// Category Archive for: Music

Music Review: People On Vacation, The Chronicles Of Tim Powers

Published on February 13th, 2015 in: Current Faves, Music, Music Reviews, Reviews |

By Tyler Hodg

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After a successful crowdfunding campaign, People on Vacation have returned with their sophomore album The Chronicles of Tim Powers. The duo—consisting of Ryan Hamilton (Smile Smile) and Jaret Reddick (Bowling for Soup)—have written fun, upbeat songs that include musical aspects of their previous bands, but thankfully are not rehashed music from their past. Although People on Vacation has been dubbed a “supergroup,” there really isn’t anything super about them; their music is down to earth and far from extravagant, significantly adding to the relatable feel that The Chronicles of Tim Powers possesses.

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Music Review: Keith Emerson, At the Movies

Published on February 6th, 2015 in: Movies, Music, Music Reviews, Soundtracks and Scores |

By Jeffery X Martin

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Progressive rock keyboardist Keith Emerson has never been known for subtlety. Concerts from the band that bore his name, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, regularly featured Emerson destroying Hammond organs on stage. Their brand of symphonic rock was so popular in the early 1970s that they almost tied Led Zeppelin in concert revenue, which is hard to imagine with the way the music business is now. You can’t release a 12-minute long single based on a classical work and expect to get airplay.

When ELP went on hiatus, Emerson turned his attention to film soundtracks. This three-disc set from Esoteric Recordings, At the Movies, well. . . that’s pretty self-explanatory, I suppose. Each disc highlights Emerson’s work for films from different countries.

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Music Review: Bowling For Soup, Songs That People Actually Liked, Volume 1

Published on February 6th, 2015 in: Current Faves, Music, Music Reviews, Reviews |

By Tyler Hodg

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Here’s something that might make you feel old: Bowling for Soup has been making music since 1994. With the release of their first official greatest hits album Songs That People Actually Liked – Volume 1 – The First Ten Years (1994-2004), the band reminds us all that music doesn’t need to be taken seriously to be enjoyable.

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Music Review: Murder By Death, Big Dark Love

Published on February 6th, 2015 in: Current Faves, Music, Music Reviews |

By Melissa Bratcher

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With a band name like Murder By Death, I wasn’t surprised by the heaviness of their latest, Big Dark Love. It’s a heavy record lyrically, touching on depression and chronic illness, obsession, and isolation. It inhabits a dream-like space, but the kind of dream that borders on a nightmare—the kind of dream where things are just a bit wrong, but you can’t put your finger on why exactly. It’s the kind of dream where you always end up alone, in an unfamiliar, sinister place, with wolves baying. Big Dark Love is unsettling in that subtle way, and quite effective.

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Concert Review: Zola Jesus At The Horseshoe Tavern

Published on January 30th, 2015 in: Concert Reviews, Current Faves, Feminism, Music, Reviews |

By Less Lee Moore

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January 22, 2015
Toronto, ON

At a time when Internet hype threatens to smother any semblance of genuine talent, it’s difficult not to be cynical. Rest assured, however, that Zola Jesus deserves all the praise. Nika Roza Danilova is the real deal.

For those wondering if Danilova can replicate the powerful vibes of her latest album, TAIGA (review), in a live setting, the answer is yes. Her already-amazing voice is actually better in person than on record, which is kind of astonishing. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

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Music Review: The Westies, West Side Stories

Published on January 30th, 2015 in: Current Faves, Music, Music Reviews, Reviews |

By Tyler Hodg

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On the surface, The Westies appear to be nothing more than a generic soft-rock band, but when examined more closely, they are much more than what meets the eye (and ear). The stories behind the band and their music are equally intriguing, and both lend a hand in creating a more extraordinary picture, in the form of their debut album West Side Stories.

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Music Review: Various Artists, Stoned – A Pscyh Tribute To The Rolling Stones

Published on January 30th, 2015 in: Current Faves, Music, Music Reviews, Reviews |

By Melissa Bratcher

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Tribute cover albums occupy such an odd space. If a band covers a song too faithfully, they’re destined to be compared, probably unfavorably, to the original. If you add nothing to your interpretation, then why cover the song in the first place? If a band goes too far afield in their musical choices, and they make the song truly their own, then they have the purists who complain that they haven’t hewed closely enough to the source material. It’s a tightrope.

On Stoned – A Psych Tribute To The Rolling Stones, the artists from the neo-psych scene (the Allah-Las, The Tulips, Clinic, Tashaki Miyaki, Yeti Love, et al.) tread that tightrope. Some of the covers are straightforward, faithful renditions (with more reverb, because it’s neo-psych music), and some take the songs in a much different direction. It’s an intriguing record.

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Music Review: Jim White Vs. The Packway Handle Band, Take It Like A Man

Published on January 30th, 2015 in: Current Faves, Music, Music Reviews, Reviews |

By Melissa Bratcher

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Jim White’s collaboration with The Packway Handle Band is an early entry in the “most delightful albums of 2015” list that I am currently compiling (in my head). Full of clever, cinematic lyrics and ripping bluegrass, Take It Like A Man is a joy from start to finish.

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Music Review: The Decemberists, What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World

Published on January 23rd, 2015 in: Current Faves, Music, Music Reviews, Reviews |

By Tyler Hodg

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In their 15th year as a band, The Decemberists continue to release albums that sound nothing less than pure, and What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World is no exception. It’s modest. It’s relatable. It’s fantastic.

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Music Review: Elephant Micah, Where In Our Woods

Published on January 23rd, 2015 in: Current Faves, Music, Music Reviews, Reviews |

By Melissa Bratcher

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Elephant Micah’s (Joseph O’Connell) songs on Where In Our Woods sound archaic and primal, but in a quiet kind of way. They’re hushed and spare, connected to the earth and the air and the migratory patterns of birds. Where In Our Woods haunts and moves me, and I can’t stop thinking about it.

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