Archive for 2010
TYVEK Nothing Fits CD/LP
Tyvek is the band the Tri-Lambs and Omega Mus should have started for the Talent Show in Revenge of the Nerds, and whether the nerds would have charmed the audience with their sounds or sent them running away in fear and panic is a moot point. Some are calling this their best release yet, and [...]
ANTONY & THE JOHNSONS Swanlights CD/LP
Antony Hegarty largely remains a cult figure despite the accolades, Nina Simone comparisons and heavyweight endorsements from Bjork and Lou Reed. This should come as no surprise since we live in a culture that isn’t likely to embrace a hulking transgender spirit with an otherworldly voice. Lady GaGa can wear a dress made of meat [...]
THE PARTING GIFTS Strychnine Dandelion CD/LP
Anything that Greg “Oblivian” Cartwright touches is an easy sell and The Parting Gifts is no exception. This time around Cartwright is paired with Coco Hames from The Ettes and supported by a handful of guests that include The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach and The Raconteurs’ Patrick Keeler. Strychnine Dandelion finds Cartwright and Hames sharing [...]
TIMMY’S ORGANISM Rise of The Green Gorilla CD/LP
The Cloney-D’s drew blood on Jupiter. Human Eye opened up the salamandoors. Timmy’s Organism, we-he-he-hell! The terrific news here is that this is some of Timmy V. Lampinen’s finest work to date, a sonic summit of gorilla gardens and impregnated Martian Queens where the frenetic post-apocalyptic skree-punk of the Clone Defects meets the interstellar Ursa [...]
DUM DUM GIRLS I Will Be CD/LP
Hype can destroy any band. While pushing up sales to the general public, the seasoned listener (though such seasoning should anticipate any short-comings of the product) will almost always be let down. Enter the Dum Dum Girls. Helping the hype was their history (originally as a one woman project but now fully fledged) of releasing [...]
WHITE HILLS s/t CD
Out of the blue comes another band that escapes these eclectic ears. Being someone who ignores contemporary bands on the whole, save a few from the stoner rock, shoegaze, and revivalist hard psych/space rock camps, it is usually when they are presented to me, instead of earnestly foraging for anything new on my own that [...]
DUM DUM GIRLS I Will Be CD/LP
Hasn’t Vivian Girls taught us anything, that if you garner enough hype they will come, doe eyed and vacant despite the actual music not being very good in the first place? I guess not…. Twenty years ago the riot grrrls channeled girl power by recycling Gloria Steinem and attempting to play like the boys while [...]
VARIOUS ARTISTS Metal Swim FREE MP3 ALBUM
Pretty tasty, priced right compilation of (mainly) unreleased cuts from some of the biggest names in the metal scene today. This doesn’t lean too heavily on the Black or Death side of the genre (though it’s here), more Doom and straight ahead crush oriented, but overall solid proof that fist pumping and headbanging are still [...]
SUN CITY GIRLS Funeral Mariachi CD/LP
In the end, Sun City Girls let us down easy. And reeaal pretty. It’s too much to consider, and too soon as well, trying to place this record in SCG’s continuum. But Funeral Mariachi, the final studio album from these three demon-kings—made with late drummer Charles Gocher and prepared for release after his 2007 death—is [...]
UNEARTHLY TRANCE V CD/LP
Brooklyn’s Unearthly Trance has crawled the Earth since 2000 but it was 2006′s The Trident (Relapse) that brought them to a much wider audience. The droning feedback and trudging beats coupled with Ryan Lipynsky’s deafening howl perfectly. Time changes abounded, as did genre hopping from sludge into a cacophonous grind and then everything in between. [...]
