// Category Archive for: Music

What a Fun Trick: A Great Noisemaker!

By Matt Keeley

Photo © Adam Cantor

The Apples in stereo are such a great band: shiny retropop that just makes you happy, even when the lyrics are depressing. It also seems that they’re nice folks.

At a show once, my best friend and I got to talk with Apples member Robert Schneider, and not only was he one of the happiest folks out there, he gave us a hug, one that HE initiated. That is really awesome.
(more…)

These New Puritans, Hidden

By Stuart Myerburg

Imagine Philip Glass recording a symphony with Nitzer Ebb, Nine Inch Nails, and Depeche Mode and you have some idea of the singularly daring sound created by These New Puritans on their second album, Hidden.

Frontman and principal songwriter Jack Barnett dubs it a “hybrid,” which is a perfect description of the aggressive, synth-based songs his band couples with classical strings and woodwinds.
(more…)

Desktop EP

By Megashaun

Desktop is a combination of the creative forces of two men: Keith Thompson (from Electric Six and Johnny Headband) and Zach Curd (from Suburban Sprawl Music’s The Pop Project). When I first discovered the act several months ago, it was mainly with the intention of reviewing their all-too-short debut EP. At only three songs in length, it can’t possibly be difficult to describe them adequately.

But that’s exactly the position I found myself in. Having heard the EP hundreds of times now, I’m still at a loss to talk about it with adjectives other than “kick-ass,” “amazing,” and “awesome.”
(more…)

Sloan, Hit & Run (EP)

By Jemiah Jefferson

The newest original-material release from Toronto’s ambassadors of brainy party rock shows the four members of Sloan further exploring their masterful sound with these five tracks, one from each member (with an additional track from the prolific Chris Murphy).
(more…)

Embracing Pop: Throwback Suburbia

By Christian Lipski

Backspace, Portland OR
February 16, 2010

Although they are from my home base of Portland Oregon, I first heard about Throwback Suburbia from Indiana resident Gidget Bates, a DJ for Woody Radio. They’re her favorite modern band, and they’re neighbors of mine, so I went to see them at local venue Backspace.
(more…)

Neil Young, Dreamin’ Man Live ’92

By J Howell

Find out how to win a copy of Dreamin’ Man Live ’92 at the end of this article! The contest has now ended.

In short: this record is achingly beautiful. Buy it.

It’s beyond the scope of this review to really go into why Neil Young is, well, Neil Young, and I’m not going to indulge in a long string of superlatives here.
(more…)

Dex Romweber Duo, Ruins Of Berlin

By J Howell

The moniker “Dex Romweber Duo” is a little misleading on Ruins of Berlin, a record by a band ostensibly consisting of former Flat Duo Jet Romweber and his sister Sara on drums. Ten of the 14 tracks feature at least one other person, though the final track is Dex solo.
(more…)

POLYSICS Are My Valentine

By Matt Keeley

The Gramercy Theatre, New York NY
February 13, 2010

After seeing POLYSICS for the first time in 2003, I said this:

POLYSICS are pretty much the best band in the universe. POLYSICS are way better than your favorite band. This holds true even if POLYSICS are your favorite band. They’re JUST THAT GOOD.
—Wikia Music, “POLYSICS OR DIE!!! POLYSICS”

(more…)

Johnny Action Figure, Good Eye

By Christian Lipski

In every genre of art, there evolve solidified scenes, where well-defined rules force participants to toe the line and conform, even if the theme itself is nonconformity. And there are, logically, points when those scenes lose their power to enclose, and you suddenly begin to see variety where there once was only similarity. At this point, there are usually no existing words to define the new forms, except to identify what scene they were or are not a part of.
(more…)

Happy Birthday Elvis Perkins

By Chelsea Spear

In this day and age of bringing heroin to a court date and stripping on the red carpet, being the most endearing man in rock may seem kind of mundane. However, Elvis Perkins makes this underrated virtue an outstanding and distinguished asset.
(more…)