The Prodigy - No Tourists
How many bands from 1990, especially big beat electro rave ones, are capable of putting out a divisive record in 2018?
Paolo Mizerna
Los Angeles Police Department - Eponymous Record
I'm curious. Has Ryan Pollie had any feedback from the actual Los Angeles Police Department? A few years ago, Pitchfork reviewed their first disc and keenly noted the spate of indie bands obsessed with "un-googleable" names. This 10 song followup will be likened to many leaves on the Beach Boys limb of the rock-n-roll family tree. It's definitely not on the Beatles branch. Despite the fact that the singer is from Philadelphia, it is a classically southern California sound. At times, it feels like Washed Out (also not from SoCal). The difference with Mr. Pollie is that he's more than willing to add more doses of rock opera and synth pop syncopation to his material. It's a…
Vagabon - Infinite Worlds
We first heard the song "Sharks" courtesy of Brooklyn Magazine in 2016. Watch the video. I think you'll understand why we loved it. Her eight song album is out now (iTunes) and "Sharks" has become "The Embers." It's also louder, with a great stutter of bass and drums. It's just as captivating. Laetitia Tamko's aesthetic harkens back to so many artists that it's hard to pin them all down. If she wasn't so damn genuine, it might not work. These aren't happy songs but they all shine. Track 7, "Cold Apartment," has been on repeat for the last hour. AV Club, NPR…
Overnight Low Releasing Piccadilly
Portland, Maine's An Overnight Low has a new record coming out in November. Chad Walls, the band's songwriter, envisioned a three album set bound by the topic of travel during a nine hour wait at Heathrow. This one, Piccadilly, is the penultimate release. This disc features the same producer, Jonathan Wyman, as well as a long guest list of Maine musicians. The single, Magellan with a Timetable, bursts in at a healthy clip before it washes into a Byrds-like chorus. It's one of those tracks that feels familiar before you know the words. It reminds me of those old Cracker CDs: you're inspired to mime the words before you…
Euston - An Overnight Low
Euston is the first in a three-part series of albums from Maine’s An Overnight Low, each release to be named after U.K train stations (Piccadilly and Waverley are forthcoming), and inspired by main songwriter Chad Walls’ experiences living and traveling throughout the United Kingdom while completing his Doctorate at the University of Manchester. You can hear a mélange of rich influences here (perhaps most notably R.E.M in the opener, ‘The Artist in the Wrong World’), but the skillful folk-pop sensibilities of Walls and his talented group of fellow musicians (including Jonathan Wyman, Mac Coldwell, Chris White and Holly Nunan) are…
Beck - Morning Phase
By the own artist’s admission, Morning Phase is very much a ‘companion piece’ to Beck’s stirring 2002 LP Sea Change. True enough, much of the same band returned for this recording, his first in six years- notably Beck’s own father David Campbell, whose string arrangements feature prominently. The album will please fans of Sea Change. This is mellow, slow tempo music tinged with sadness (as on ‘Blue Moon’, where Beck asks, ‘cut me down to size so I can fit inside’). Yet this is more melodic and not nearly as mournful as Sea Change, and Beck’s return to his singer-songwriter…
The War On Drugs - Lost In The Dream
Adam Granduciel and his bandmates haven’t just hit a home run with Lost In The Dream, they’ve undoubtedly released one of the best albums of the year. Produced over a two-year period and inspired by Granduciel’s own battles with depression, there is undoubtedly a slight sense of uneasiness that lingers here, but the refashioning of classic and, in particular, 80’s rock, is inspired. No doubt some of the album owes a debt to a certain gent by the name of Bruce Springsteen (‘Burning’ would slot into the track listing of Born in the U.S.A with ease), but you can also…
White Lung - Deep Fantasy
Vancouver’s White Lung are back with their third release, Deep Fantasy, a ferocious and frenetic punk rock race that effectively captures the energy of the band’s live work. There’s zero let-up from start to finish as the album sprints in with ten tracks in less than twenty-five minutes, but this is more than frontwoman Mish Way screaming her head off to three cord compositions. White Lung know a catchy hook when they find one (consider the addictive grunt of ‘Just For You’), and aren’t afraid of playing with melody (‘Down It Goes’). The closer, ‘In Your Home’, perhaps hints at…
St. Vincent - St. Vincent
On a roll from two previous albums that already garnered rave reviews (2011’s Strange Mercy and her 2012 collaboration with David Byrne, Love This Giant) Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent, now returns with what is undoubtedly her best effort yet. This is confident, ambitious work, drawing the listener in with a distinct blend of what one could almost describe as ‘prog pop.' Clark’s considerable guitar skills play a prominent role throughout, but she has brought together a broad variety of instruments with a dash of electronica to craft her at times quite complex arrangements. But despite her experimental nature, from…
Regina Spektor - What We Saw From The Cheap Seats
I’ve always thought that those detractors quick to dismiss Regina Spektor’s career with words like ‘quirky’, ‘oddball’ or ‘sentimental’ were missing out on a unique talent with incredible piano and songwriting skills and a sad-sweet voice to match. Sure, there are moments when whimsy or sentimentality may arguably have led Spektor a step too far into eccentric or syrupy territory, but she finds success more often than not. What We Saw From The Cheap Seats isn’t necessarily a huge departure from earlier work –in fact it reminded me a great deal of her first effort, Soviet Kitsch- and yet this…