Aimee Mann ‘Mann on Mann Action’ Nonesuch Aimee Mann has toiled for three decades as one of those “musicians’ musicians,” but she’s never exactly been known as a hit machine. Easily Mann’s most commercially successful and recognizable work is “Voices Carry,” the title track off of her band ‘Til Tuesday’s
Read More →Black Rebel Motorcycle Club ‘Specter at the Feast’ Abstract Dragon This is barely the same band as the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club that released 2005 high water mark, “Howl.” Gone is dummer Nick Jago — enter Leah Shapiro — and the band is also clearly still deeply affected by the
Read More →David Bowie ‘The Next Day’ Columbia Remember when David Bowie was DAVID BOWIE, and everything he touched was beautiful and amazing? He stopped being transcendent right around 1990, and since then has been releasing albums that have seemed to grasp more desperately at some kind of social relevance. Time had
Read More →They Might Be Giants ‘Nanobots’ Idlewild It’s scientifically impossible to dislike They Might Be Giants. Over the past 30 years the duo has made a living out of clever lyrics and hooks that are catchier than the common cold. The result has become the band’s trademark: Its particular style of
Read More →Dr Internets ‘Dr Internets: Attorney at Law’ Independent This is either the worst thing I’ve ever heard in my life, or the dawning of a new breed of Andy Kaufman-esque, avant garde genius. Much like Kaufman, you get the sneaking suspicion that Dr Internets is laughing at you, and some
Read More →Angle ‘White Andy’ One Leg Up The “White Andy” EP is a throwback to the early ’90s glory days of hip-hop. It’s actually a rather refreshing entry into the scene, as the current trends tend to move further away from the roots that made hip-hop so popular in the first
Read More →Muddy Rails ‘Muddy Rails’ Brolester Muddy Rails is a throwback to the glory days of SoCal punk-pop. “The Green Automobile” and its opening declaration of “My my how the years can change a man/and this is what I’ve settled into” is straight out of the Social Distortion playbook. And just
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Posted February 06, 2013in Recent Posts, Sound Check
Tomahawk ‘Oddfellows’ Ipecac Recordings With a pedigree that includes some of rock and metal’s most creative and avant garde bands, Tomahawk has always been a wildly inventive band. “Oddfellows” kicks that creativity up a notch with the introduction of new bassist Trevor Dunn, formerly of Mr. Bungle. Dunn’s familiarity with
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Posted January 30, 2013in Recent Posts, Sound Check
Tegan and Sara ‘Heartthrob’ Sire This is not the Tegan and Sara you went to college with, and that’s a good thing. The Canadian twin sisters spent most of their 20s developing the acoustic, almost folky, kind of emo sound that became their trademark. But the ladies aren’t in their
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Posted January 23, 2013in Recent Posts, Sound Check
Blondfire ‘Where The Kids Are EP’ Warner Bros Blondfire’s been something of an indie pop darling since its 2006 debut made it the first unsigned band to hit No. 1 on the iTunes Alternative chart. The band — comprised mainly of siblings Bruce and Erica Driscoll — has been working
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