Posts tagged with "Indie Reviews"
STANDISH/CARLYON
STANDISH/CARLYON
Deleted Scenes
facebook.com/standishcarlyon
Back in the day, this album might have facilitated romance between Bauhaus and Wham! fans. Today, its spacey, minimalist, gothed-out lover-man R&B feels universal, natural—even inevitable. It has something to do with the internet, as well as the sensual songcraft of this Aussie duo.
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AMY SPEACE
AMY SPEACE
How to Sleep in a Stormy Boat
amyspeace.com
In the lead-up to her latest, Amy Speace lost some things—love, judging from the lyrics, and also her voice, thanks to a bout with acute laryngitis. Still, by virtue of being alive and having the friends, family and emotional toughness to muddle on, for better or worse, this Nashville-based singer-songwriter considers herself among the “Fortunate Ones” she sings about on the leadoff track....
CERAMIC DOG
CERAMIC DOG
Your Turn
marcribot.com
Best known for working with two of the greatest lyricists and most distinctive vocalists of our time—Tom Waits and Elvis Costello—guitarist Marc Ribot doesn’t need to say a word. He sings plenty on this, the second album by his trio Ceramic Dog, and railing against Mother Nature (“Lies My Body Told Me”) and freeloading MP3 downloaders (“Masters of the Internet”), he’s got some interesting things...
JOHN MURRY
JOHN MURRY
The Graceless Age
johnmurry.com
On one level, there’s a shuffling, off-the-cuff feel to John Murry’s music. Singing songs about heartache and heroin addiction, he’s got the laid-back strum and rough, jaded delivery of a been-there, took-that, lived-to-tell troubadour. But there’s nothing casual about The Graceless Age, an album of dense, meticulous sonic collages masquerading as alt-country tunes. Murry’s backstory is as cluttered—or...
THE SHARP THINGS
THE SHARP THINGS
Green Is Good
thesharpthings.com
After six years away, these Brooklyn pop experimentalists emerge from their laboratory flush with new music. This is the first installment of Dogs of Bushwick, a four-album set, and on the series’ title track, singer Perry Serpa describes his need to write songs. “There’s a radio station alive in my head,” he sings. “There’s a radio station that’s driving me mad.” At least the DJs have...
CHARLES WALKER & THE DYNAMITES
CHARLES WALKER & THE DYNAMITES
Love Is Only Everything
thedynamites.net
Pair a 70-something soul survivor with a pack of reverent young virtuosos, and you’ve got a couple of options. One is to make gritty, lo-fi recordings slavishly indebted to some romanticized past. The other is to admit the times have changed and go slightly more modern, and that’s what Nashville’s Dynamites and their veteran frontman do here. Walker was buds with James...
KING DJANGO
KING DJANGO
Anywhere I Roam
kingdjango.com
For two decades, Stubborn Records founder Jeff “King Django” Baker has kept the East Coast safe for ska and traditional Jamaican music. Here, the singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist pulls together a dozen tracks cut with friends and associates, and while all feature variations of the island’s distinctive offbeat bounce, Django keeps things as diverse as possible. In addition to swift,...
SANDERS BOHLKE
SANDERS BOHLKE
Ghost Boy
sandersbohlke.com
No amount of sonic ambiance—not amplifier hiccups, feedback blasts, cello hums or eerily childlike piano tinkling—can distract from the sentiments driving Sanders Bohlke’s music. On his first album in seven years, this 21st century Southern folkie threads together songs of love and Armageddon, promising, “I’ll rip your heart out like you want me to” on one track, then observing, “The devil is...
JELLO BIAFRA
JELLO BIAFRA
White People and the Damage Done
alternativetentacles.com
No surprises here: “Werewolves of Wall Street,” “Mid-East Peace Process,” and the title track are about exactly what their titles suggest, and as anyone familiar with Biafra’s oeuvre might guess, these and others are irreverent hardcore ragers informed by pop, surf rock and even circus music. Biafra has been flinging these goofball grenades since the ’70s, when he was...
PALENKE SOULTRIBE
PALENKE SOULTRIBE
MAR
palenkesoultribe.com
There’s a tune here called “This Song Is for Whoever Feels Lonely,” and those eight words might preface any of the dozen tracks on this album. On the second part in a planned trilogy, this Colombian-born, L.A.-based electronic duo aims for inclusiveness at the risk of abrasiveness, honoring Old World traditions by completely uprooting them. Hip-hop, pop and EDM fans will dig the synthetic squiggles,...
THE REV. JIMMIE BRATCHER
THE REV. JIMMIE BRATCHER
Secretly Famous
jimmiebratcher.com
The God-versus-devil dynamic one might expect from a Midwestern preacher who’s also an ace blues guitarist doesn’t really come into play here, and that’s fine—there are plenty of conflicted souls making the rounds, exorcising demons through music. Bratcher is mostly upbeat on these dozen tunes, and even when he’s not—”When I Fall Apart,” “Nowhere to Go but Down”—he’s...
TARMAC ADAM
TARMAC ADAM
The History Effect
tarmacadam.com.au
That Tarmac Adam can reform after a decade away and pick up where they left off speaks volumes about their music. Warm, well crafted and slightly adventurous, theirs is a timeless sound reminiscent of ’60s pop, ’70s folk-rock and jangly ’80s indie—and of fellow Aussie rockers Crowded House. In fact, that band’s Nick Seymour sits in on bass, reprising his role from Tarmac’s 2003 debut, but...
THE SO SO GLOS
THE SO SO GLOS
Blowout
thesosoglos.com
Better known for running (and living in) a series of DIY music venues than for making records, these Brooklyn punks know all about late-night parties, next-day cleanup and the cost-benefit calculation that makes it all worthwhile. And the costs can be high. “It’s never been such a crime to be free,” they holler on “Speakeasy,” a tune about getting hassled by police. While they occasionally tangle with...
STAN KILLIAN
STAN KILLIAN
Evoke
stankillian.com
On his second set with this quartet, the NYC-via-Texas tenor saxophonist soundtracks his surroundings. The piano on “Kirby” is a mile-a-minute subway chatterer, while guitarist Mike Moreno’s liquid-cool playing is consistently harried and elegant. Killian adds melodic flourish, beauty amid the hustle-bustle.
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GUNSLINGER
GUNSLINGER
Breaking Through
thelastgunslinger.com
The two DJs—one Californian, the other Portuguese—behind this “rocktronica” act have better taste in electronica than they do in rock, but that’s cool. Slick, mainstream alt-rock pairs nicely with electro-bombast, and if any Soundgarden fans are still unsure about EDM, this is a way in.
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KENNY ROBY
KENNY ROBY
Memories & Birds
kennyroby.net
On this terrific disc of country-soul laments, Roby battles a host of beastly creatures, some metaphors for love and prejudice, others ugly sides of himself. “The Monster,” meanwhile, might actually be about something lurking in the woods. Scary stuff—but he sings so pretty.
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ANDY POXON
ANDY POXON
Tomorrow
andypoxon.com
Pay no mind to the ginger afro: Poxon is a serious singer, songwriter, guitarist and arranger. Just 18, he’s absorbed blues, classic R&B and Jerry Lee Lewis rock ’n’ roll. The references scream yesterday, but Tomorrow introduces a guy with a future.
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THE COPPER GAMINS
THE COPPER GAMINS
Los Ninos de Cobre
facebook.com/thecoppergamins
Whether it’s because Spanish is their first language or lucidity isn’t their principal concern, this pair of Mexican junk-punk bluesmen create songs that are as lyrically dreamlike—often in a jarringly romantic way—as they are musically fierce. The White Stripes meet Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
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THE WATERBOYS
THE WATERBOYS
An Appointment With Mr. Yeats
mikescottwaterboys.com
Had he come along a century later, Ireland’s greatest poet might have been its greatest rock ’n’ roll frontman. Such is the idea behind this, the first Waterboys album in five years, a set of 14 songs adapted from poems by W.B. Yeats. Mike Scott, long the singer and driving force behind this Scottish-born band, makes subtle changes to Yeats’ texts, repeating certain lines and...
TOM BRISLIN
TOM BRISLIN
Hurry Up and Smell the Roses
tombrislin.com
Filled with smart, grown-up pop songs written and performed by a man making sense of the modern world, the debut album from this New Jersey-born, Nashville-based multi-instrumentalist is “adult contemporary” in the truest sense. Brislin has played keyboards for the likes of Yes, Meat Loaf and Debbie Harry, and here, amid classical-informed piano figures, unapologetically proggy ’80s synths,...
GURF MORLIX
GURF MORLIX
Finds the Present Tense
gurfmorlix.com
On the cover of his first album in four years, this country-folk lifer sits in front of a time bomb, head in hands. Listening to these 10 tracks, one suspects he’s longing for the boom, hoping a quick blast will save him from life’s interminable creep. No such luck. “I done some things of which I ain’t proud,” Morlix sings on “Series of Closin’ Doors,” adding, “Nothing I really wanna...
AFTER SUNDAY
AFTER SUNDAY
After Sunday
aftersundayband.com
Take this as gospel: The Christian rock that stands the best chance of actually changing lives needs to stand on its own as rock music. That means good hooks, punchy guitars and urgent lyrics, all of which floweth over on this six-song EP. Frontman Mike Ross leaves no ambiguity about his subject matter—he’s singing for Jesus—but “Today” and “Plain Jane” could be popular Train or Bryan Adams...
BETH HART
BETH HART
Bang Bang Boom Boom
bethhart.com
While not requisite reading, Beth Hart’s bio complements this record nicely, helping to explain the heft of the lyrics and gutsy jumps from brassy jazz to broken-down blues to chest-thumping soul. Taken out of context, these songs suggest an Americana Adele or Amy Winehouse, but Hart has earned her Billie Holiday affectations and bold stylistic leaps. A would-be star who squandered her shot in the ’90s,...
SUSIE GLAZE & THE HILONESOME BAND
SUSIE GLAZE & THE HILONESOME BAND
White Swan
susieglaze.com
If Susie Glaze were a newscaster, this crazy world would be a lot easier to take. On grisly murder ballads and carefree romps alike, the Tennessee native sings smooth and sweet, her voice like buttermilk pie. Having appeared on Broadway, Glaze has a knack for theatrics, and that serves her well on “Fair Ellender,” “Evangeline” and “The Dark Eileen,” three of this album’s...
T.V. MIKE & THE SCARECROWES
T.V. MIKE & THE SCARECROWES
Weeks to Days
bravescarecrow.com
Among urban rustics, there’s a tendency toward dourness and musical purism. Witness all those bearded dudes in flannel shirts singing murder ballads. Led by three Indiana transplants, this San Francisco group does the opposite. They’ve got a slide guitar and banjo and harmonies to boot, but their second album veers off the wagon trail and lands someplace—get this—fun. The most...
CARMEN VILLAIN
CARMEN VILLAIN
Sleeper
myspace.com/carmenvillain
Even pretty people get the blues. Such is the message, evident in both the bummed-out lyrics and washed-out music, of this former model’s debut album. Villain—a half-Mexican, half-Norwegian beauty who has graced such magazines as Glamour and Vogue—plays guitar, bass, keyboards and drum machines, and she approaches them all in much the same way. The instruments coalesce into a disorienting fog...
WHITE BLUSH
WHITE BLUSH
White Blush
whiteblushh.com
On her website, L.A. synth-pop spellbinder Carol Rhyu, aka White Blush, offers up a mixtape of favorite songs. The collection spans gloomy post-punk godheads Joy Division to Julee Cruise—director David Lynch’s go-to artist for nightmarishly beautiful pop songs—with Desire’s Drive soundtrack cut “Under Your Spell” thrown in for good measure. All three inform Rhyu’s debut EP, though her experimental...
RICKY BYRD
RICKY BYRD
Lifer
rickybyrd.com
Flip on a classic rock station anywhere in America, and you’ll hear Ricky Byrd. This NYC native supplied the chunky, eternally air-guitar-inspiring power chords on Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll,” and while that song is hardly his sole accomplishment—he’s toured with Mott the Hoople’s Ian Hunter and Roger Daltrey, among others—it’s a good summation of his life. So is Lifer, his solo debut, a...
THE DEER TRACKS
THE DEER TRACKS
The Archer Trilogy Pt. 3
thedeertracksmusic.com
On the final installment of their Archer Trilogy—two albums and an EP culled from sessions held in a remote Swedish cabin—David Lehnberg and Elin Lindfors wig out on elfin electronica, a twitchy, glitchy mix of nightclub gloss and return-to-nature freakiness. Deer Tracks could easily stick to one or the other—the heavier dance bits are positively triumphant, suggesting glow-stick...
PARQUET COURTS
PARQUET COURTS
Light Up Gold
parquetcourts.wordpress.com
Why did three-fourths of this band’s lineup move to New York City from the Lone Star State? “As for Texas, donuts only,” frontman Andrew Savage sings on the aptly named “Donuts Only.” “You cannot find bagels here.” As their debut album makes clear, they didn’t just come for the baked goods. Light Up Gold is the work of wordy young strummers obsessed with Gotham greats the Ramones,...
ELEPHANT STONE
ELEPHANT STONE
Elephant Stone
elephantstonemusic.com
Even when these Montreal psych rockers break out the sitar—a signature instrument for singer Rishi Dhir—they keep it sweet and poppy, putting drive behind the drone. Elsewhere, it’s all mystical jingle-jangle with the odd blast of fuzz or backward guitar—reverent, sure, but also refreshing.
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ROBERT “TOP” THOMAS
ROBERT “TOP” THOMAS
The Town Crier
wildrootsrecords.com
With his gruff, mush-mouth drawl and sure-handed riffing, Thomas again earns the title of “swamp blues master.” Amid ruminations on freight trains, treacherous women and the healing powers of “blues grass,” he shares the spotlight with harmonica ace Stephen Kampa, a candidate for MVP.
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DUMBO GETS MAD
DUMBO GETS MAD
Quantum Leap
dumbogetsmad.com
If “Tahiti Hungry Jungle,” a gnawing, grooving psych-rock take on rapper Azealia Banks’ “Liquorice,” were the most inspired moment, album two from these Italian experimentalists would warrant obsessive listening. Rap beats, surf riffs, detuned guitars and ’70s-soul flutes seal the deal—and only begin to tell the story.
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NEW AMERICAN FARMERS
NEW AMERICAN FARMERS
Brand New Day
newamericanfarmers.org
Paul Knowles and Nicole Storto don’t need help—these insightful folkie rockers hold a mirror to America as well as anyone—but Tom Waits trumpeter Ara Anderson and the Real Vocal String Quartet drop by anyway, making this rich and unique disc that much stronger.
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NICHOLAS ALTOBELLI
NICHOLAS ALTOBELLI
Without a Home
nicholasaltobelli.com
A Dallas-based acoustic folkie heads back to his birthplace, Southern California, and makes a textured electric record indebted to the Byrds, Tom Petty and other sunshine strummers. That some of the songs are bum-outs hardly matters as Altobelli’s voice soothes, and this stuff is sublime.
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SALLY SHAPIRO
SALLY SHAPIRO
Somewhere Else
johanagebjorn.info/sally.html
Relative to modern EDM, the ’80s-born sound known as Italo disco is more suave and sophisticated than it is sweaty, though the goal is still to make bodies move. On their third album, the Swedish duo of singer Sally Shapiro and producer Johan Agebjörn venture beyond the subgenre, making successful forays into lush, drowsy synth-pop. They occasionally get back to their roots but even when...
OVERMOUNTAIN MEN
OVERMOUNTAIN MEN
The Next Best Thing
overmountainmen.com
The past has much to teach us, and whether exploring U.S. history (“Alexander Hamilton”) or the lives of regular folks, Overmountain Men are eager students. They’re also schooled in traditional American music, though Avett Brothers bassist Bob Crawford and singer-songwriter David Childers aren’t dogged bluegrass re-enactors. The standout title track is a dark, smoldering thing, and trading...
GLISS
GLISS
Langsom Dans
officialgliss.wordpress.com
This L.A. trio’s song titles are telling. “Blur” describes the guitars—gorgeously bleak and distorted—while “Waves” sums up those wonderful washes of bittersweet synth. “Weight of Love” is the thematic centerpiece, a measurement not easily calculated. Like sometime tour mates the Raveonettes, Gliss makes music that’s both heavy and weightless, filled with big sounds yet fitted with...
GEORGE KILBY JR.
GEORGE KILBY JR.
Six Pack
georgekilbyjr.com
A jammer from way back, this Alabama-born, New York-based blues ’n’ roots vet must have loved cutting “Something I Can’t Find,” the first tune on this six-song EP to feature an extended guitar break. Kilby also gets an audible kick out of trucking country-style through Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love,” trading licks with banjoist Andy Goessling. But he’s even better on the four tighter tracks,...
TODD MAY
TODD MAY
Rickenbacker Girls
myspace.com/toddmay
Rock nerds will read the title and think of the jangly guitars beloved by the Byrds, Tom Petty and countless power-pop bands. Those influences likely apply, but May is actually referencing Ohio’s Rickenbacker Air Force Base. Growing up nearby, he chatted up pilots’ daughters worldlier than he was, and here, he sings songs about girls in motion. May himself is constantly on the move, jumping from...
BEING THERE
BEING THERE
Breaking Away
facebook.com/beingthereband
The thrill of being young and confused and knowing a few chords belongs to no decade or country, and in that sense, there’s nothing unusual about this London foursome. Like fellow U.K. group Yuck, whose self-titled 2011 debut marked something of an indie-rock paradigm shift, Being There does fuzzy, pleasantly disaffected ’90s-style alternative. The reference points are mostly American—Dinosaur...
LACY JAMES
LACY JAMES
Circle of Swallows
mereminne.com
When she’s not crafting the kinds of eclectic, electro-tinged earth-child folk fantasias heard on this, her second album, James choreographs her own modern dance troupe. That might explain songs like “Dancing out of the Dark” and lines like “dancing animals /
entwining animals / in cuneiform and ruin,” though really, Swallows defies easy explanation. James sets bold, mystical lyrics to clattering...
THE NIGHT MARCHERS
THE NIGHT MARCHERS
Allez Allez
swamirecords.com
John Reis is no dummy. As frontman for Rocket From the Crypt and Hot Snakes, the San Diego punk swami has wrecked stages around the world, and he knows his brand of garage rock is gnarlier and more inventive than most. Hence, “Loud, Dumb and Mean,” a highlight of his second Night Marchers album, is false modesty—a declaration of idiocy from a foursome whose warped, pointy riffs and skewed rhythms...
JIMBO MATHUS
JIMBO MATHUS
White Buffalo
jimbomathus.com
Back in the ’90s, while leading Squirrel Nut Zippers, this Mississippi native scored a novelty hit with “Hell,” a hot-jazz tune that snuck onto alt-rock radio. A decade after the Zippers’ demise, Mathus isn’t doing anything quite as radical or conceptual. White Buffalo is a genre record, the genre being Southern—a sweaty, twangy sound informed by country, folk, gospel, soul and good ol’ rock...
PARADOX
PARADOX
Tales of the Weird
myspace.com/paradoxbangers
After a quarter-century of raging, give or take some periods of inactivity, Paradox is still spoiling for a fight. On their sixth album, the German thrash mainstays wage war against the government (“Brutalized”), the media (“Brainwashed”), mental illness (“Fragile Alliance”) and the idea of war itself (“Escalation”). They wield the typical heavy metal weapons—shamelessly brazen...
ALY TADROS
ALY TADROS
The Fits
alytadros.com
On her second album, Tadros is nothing if not elusive, a storyteller determined to kick dirt on her footprints and throw us off the trail. Then, she’s always been tough to pin down. The Texas native spent time in Egypt, Spain and Mexico before settling in Austin, and she brings to her harrowing fingerpicked jazz-noir songs echoes of each country. One minute, she’s vulnerable and needy, imploring, “Say that you’re...
TUNDE OLANIRAN
TUNDE OLANIRAN
The Second Transgression
tundeolaniran.com
When Prince has nightmares, the background music—and you know there’s background music—probably sounds something like Tunde Olaniran’s dark and delirious 21st century R&B. On his second in a series of five EPs, the perpetually project-hopping singer-producer fits rap verses, soulful vocals and bizarre samples—those are Chinese schoolchildren on “Brown Boy”—over paranoid...
GREGG AUGUST
GREGG AUGUST
Four by Six
greggaugust.com
Two bands—a quartet and sextet, as the title implies—give life to this bassist-composer’s singular sound. August digs the choppy start-stop riffs, but he leaves space to swing, encouraging his cohorts to do likewise. Jazz newbies, take heart: The stroll down “Strange Street” ain’t so strange.
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TED RUSSELL KAMP
TED RUSSELL KAMP
Night Owl
tedrussellkamp.com
All the best 21st century troubadours live in L.A., and this alt-country Cali cowboy is as good as any. Kamp’s loose drawl makes him sound slightly haggard—maybe even tipsy—and that works for both the sad ballads and boozy barroom hoots.
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JAMAICAN QUEENS
JAMAICAN QUEENS
Wormfood
jamaicanqueens.com
Hip-hop production has grown pretty inventive in recent years, and Detroit duo Adam Pressley and Ryan Spencer—formerly of the band Prussia—have been paying attention. Here, starchy indie rock meets the woozy bump of modern rap, neither sound spoiling the party.
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