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Tuesday, March 24, 2009
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Ida Maria - Fortress Round My Heart (Mercury) [audio] [upcoming shows]
In the past year, this album has been self-released, released by a major label, dropped by a major label, self-released again and picked up by a major label for release stateside. Every step along the way, tracks have been added and dropped, and the upcoming version is pared down to only ten (unfortunately). However, it still has "Oh My God," "Queen of the World" and "I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked," on which Ida Maria shines the brightest. Gritty vocals and loud guitars, courtesy of Scandinavia.
- paul
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Released 04.14.2009
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Friday, March 13, 2009
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The Inevitable Backlash - My Two Brookes (Hegemony) [audio]
Despite overturning almost the entire band from their Sex for Safety EP, this full length continues the heavy bass groove over growling vocals, referencing Tar, other Am Rep bands or mid-period Afghan Whigs. Aggressive at some points, dark and sullen at others, always eventually exploding into hard rock. There's lots of vulgar proclamations that drive the point home that anger is the fuel but given enough drinks, he'll break down, beg for an apology and sober back up only to tell you to go fuck yourself again.
- mark
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Released 03.03.2009
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Wednesday, October 08, 2008
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Intronaut - Prehistoricisms (Century Media) [audio] [upcoming shows]
It's been three weeks since I started listening to Prehistoricisms, and I'm still waiting to get sick of it. While I don't normally care for the techy/jazzy metal thing, Intronaut does what like-minded bands can't—they write songs. Prehistoricisms is no six-stringer-riff assault. Rather, the ceaseless rhythms of drummer Danny Walker provide the riffage while the effects-laden guitars and fretless bass paint a near-psychedelic backdrop of semi-brutal, achingly melodic movements. Hunting for that end-of-the-year surprise? This may be it.
- jason m.
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Released 09.16.2008
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Wednesday, September 10, 2008
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Ice Cube - Raw Footage (Lench Mob) [audio] [upcoming shows]
Raw Footage is for Ice Cube what American Gangster was for Jay-Z: a second chance to be reintroduced after a minor misstep. For Ice Cube, it's even more important. After spending the whole of the decade watering down his image in family-friendly movies and releasing a pretty tepid comeback album in 2006, he absolutely devastates the mic with brute force on Raw Footage. The beats are thick and his conviction is as strong as it was at the dawn of the '90s. Welcome back, Cube. Stick around this time.
- paul
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Released 08.19.2008
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Monday, September 01, 2008
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Ivana XL EP (self released) [audio] [upcoming shows]
Turning brevity to her advantage, Ivana XL's freshman release surrenders seven bits of music that are more like kisses than actual songs. Cut with just her smoky voice and a guitar as the backdrop for it, the music made is almost formless—as if it were written in a dream and then recorded upon waking. Keep an eye on her, because this EP shows tremendous promise.
- paul
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Released 05.27.2008
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Monday, August 04, 2008
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Islands - Arm's Way (Anti-) [audio] [upcoming shows]
Arm's Way builds upon Islands' last record, Return to the Sea, in such grand proportions that at first it doesn't even sound like Islands. With multiple listens though, one truly begins to appreciate the intricacies and musicianship behind the record. It's still the same old band, led by mastermind Nick Thorburn, but just improved and much better. Glimpses of their signature bouncy pop remains on certain tracks, but overall, it's a giant leap forward.
- melody
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Released 05.20.2008
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Thursday, May 01, 2008
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Intelligence - Debt & ESP/Chateau Bandit 7" (Plastic Idol) [audio] [upcoming shows]
There's something about the music coming out of the drizzly Northwest the past 20+ years that's indescribably identifiable. Lars Finberg (ex-A Frames) has made a couple records now as Intelligence, and his new single continues more or less in the same geographical tradition. The recording levels were pushed way into the red... then beyond. And though these two songs trudge along without much melody, the grooves provide some unfuckwithable hooks. Your neighbors will hate this, but it demands to be played at maximum volume.
- paul
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Released 04.22.2008
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Monday, March 10, 2008
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Ipso Facto - Harmonise/Balderdash 7" (Disc Error) [audio] [upcoming shows]
"Harmonise" is haunted by spectre of The Velvet Underground & Nico. It's a droning, lumbering monolith of a song that's part "Venus in Furs" and part "All Tomorrow's Parties", but never beholden to its vintage trappings. Instead, it charges forward through decades of post-punk, shoegaze and goth rock to sound almost hyper-current. Hours after you've listened to the Hammond B-3 riffs in this song, they will come back and kill you in your sleep. The b-side "Balderdash" works the same ideas to a speedier, but unfortunately lesser, effect.
- paul
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Released 11.06.2007
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Monday, July 30, 2007
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Iron & Wine - Boy With a Coin EP (Sub Pop) [audio] [upcoming shows]
Ever since Woman King, Sam Beam has been damn interesting. Earlier low-fi home recordings were great, but the mark of a one-trick pony was looming. He began experimenting with strange sounds like drums and currently uses
such newfangled instruments as piano. The effect of the increased instrumentation is outstanding, bringing new life to his songs. He could have a swing orchestra behind him and the quality of the songwriting would still stand out above all the brass and woodwinds. This is greatest hits material.
- cormac
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Released 07.10.2007
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Thursday, July 12, 2007
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Interpol - Our Love to Admire (Capitol) [audio] [upcoming shows]
After Interpol debuted in 2002 with Turn Out the Bright Lights, there wasn't really anywhere to go but down...and down they went. Antics followed, though it was little more than the document of a band long on confidence and short on ideas. Now we have Our Love to Admire, and confidence has become arrogance. Interpol knows now that people will buy anything with their name on it, so the con is officially on. Don't be surprised if the fourth album is just a peanut butter & doo-doo sandwich mashed inside a jewel case.
- paul
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Released 07.10.2007
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Tuesday, May 08, 2007
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I'm From Barcelona - Let Me Introduce My Friends (Mute) [audio] [upcoming shows]
What a fun group! Smart and upbeat pop music from Jönköping, Sweden...sounds like maybe The Bats and Pavement meets Spoon. But I'd bet anything that they're more fun live than Spoon, who bored me to tears last time I saw them play Boston. This is a great record with cool harmonies and lyrics, great production, chicken pox, tape recorders, and all sorts of other fun stuff. Long live pop!
- c. daltry
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Released 03.20.2007
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Monday, April 16, 2007
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The Inevitable Backlash - Sex For Safety EP (Hegemony)
The Inevitable Backlash features former members of Saccharine Trust
and the Rollins Band and sounds like late 80's SST bands like SWA and
DC3. Close to a late-era Naked Raygun crossed with a touch of butt
rock. "Le Fou Rire" starts off with some Greg Ginn-ish guitar licks
before kicking the tempo up a bit. Fast driving riffage and one
acoustic number—in total, five songs just under 13 minutes recorded
live without any overdubs. Bring on the full length.
- mark
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Released 03.27.2007
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Friday, July 08, 2005
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Idlewild – Warnings/Promises (Parlophone) [audio] [upcoming shows]
Hello, my name is Meredith and I am a Britpop/rockaholic. Listening to the single "I Understand It" was like coming home... to a crackhouse. I needed more. Frantically scrabbling through the 75orLess submission pile, I fell upon the full album and greedily shoved it into the CD player. The opening notes of "Love Steals Us From Loneliness" surrounded me with jangly guitars and lovely harmonies, and I knew that my addiction was going to be well taken care of.
- meredith
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Released 08.16.2005
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Thursday, June 23, 2005
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InterFAC3 - Dreaming of Summer Days Between Topanga and Will Rogers (Raging Sea Design) [mp3] [upcoming shows]
The galactic sounds of InterFAC3 (aka Andrei B. Cabanban) recall James Plotkin's mid-1990s work like The Joy of Disease and Old's Formula. Made with guitars, samplers, effects, synths and drum synths, the quirky Dreaming of Summer Days Between Topanga and Will Rogers knows no boundaries, shuffling children's music with meditative pieces, rock-feuled dance with doomy requiems, and alien soundscapes with schmaltzy orchestral frolics. While the monstrous bulk of this may invoke boredom, Cabanban's instrumental lattice work lends the one-man band scene a few points.
- jason m.
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Released 07.05.2005
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Wednesday, June 01, 2005
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Invisible Cities – Watertown (Find it on CD Baby) [audio] [upcoming shows]
Slow, slow, quick, quick, slow. Whimsical folk pop that mixes up Aimee Mann, Bettie Serveert, Elliott Smith and Superchunk. You've got your thoughtful songs about old family apartments ("Watertown") and sweet lullabies ("Shooting Star") interspersed with snarling appreciations for the power of whiskey ("Double Fisted") and catchy invitations to the carnival ("Bumper Cars"). The 12-track album clocks in at under 37 minutes, and I find myself repeatedly hitting
"play" to take it from the top again. And again.
- meredith
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Monday, February 14, 2005
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Iron & Wine - Woman King EP (Sub Pop) [mp3]
Is it possible that Sam Beam is getting better and better? While many were initially skeptical when the stripped down, guy in his basement segment of Beams career moved into real recording studios, everything since has been exceptional. And now comes this EP, and quality abounds. He almost shifts into a different gear for this EP, as if that third cup of java just kicked in. Still soft enough to lay your head on, but maybe with a little foot tapping added in. If you are a fan already, it's a no brainer, if not, it's time to be.
- joe l.
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Released 02.22.2005
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Thursday, January 06, 2005
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IUNO - Everything Nothing (Get It Here) [mp3s] [upcoming shows]
IUNO is a trip-hop duo with a collective of artists for their live
shows. Members Stella has a sexy sultry diva voice and Steven has an
ear for a wide ranged textured electronica that resonates wonderfully
with Stella's lyrics, which are influenced greatly by fear. Other
musicians appearing with them are part of the 'Iuno Laboratory,' which
features cello and violin musicians and someone who provides seizure
inducing visuals behind the band while performing live. If Iuno were a legal drug, I would take it.
- jason w.
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Released 11.09.2004
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Monday, December 13, 2004
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I Am X - Kiss + Swallow
(Recall) [audio]
I don't know exactly why I love almost anything that sounds like it's from 1984, since I was only 10 at the time. But it's why I had a soft spot for most electroclash and still listen to Depeche Mode and Human League regularly. I Am X (Sneaker Pimps' Chris Corner) suffers this same affliction, though, and ably takes his love affair with synth-driven pop to its logical conclusion. Kiss + Swallow is earnest at times, but mostly makes the best of inspiration rather than imitation.
- paul
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Released 10.05.2004
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Monday, August 16, 2004
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Ikara Colt - Modern Apprentice (Fantastic Plastic) [mp3s] [video] [upcoming shows]
It looks as though Ikara Colt were mistakenly lumped in with the
post-punk revivalists at the time their first record was released in
2002. Modern Apprentice is front to back buzzsaw atonal rock and
roll, untied to any time period or movement. Like Sonic Youth before
them, the musical vision can be singular to a fault if pursued at
length. Wisely, Ikara Colt left most of these songs short enough to
avoid that foreordained pitfall. Noise with structure, rock without
trappings.
- paul
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Friday, July 23, 2004
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The Izzys (Kanine) [mp3s/video] [upcoming shows]
The copyright says 2004, but if you were given this CD with no
accompanying information, you'd be stroking your chin trying to figure
which great lost '60s garage blues rock act was responsible for its
contents. At times, the songs liberate ideas from the Jagger/Richards
book of clichés, but only when the momentum builds so much that it has nowhere else to go. Without reinventing the wheel, The Izzys create something of a rarity: an honest rock n' fuckin' roll record.
- paul
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Monday, July 01, 2002
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Imperial Teen - On (Merge)
For completely different reasons, this album brings back the feeling I got when first hearing Redd Kross. I think it's the application of new wave song formulas the same way RK re-conceived the 70s power ballad. A diverse collection, "On" is just plain fun and the right weight for summer listening, something you can feel without having to overthink. Think of it as musical Hi-C, just enough nutrition to get past the parents, just enough sugar to get you high.
- leslie
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Monday, October 29, 2001
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Iggy and the Stooges - Raw Power - Remixed and Remastered (Legacy/Columbia)
When I was a young punk, I listened to the stooges' raw power on vinyl religiously. I wanted to be badass. I wanted to be Iggy Pop. I didn't care if I had to shoot myself full of heroin, cut myself to ribbons and wear skintight silver pants and a badass cheetah print leather jacket and nothing else. I wanted to be Iggy Pop. Now I'm a much older post-punk, listening to the remixed and remastered version of raw power on CD in my nice car. Let me check...yep. I still wanna be Iggy Pop.
- brian
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Thursday, October 25, 2001
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The International Noise Conspiracy - New Morning, Changing Weather (Epitaph)
From the Swedish post-punk cookbook: One part Nation of Ulysses-style lyrics, one part The Make-Up-style instrumentals, mix in a pinch of communism and some residual horns from their recent tour with Rocket From The Crypt... Voila. Unfortunately, it appears that our Swede friends have encountered a musical perestroika of sorts. The energy remains, but the catchy anti-capitalist scum lyrics and instrumentals are lacking. The wall hasn't fallen yet, but Glastnost is upon us.
- jon
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