Category
CD Reviews
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CD Reviews
Shooter Jennings and Hierophant – Black Ribbons
03.07.10The crippled night stank of hot cocoa butter and sparkles. Half-naked women sauntered by sporting stares executed with vacant wooden doll eyes. The lonely old men, loose women and horrible decor were comforting; probably what kept him coming back. The day was new and his time to leave had come. He stumbled from the uneven stool and staggered toward the front door. Opening the heavy porte to a heaving sun, he struggled out into the bright new day. Propping himself against his ego as he lit a fag for the road, flashes of Shooter Jennings and Hierophant spilled from the crack in hell’s door. Twisting the old car out of the rotting lot he vanished into a cloud of ancient dust. The hollers from the trunk made him forcefully grip the worn leather steering wheel in time with his squinting severe eyes. The desert sand ate at the tires of the screaming whip as it conquered mile after mile of freedom. The map they sent him was clear and concise. Heavy black markings outlined the route through the otherwise confusing desert. He arrived at a beat up mile marker dressed in bullet holes and chipped paint. Driving off the beaten path he landed upon a seemingly bottomless pit a hundred yards out from the highway. His boots sunk into the ground and only seconds passed before they were surrounded by arid dwellers crawling through the piping hot sand. He plunged his way to the rear of the vehicle, mockingly knocking on the trunk before stretching it’s rusty joints. Freeing the man from his metal tomb, he dragged him to the edge of the vacuous crater in the middle of no man’s land. The gentleman’s suit was shredded and torn; the fabric fluttered in the wind like ceremonial Black Ribbons. He removed the cloth prison from the man’s head to stare at the fear in his eyes one last time. “Goodnight Mr. President”, he said, rolling him into a slow dark grave. (more…)
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CD Reviews
Rogue Wave – Permalight
03.07.10You might not be aware of it, but California’s Rogue Wave is everywhere. Albeit the ripple on their 4th full-length output doesn’t go hand in hand with their moniker (a rogue wave i.e. brazen and spontaneous, of tsunami-like scope), Permalight is a happy twist for the tragic heroes. (more…)
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CD Reviews
Athlete – Black Swan
03.07.10 -
CD Reviews
DJ Khaled – Victory
03.06.10 -
CD Reviews
Jaguar Love – Hologram Jams
03.06.10From the outset, Jaguar Love’s new album Hologram Jams lights a match under a ton of indie-pop fuel, promising one explosive track after another. (more…)
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CD Reviews
Little Boots – Hands
03.06.10With a retro-electro vibe that wraps 80s synth sounds in an intergalactic space package, Little Boots takes on the challenge of doing something remarkable with the 3.5 minute dance-pop formula. While this blond Brit’s debut album, Hands, is new this week in North America, it has been topping the charts in the UK since its June release. (more…)
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CD Reviews
Johnny Cash – American VI: Ain’t No Grave
02.28.10Hello, it’s Johnny Cash’s new posthumous album appropriately called, American VI: Ain’t No Grave, a continuation of the American record saga that began with and was supervised by producer Rick Rubin. (more…)
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CD Reviews
Matthew Barber – True Believer
02.28.10Folk-indie-pop artist Matthew Barber has recently released his fifth album, True Believer. Often candid and sweet, Barber’s style restrains itself from long-winded embellishments and ornate arrangements, preferring organic, traditional sounds and progressions without putting anyone to sleep. (more…)
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CD Reviews
Joanna Newsom – Have One On Me
02.28.10Joanna Newsom’s new album, Have One On Me, is a sparkling structure constructed by the synapses of a scintillating creative spirit. Every compositional element has been carefully carved by a complex, detailed and controlled hand. (more…)
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CD Reviews
High On Fire – Snakes for the Divine
02.27.10Oakland, Cali’s twenty year strong haze-heads High On Fire return with there cinco studio hot patty Snakes for the Divine. But this time ’round the tumultuous trio sanded down some rough edges to deliver, dare I say, a more “commercial” jaunt. (more…)
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CD Reviews
Butch Walker – I Liked It Better When You Had No Heart
02.27.10Butch Walker saunters a fine line, a ternion of sorts stomping through life as performer, songwriter and producer. Hailed once by Rolling Stone as Producer of the Year, to be exact. Lately, he’s cranked out a solo album de novo with I Liked It Better When You Had No Heart. (more…)
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CD Reviews
Shout Out Louds – Work
02.27.10Effortless. Unforced. Easy on the ear listening is what it chalks up to when it concerns Work done by Shout Out Louds. (more…)
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CD Reviews
Jay Malinowski – Bright Lights & Bruises
02.21.10Jay Malinowski divaricates with Bright Lights & Bruises, tumbling a long way from the dub reggae sounds of his first love Bedouin Soundclash. (more…)
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CD Reviews
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra – Kollaps Tradixionales
02.21.10The 7 tracks of Kollaps Tradixionales have the cryptic quality of memory, like strangely familiar dreams seen dimly through rippled bottle glass and heard crackling through an ancient telephone. Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra’s new album, recorded in 2009, is a complete concept in which each tune is part of the unified arch. (more…)
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CD Reviews
Peter Gabriel – Scratch My Back
02.21.10Who says doing covers is cheap? Who says making a whole album of covers is ludicrous? Well, certainly not Peter Gabriel who has embarked on an interesting song-swapping project with twelve other artists and bands with his new album, Scratch My Back. (more…)
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CD Reviews
Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More
02.20.10I have been eagerly waiting for Mumford & Sons to jump across the pond to grace us with a live folktale spectre, but alas they’ve made it as east as Toronto in Canada, and then full stop. I’ve had to settle for a copy of Sigh No More, released four months later than its European debut. (more…)
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CD Reviews
Adam Green – Minor Love
02.20.10Returning with Minor Love, his sixth solo album in seven years, Adam Green has crafted a set of charming folk-pop songs that are sure to delight undergrads of all ages. (more…)
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CD Reviews
Sade – Soldier of Love
02.14.10 -
CD Reviews
Hollerado – Record In a Bag
02.14.10
