. Transfixation exists, if only as a measuring post against the aural insanity that is Transfixation.

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Music, Print, Reviews

Album Review: Dark Bird is Home— The Tallest Man On Earth

June 16, 2015

In late 2006, Kristian Matsson charmed listeners with his debut selftitled EP The Tallest Man on Earth. The sounds present were mournful, bluesy, folkloric, and odiously recorded. Despite the tinny quality present in the tracks, Matsson’s command of sound was clear. Almost two years later Matsson released his full length debut, Shallow Grave, which traded in the Ozarkian twang for a sweeter folk bend, and redolent, flowering lyrics. Now, at the tail end of nearly a three year break, The Tallest Man on Earth returns with his fourth record, Dark Bird is Home.

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Features, Music, Print

As Famous As He Wants To Be: Sage Francis Sits Comfortably At The Helm of His Career

The Providence, Rhode Island-native, former spoken word champion, seasoned emcee and founder of Strange Famous Records has built a comfortable career for himself over the last two decades, but he would rather stay under the radar. Francis has never been one to seek out fame, it kind of found him. His incredible writing talent was undeniable. Coupled with a strong stage presence, it was only a matter of time before he attracted attention. Curiously, it’s the attention he tends to want to avoid. As a self-proclaimed introvert, he’s much more relaxed inside the fours walls of his home than he his outside in the world. However, that all goes out the window when he takes his first step on stage; he explodes with confidence.

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Music, Print, Reviews

New Music Monday: Sharon Van Etten — I Don’t Want to Let You Down

For me, the best artists (musical or not) are the ones who are growing from project to project. Whether the development is a growth in the boundaries of their particular sound, or an emotional one, which garners tasty new morsels of insight, it’s important to me that the struggle is present. It makes the music feel more genuine, more organic. Last year, when Sharon Van Etten released Are We There, we glimpsed into the gnarled and fraught mental scape of a woman on the edge of love. Now, in her new EP, I Don’t Want to Let You Down, we visit Van Etten on the same heart break, now with room enough for perspective.

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