// Category Archive for: Reviews

Music Review: The Old Ceremony, Sprinter

By Melissa Bratcher

There is a terrible problem with Sprinter, the new album from Durham, North Carolina’s The Old Ceremony: it only includes ten tracks. These ten songs are incredible: transporting, literate, cinematic. I yearned for more.

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Music Review: Heather Woods Broderick, Glider

By Melissa Bratcher

There’s an air of wanderlust to Heather Woods Broderick’s Glider. A gifted multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, Broderick has toured and recorded with Efterklang, Horse Feathers, and Sharon Van Etten’s band. On Glider, Broderick gently coaxes out her vision, one that is introspective with lovely layers of vocals.

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NXNE 2015 Review: From APTBS To Zola Jesus

By Less Lee Moore

The musical tornado that was NXNE 2015 blew into Toronto on Wednesday, June 17, boasting hundreds of bands performing over a five-day span, not to mention various film screenings, installations, and even a record sale. It’s not for the faint of heart or the weak of feet, but it is an exhilarating, if exhausting, event.
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NXNE 2015 Review: Jacco Gardner at The Horseshoe Tavern

By Brendan Ross

June 17, 2015
Toronto, ON

It was about a year ago that Jacco Gardner’s debut album Cabinet of Curiosities was introduced to me. I was immediately seduced by its sunny psychedelic melodies, which invoked the 1960s chamber pop style of Syd Barrett, The Zombies, and Love, to name a few. Not the most groundbreakingly original album, no, but it resonated with me instantly and I fell in love. “Clear The Air” very quickly became my 2014 song of the summer.

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Music Review, Various Artists, Occult Box

By Jeffery X Martin

Pssst. Hey, kid. C’mere for a second.

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Music Review: Ancient Ocean, Blood Moon

By Tyler Hodg

The great thing about debut albums is that they can leave preconceived expectations wide open, especially when the style of music is ambient. So what is Ancient Ocean’s Blood Moon? Simply put, it is a collection of fully realized songs, begging for a listener to experience its gravity. It’s quite easy for this type of music to fly under the radar, considering it’s not exactly the most mainstream concoction, but allowing Blood Moon to take over your time and consciousness will be an undoubtedly satisfactory expedition.

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Music Review: Royal Jesters: English Oldies

By Melissa Bratcher

Chicago-based Numero Group wants to fill your summer with eclectic songs you’ve never heard: songs to watch submarine races by, songs to fill your tear ducts, songs to catch that first kiss on the dance floor, songs that make you need to get up and shake that thing. Their latest carefully curated reissue is a 28-track collection by San Antonio’s the Royal Jesters. Active in the 1960s and ‘70s, the Royal Jesters never had that big breakthrough hit, but their marriage of doo wop harmonies and mariachi horn sensibilities, as well as some fine, sometimes wildly experimental organ playing makes this compilation, Royal Jesters: English Oldies, well worth a listen.

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Music Review: T. Hardy Morris, Hardy And The Hardknocks: Drownin’ On A Mountaintop

By Melissa Bratcher

On the new album from Athens, Georgia’s T. Hardy Morris—Hardy & The Hardknocks: Drownin’ On A Mountaintop—Morris makes a music that is the logical marriage of country and grunge. Imagine Nirvana had a pedal steel guitar; imagine Mike McCready played with the Buckaroos. It works, and it works incredibly well.

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Music Review: Smokey, How Far Will You Go? The S&M Recordings 1973-81

By Tim Murr

I find it hard to believe that there once existed a band that featured guest appearances from James Williamson (The Stooges) and a young Randy Rhoads (Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne) that I’ve never heard of and you probably haven’t, either. But it’s true! The band is called Smokey.

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Music Review: Failure, The Heart Is A Monster

By Jeffery X Martin

Here’s the short version: Failure’s The Heart is a Monster is a strong contender for Album of the Year. The space-rock pioneers have come back with an incredibly strong, seamlessly cohesive record that shoots almost everything else released so far this year right out of the airlock.

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