»Album Reviews For Release Date: 02.22.11
by Joshua Krage

This week is a fascinating menagerie, strange and exotic animals of all sounds and sizes, plus some dynamite returns from the major label side of the artist spectrum.

Adele, 21 – hands down the best of the UK retro-soul revival singers, Adele finally hands in her sophomore effort and it’s bangin’. I expected her voice to sound amazing (which it does) and her songs to have some decent classic soul production (they do), but was floored by the quality of the lyrics, the excellent and varied production nuances achieved by the different producers (including Rick Rubin and OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder, among others), and by just how amazing her voice sounds. She captures the full essence of her words effortlessly; it’s breathtaking and dizzying without being overwhelming, which is exactly what a vocalist should do. If you give it a listen, sit down before the last track, it absolutely shook me to the bone without lifting a finger. Great second album, and a bonus laidback cover of The Cure’s “Love Song” thrown in for flavor.

Animal Prufrock
Asphalt Orchestra

Juliana Barwick, The Magic Place – here’s something unique and ethereal, out on the Asthmatic Kitty label. Juliana Barwick writes and arranges her airy, elven soprano voice as the primary instrument, then multi-tracks it into an angelic choir, rarely and barely backed by any other instrumentation. This is vocal ambient music with few bright and leading melodies.

Bayside
Jeff Beck – Les Paul DVD
Bizzy Bone
British Sea Power
The Builders & the Butchers

The Cave Singers, No Witch – is “post-folk” a genre yet? Because that’s where this excellent blend of americana textures, psychedelic flavor, punk sensibility, and post-modern songcraft should be placed. Slow and acoustic on the planes, gritty and distorted in the valleys, this album covers a lot of ground for just a few guys spreading their folk wings from their rock roots.

DevilDriver
Diplo
D.R.U.G.S.
Floating Action

G. Love, Fixin’ to Die – sans Special Sauce for another go-round, G-man this time gets the Avett Brothers behind him for some soul-searching, acoustic blues feel and a real departure from the GL&SS kick-back party vibe.

JJ Grey & Mofro
Hercules & Love Affair
Charlie Hunter

The Low Anthem, Smart Flesh – even when they’re rollicking through some ground-level heartland blues, this band always sounds to me like they’re playing in a church, both from the warm reverb present on every track to the overall reverent feeling they emote in playing these styles, fully faithful to the original ethic of their predecessors while owning every note. Ben Knox Miller’s warm, damaged tenor resonates like an inviting campfire crackle, the group’s harmonies dropping in the perfect corners, and their americana flavor satisfies all the up- and down-tempo urges you may have.

Sean Lowe
Magic Kingdom

Malachai, Return to the Ugly Side – another strange and unique animal, this sharp and shadowy, somewhat abrasive electronic music is more akin to the metal genre than to dance floor techno, but many of these tracks creep and slither along at trip-hop tempo rather than pump fists in a moshpit. It’s dark ambientronica, with vocalist/sampler Scott (no last name) filling the vocal spaces with an eerie sort of tenor, a knowing but sinister wail which suits the edges on these compositions perfectly.

Brad Mehldau
OST – Blue Valentine (basically a comp of Grizzly Bear songs, which is a WIN)
OST – No Strings Attached

Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx, We’re New Here – quite a jaw-dropping surprise from the revered jazz poet as his bold, city-walking missives get remixed and buoyed by the minimalist/epic soundscapes of UK underground indie hero Jamie Smith of the xx. Cool, crystalizing genius collaboration.

Matthew Shipp

Sister Crayon, Bellow – I’ve had the creeping, crystalized tones and cavernous chorus of “In Reverse” stuck in my head ever since I heard it last summer in broad daylight. But this music comes from the shadows, with a fully unique electronic mix of ambient corners, sample dynamics, live drums, and Terra Lopez’s serene and towering voice shimmering above and below the waterline, waiting to strike in the quiet moments. This album slowly builds, teases and fades before exploding in all the best ways, devastating crescendoes which resolve so suddenly they leave you gasping for breath. An unexpected, exhilarating debut with a dark, promising future.

Toro Y Moi, Underneath the Pine – multi-talent indie savant Chaz Bundick gives your slick, indie dance floor some more material while keeping the bedroom dream-pop side of his canon shored up. It’s scenester pop you can feel good about liking without sacrificing any indie cred.

I’m happy to say Sister Crayon is a local band for me, so I can take pride in Sacramento’s burgeoning new music scene yet again (at long last). Past that, Adele brought me to tears and the Low Anthem does that regularly for different reasons– just lots of great music this week!

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To view past reviews, visit our archives.

Elizabeth & the Catapult: A pop/rock trio from Brooklyn.
Preview: “Taller Children”
First Impression: An enjoyable pop song with a smooth sound.
Listen To: When you’re struggling with the darker side of your Peter Pan complex.
»Save It: “Taller Children”

Hopewell: An American rock band from New York.
Preview: “Island”
First Impression: A band highly influenced by space rock.
Listen To: When you’re pumping yourself up for a schoolyard fight.
»Save It: “Island”

The Low Anthem: A trio that focuses on narrative folk music.
Preview: “Charlie Darwin”
First Impression: Sounds like a hymn.
Listen To: When natural selection starts to get you down.
»Save It: “Charlie Darwin”

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For more free music, visit our archives.

»Album Reviews For Release Date: 06.09.09
by Joshua Krage

Soooo much I want to listen to more this week, but alas there is no time. Some of the year’s best music is hitting store shelves over these next few months, and a few of those are on this week’s list below. Check it out:

Trey Anastasio & Don Hart
Anti-Flag
Black Eyed Peas
The Blackout
British Sea Power
Busdriver
Cake – Motorcade of Generosity reissue
Chickenfoot – rock supergroup with Joe Satriani (guitar), Chad Smith (drums), Michael Anthony (bass) and Sammy Hagar. Interesting? Maybe. Good? Um…
Cinematic Orchestra
Crown of Thorns
Deerhunter

Dirty Projectors, Bitte Orca – see our Hype section for a full report on this one, but I’ll say this: it may be a bit obtuse for mainstream listeners, but it’s one of the best things I’ve heard in years; great orchestration and really inventive without being caustic. Highly enjoyable.

Dredg, The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion – I was honestly dumbfounded that their last album, 2005′s stellar Catch Without Arms, didn’t catch on with the masses. It was so damn good! This LP seems just about to match its predecessor in sonic quality, and they’ve upped the scholar bar so that the slightly progressive dynamic musicianship propels words of artistic substance, arranged in memorable melodies and delivered in Gavin Hayes’ crystalline-cavern rock tenor. This band inhabits the middle ground between melodic emo-core and literary prog, which may be why some find them inaccessible, but for my money, they’re at the top of the modern rock genre, incorporating elements of many colors without being owned by any.

Elizabeth and the Catapult, Taller Children – the physical copy of Brooklyn’s best working songwriting band’s debut LP on the Verve Forecast label. I loved it a month ago when it dropped digitally, and love it just as much now; Elizabeth Ziman has a voice that just nestles in your soul and dances ballet there, pristine, affecting and playful all at once.

The Features
Freeland – also known as DJ Adam Freeland
Nanci Griffith
Heavy D
Peter Holsapple / Chris Stamey
The Horse’s Ha
Infected Mushroom
Joan of Arc
Quincy Jones – “exploring” Henry Mancini
Kasabian
Los Amigos Invisibles
LMFAO – somebody seriously named their band this. Seriously.

The Low Anthem, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin – absolutely genuine folk/Americana trio who has garnered accolades from all the big folk publications. Most folk is kind of cookie-cutter to my ears, so to hear this music played so singularly and with such an affecting sound was quite jarring, to say the least. Frontman Ben Knox Miller’s angelic choir falsetto is the shortest path to awestruck tears you can take (his low, dry whisper and barn-burning blues growl aren’t bad, either), and the arrangements and harmonies are handled perfectly, from the unadorned acoustic guitars, to the blues-hall rhythm shuffles, to the sustained organ and harmonica lines. This is organic music at its finest, straight from the soil.

Teena Marie
Miike Snow
Rhett Miller

Mos Def, Ecstatic – I wish I had more time to listen to this. It’s a real return for the rapper who has spent so much time out in Hollywood, and it’s great to hear him in top-form with rhymes to spare.

Pigface

Placebo, Battle For the Sun – I wish I could have given this a proper listen, but luckily my buddy Kevin stepped up to the plate and gave it a once over. He reports that the first half kicked his ass in a wonderful way, but the second half left a lot to be desired. Thanks, Kev!

Pleasure P
Portland Cello Project
Ben Reynolds
Todd Snider
Sonic Youth
Stardeath / White Dwarfs
Paul Van Dyk – best of
Darryl Worley
Yung LA

I’d have more, but I’ve got 40+ songs I’ll be performing this Saturday, and most of those I’ve never played before. I love a challenge! See you next week, and enjoy what music you may find.

P.S. Enjoy a sampling from this week’s new songs on my MySpace page. It’s updated pretty much weekly now…

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To view past reviews, visit our archives.