Review: Opeth, “In Cauda Venenum”
There is something unsettling about this effort, and not in Opeth's typical mist-and-dread-soaked way.
Review: Frank Lenz – “Pyramid”
Frank Lenz is a musician likely only known well among attentive album credits readers. In the past, he’s added his stellar drumming to Pedro The Lion, Richard Swift and Starflyer…
Review: Bill Callahan – “If You Could Touch Her At All” b/w “So Long, Marianne”
Forever-smoggy Austin singer-songwriter Bill Callahan radiates an alarming amount of warmth on two new covers from the classic American songbook, out today via Drag City Records. The pedal steel sure…
Review: Monotrope – “Immutable Future”
Monotrope’s new record is a wondrously dense thatch of black thorns and I love it for that. In case you’re just joining the show, the quartet, which should be storied…
Vinyl Review: Interceptor by Steve Pilant
But for those progressive music fans who understand that the 80’s aren’t just a bleak stretch between The Buggles taking over Yes and Roine Stolt’s The Flower King, Steve Pilant’s…
Review: Memory Drawings – “Phantom Lights”
Phantom Lights is the new mini-LP from sorta-post-rock-ish neo-classical ensemble Memory Drawings, out two weeks ago via the Greek boutique label Sound In Silence. But, truth be told, it’s not…
Review: Pan-American – “A Son”
A Son is the name of Chicagoan Mark Nelson’s latest release as Pan-American, out last week via Kranky. And, even by Pan-American standards, it is a startlingly human and naked…
Review: Fox Medicine – “Procedures Mystique”
No less an authority on sludge and the seedy intersection of punk and metal than Melvins/Tool board-helmer Toshi Kasai recently described Portland duo Fox Medicine as an amalgamation of “Black…
Review: Pray For Sound – “Waves”
Sorry, I don’t dig on proselytizing. So, okay I’m biased. And when I heard, via advance PR notes, that the quartet Pray For Sound was out to preach (connotation intended)…
Review: Raygun Cowboys – “Tales About Life, The Road, and Life on the Road”
The new record from Raygun Cowboys – Tales About Life, The Road, and Life on The Road, out yesterday via UK-based Diablo Records – features a few great blasts of…
ALBUM REVIEW: THE LOCALS, “Minutes, Seconds, Degrees”
The rock/pop mix of Chicago’s The Locals is instantly appealing on this new album, Minutes, Seconds, Degrees – a clean production, melodic guitars with a solid rhythm and tight harmonies…
Review: BATTLES – “Juice B Crypts”
BATTLES’ syncopated loops may circle triumphantly around the drains of the mind but its lineup has not fared as well. Vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Tyondai Braxton exited after 2007’s Mirrored, leaving the group…