Music Reviews
Dirty Projectors – Swing Lo Magellan
Rating: 3.5 / 5 Reviewer: Sean Marchetto On the album’s otherwise slow-burning opener ‘Offspring are Blank’, there is a roaring guitar lick halfway through that signals Swing Lo Magellan is going its own way from Bitte Orca.
Posted in Music Reviews, Rock + Pop
Alabama Shakes – Boys & Girls
Rating: 4.5 / 5 Reviewer: Michelle Kennedy Listening to Boys & Girls for the first time, relishing in it’s unabashed honesty and Howard’s androgynous vocal prowess, it’s nearly impossible to believe this is the band’s first release.
Posted in Music Reviews, Rock + Pop
Regina Spektor – What We Saw From the Cheap Seats
Rating: 4.5 / 5 Reviewer: Sean Marchetto What We Saw From The Cheap Seats, Regina Spektor’s sixth album, opens with a melancholic piano riff and the line “I must have left a thousand times / in my mind” before launching into a more raucous attitude with a little upbeat guitar fuzz, kicking off an album [...]
Posted in Music Reviews, Rock + Pop
Japandroids – Celebration Rock
Rating: 4.5 / 5 Reviewer: Greg Hutton Celebration Rock is the most aptly named album of 2012; a party record with a conscience, a celebration tinged with nostalgia. Calling it a party record actually requires a redefinition of the term.
Posted in Music Reviews, Rock + Pop
The Mynabirds – Generals
Rating: 3 / 5 Reviewer: Shannon King Introducing a bit of girl power without the chunky knee high boots, union jack mini-skirts and leopard print onesies. Lead by Laura Burhenn, The Mynabirds sophomore album, Generals, is about revolution, feminism and peace.
Posted in Folk + Roots, Music Reviews, Rock + Pop
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Here
Rating: 4 / 5 Reviewer: Andrew Mitchell Imagine being whisked away to some utopian society where love and community rule and worshiping the divine is paramount. Fill it with free spirits: the kind who will just as easily approach you with the offering of a foot washing as they will an uplifting melody.
Posted in Music Reviews, Rock + Pop
Sun Kil Moon – Among The Leaves
Rating: 3 / 5 Reviewer: Sean Marchetto Mark Kozelek, formerly of the Red House Painters, ambitiously sketches out seventeen meandering tracks accompanied by the gently plucked nylon strings of his guitar.
Posted in Folk + Roots, Music Reviews, Rock + Pop
Best Coast – The Only Place
Rating: 2 / 5 Reviewer: Sean Marchetto Best Coast’s sophomore album, The Only Place, is like a person we’ve all met at a party before. The first song, and title track, promises all kinds of carefree summer fun. The jangling guitar notes are reminiscent of Cub and Bethany Cosentino’s voice recalls that of Neko Case. [...]
Posted in Music Reviews, Rock + Pop
