Album Review

By Alexa Squire At a music festival last summer, I found myself stuck listening to The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion while waiting to hear Panda Bear. When Jon Spencer and his sweaty leather pants left the stage, nearly the entire crowd left with him, one man shouting, “Let’s get away from the kid with the laptop!” In a weird way he was speaking the truth – at first listen, Noah Lennox (Panda Bear) might sound simply like a guy creating some loops on his computer, an easy task with today’s technology. His previous album, 2007’s Person Pitch, can sound at … Continued

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Kurt Vile will be performing tonight, Sunday, April 3rd, at The Mill as part of the Mission Creek Music Festival. By Crystal Sherman This one goes out to all those that want the right to survive. – Vile on “Puppet To The Man”. Smoke Ring for My Halo, the fourth album from Philadelphia’s Kurt Vile, was released to reverent reviews from voices such as Pitchfork and Rolling Stone. It’s an aural massage. It’s a warm breeze with sparkly morphine-eyes behind dark sunglasses on a day that we have nowhere to be but where Kurt takes us. Jeff Zeiger still gets … Continued

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Colour Revolt will be performing tonight, Tuesday, March 29, at The Mill as part of KRUI’s Pizza Party. There will be free pizza at 7 PM and the show will start at 8 PM. By Rob Rodriguez After losing three members and a record label since the release of their debut album, Colour Revolt has made quite the comeback. The Mississippi five-piece now features a new drummer (Daniel Davis of Norma Jean), a new bassist (Hank Sullivant of The Whigs), and of course a second album courtesy of a New Fear/Dualtone records. The Cradle dropped this past August, and at … Continued

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By Rob Rodriguez Radiohead. You never know what you’re going to get, but you can always expect a collection of tracks that will first leave you puzzled, and then blown away. The group released their eighth album, The King of Limbs, online a day ahead of schedule on February 18th, and it does not disappoint or skew away from their usual theme. Like most Radiohead, The King of Limbs requires a listen or two to fully appreciate and understand everything that is happening. The distinct feature of the album (besides Thom Yorke’s ridiculous vocal range and stability) is the inclusion … Continued

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By Claire Diver Tennis’s debut album, “Cape Dory,” chronicles an eight-month long sailboat trip taken by the husband-and-wife duo behind the music, Patrick Riley and Alaina Moore. The result of the voyage is an album of nostalgic, lo-fi, beach pop. Moore’s voice sweetly echoes 60s girl groups like the Shangri-Las as she sings about love, sailing, and coconuts. Although the album is only 29 minutes long, it feels complete – a balance is struck between high-tempo ditties like “Take Me Somewhere” and “Seafarer” and the more leisurely “Bimini Bay” and “Waterbirds.” The high points of the album include more meditative … Continued

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By Alexa Squire Dan Bejar, an occasional member of the New Pornographers and Swan Lake, has been recording as Destroyer for nearly two decades, varying his style with every album. On Kaputt, his tenth full length release, Bejar takes on some of the most poorly regarded musical styles of American history: 80’s pop, smooth jazz, and easy listening. You read that right. Bejar’s album is full of that smoky, dreamy 80’s synth-wash sound, complete with flutes, hi-hats, and jazz saxophone. Think Kenny G. This style choice is almost enough to turn some listeners away, but Bejar finds a way to … Continued

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By Kendall McCabe Akron/Family might actually live in the woods. Their latest release, S/T II: The Cosmic Birth & Journey of Shinju TNT, seems to capture the panic of a red fox stalking its prey, the calm of tree leaves rustling next to each other as they sleep at night, and the loud snapping of sticks underneath hikers’ heavy feet…all within each individual song. This manic psych-folk album is full of contrasting tracks and is, ultimately, a wild and confused romp that will leave listeners will feeling caught between one song and the next. Recommended Tracks: 1, 2, 5, 9, … Continued

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By Alexa Squire It’s hard to imagine an album that starts out sounding like African pop, morphs into shredding psychedelic guitars, and passes by twangy Southern riffs before finally landing on a bright slide guitar solo, but Delicate Steve does so in their first single. This debut album from the New Jersey band is only 26 minutes long and completely instrumental. The guitar parts are both primitive and post-rock, the keyboard is fuzzy and the drums are loud and soulful. While comparisons have been made to the Dirty Projectors and RATATAT, the fact is Wondervisions is the product of a band … Continued

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By Blake Carlson-Joshua John Vanderslice’s new album, White Wilderness sets out on a different path than his previous releases. Known for his studio precision, Vanderslice changes things up in this album as he teams up with San Francisco-based conductor/ composer Minna Choi and her Magik Magik Orchestra. Unlike any of his previous work, Vanderslice was able to complete this album live and in merely three days by enlisting the help of Choi to deliver the heavy musical layers we’ve all come to know and love. The result is a wonderfully vivid set of music that will resonate with any Vanderslice … Continued

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By Alexa Squire Derealization isn’t your typical remix EP. The Forms (now only a two member band) have completely deconstructed their songs and combined them with new chord progressions, lyrics, and arrangements. The result is six original songs that manage to still be dreamy, rich, and melodic like the band’s previous material, but poppier with the instrumental additions of synth bass and drum machines. Old fans will recognize echoes of the songs they know from The Forms and Icarus and hear many things that are entirely new. Guest vocalists include The National’s Matt Berninger, Pattern Is Movement’s Andrew Thiboldeaux, and … Continued

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