// Category Archive for: Reviews

Music Review: Jacco Gardner, Hypnophobia

By Melissa Bratcher

On Hypnophobia, the follow up to Dutch multi-instrumentalist/producer Jacco Gardner’s 2013 Cabinet Of Curiosities, the lines between sleeping and waking are blurred. Hypnophobia is dream-like and gauzy, with gorgeous, hazy melodies. It feels like Syd Barrett joined the Beatles.

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Music Review: Part 1, Funeral Parade EP (Reissue)

By Less Lee Moore

Perhaps the only reason that hundreds of copies of Part 1’s 1982 EP Funeral Parade weren’t burned at Southern Baptist churches during the eighties is because there were only 300 of them pressed. Lord knows if I’d heard their vicious, anti-religious lyrics and angular, distorted music back then I would have been an instant fan. Now we can all rejoice because Sacred Bones has reissued a remastered version of Funeral Parade in a deluxe gatefold sleeve. The UK band also reformed in 2013 and did a brief tour of North America for the first time ever this past April.

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Music Review: Ivan & Alyosha, It’s All Just Pretend

By Melissa Bratcher

Seattle’s Ivan & Alyosha make thoughtful and inspiring music that resides at the crossroads of power pop and folk, but that doesn’t explain enough. Their latest, It’s All Just Pretend, is captivating, as well as familiar, but not derivative. It feels like a classic album but refreshingly new. It’s charming, but not twee.

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Music Review: Hannah Miller, Hannah Miller

By Tyler Hodg

Nashville folk-pop singer Hannah Miller has returned with a self-titled album and this time she is channeling a darker, edgier side. This is her third full-length album, and Miller has developed a more mature sound, not that her earlier work was exactly child’s play. The ten new songs (plus an alternate version of an already included track) featured on the album are equally as impressive as her previous efforts, if not better.

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Music Review: Various Artists, Popcorn Exotica

By Melissa Bratcher

Croydon Municipal’s third album of Popcorn tracks, Popcorn Exotica, is another unbelievable confection. “Popcorn” refers to a Belgian club music scene that peaked commercially in the 1970s, and the common thread is the rather sleepy tempo. DJs would sometimes play 45s at 33 RPM to hit the proper beat.

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DVD and Music Review: Jobriath A.D.

By Hanna

Jobriath A.D. tells the story of singer and would-be glam rock star Jobriath’s career and personal life. It focuses on the period when he was professionally active between 1968 and his death in 1983. His story is told nearly entirely from interviews with people who were involved in his life and career at the time or people who were influenced professionally by his work. There is some narration (by Henry Rollins, no less) to tie parts of the interviews together, and a series of animations provide visual interest and make up for the fact that there exists very little actual footage of Jobriath.

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Music Review: Bill Fay, Who Is The Sender?

By Tyler Hodg

Bill Fay released two albums, one in 1970 and the other in 1971, before disappearing into the wind like so many artists have done over the years. Virtually erased from musical history, Fay’s work has since been resurrected, along with his drive to create new music. His second album since his 2012 return, Who Is The Sender? is a reminder that even musicians with his immense caliber of talent are able to slip through the cracks every once in a while.

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Music Review: Allie X, CollXtion I

By Less Lee Moore

There are a lot of singers with impeccable voices who make terrible music. And there are many great songwriters who can’t sing worth a damn. Luckily, Allie X is not plagued with either of these problems.

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CMW 2015 Concert Review: The Jesus & Mary Chain At The Phoenix

By Stephanie Quinlan

May 1, 2015
Toronto, ON

Sometimes, nostalgia is all it’s cracked up to be. Friday night’s blistering and brilliant Jesus & Mary Chain show was one of those times.

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Music Review: Marc Almond, The Velvet Trail

By Melissa Bratcher

Marc Almond’s latest, The Velvet Trail, feels like something of a miracle and sounds even better. After his 2010 release, Varieté, Almond intimated that he would no longer record his original material. When producer and songwriter Chris Braide (Lana Del Rey, Britney Spears, Beyoncé) heard this news, it became his mission to change Almond’s mind. Braide composed a trio of instrumental tracks specifically for Almond. Upon hearing them, Marc Almond changed his mind. They worked together long distance: sending files to each other, writing long emails and not speaking on the phone, all to keep their chemistry intact. They didn’t meet until the album was finished.

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