Archive for the Indie Rock Category
Swans “The Great Annihilator” (Young God)
The Great Annihilator, originally released in 1995 and described at the time as “… a majestic symphony of haunting melodies and shifting moods” (SF Bay Guardian), will be released on double vinyl – the album’s first release on the format for decades. The vinyl edition (in the form of a […]
Crimpshrine “Duct Tape Soup” (Numero)
Before Green Day, Operation Ivy, and Lookout Records put the East Bay’s burgeoning punk scene on the map, a trio of Berkeley kids were reinventing the genre with music that was melodic but full of feedback, and a singer who sounded like he gargled glass. Crimpshrine’s debut EP was Lookout’s […]
Crimpshrine “The Sound Of A New World Being Born” (Numero)
Before Green Day, Operation Ivy, and Lookout Records put the East Bay’s burgeoning punk scene on the map, a trio of Berkeley kids were reinventing the genre with music that was melodic but full of feedback, and a singer who sounded like he gargled glass. Crimpshrine’s debut EP was Lookout’s […]
Royal Blood “How Did We Get So Dark?” (Warner)
The ten tracks that are featured on How Did We Get So Dark? were written in instrumental form during sessions in Brighton, Los Angeles and Nashville. Always trying to explore ways of stripping their enormous sound back to give it more space and impact, inspiration for the lyrics came from […]
Kevin Morby “City Music” (Dead Oceans)
City Music is an airplane descending over frozen lakes into Chicago. City Music is riding the Q Train out to Coney Island to smell the ocean and a morning in Philadelphia where greats cranes reconfigure the buildings like an endless puzzle. City Music is a quiet afternoon moment on a […]
Justin Townes Earle “Kids In The Street” (New West)
Kids In The Street was produced by Mike Mogis, who is perhaps best known for his work with Bright Eyes on the Saddle Creek label. “When I first met a young Justin Townes Earle, it was evident then he was intent on following his own artistic path,” said label president […]
Alex G “Rocket” (Domino Recordings)
Rocket is Philadelphia-based artist Alex G’s eighth full-length release—an assured statement that follows a slate of humble masterpieces, many of them self-recorded and self-released, stretching from 2010’s RACE to his 2015 Domino debut, Beach Music. Amid the Rocket recording process, Alex made headlines for catching the attention of Frank Ocean, […]
Wavves “You’re Welcome” (Ghost Ramp)
of producer Dennis Herring (who had worked with Williams on King of the Beach), he built the songs from samples and weird sounds, giving each one a tangible hook, before adding each bandmember’s (still Alex Gates, Stephen Pope, and Brian Hill) contribution. The end result is a deviation from the […]
Mountain Goats “Goths” (Merge)
The theme this time around is goth, a subject closer to my heart perhaps than that of any MOUNTAIN GOATS album previous. And while JOHN writes the songs, as he always has, it feels more than ever like he’s speaking for all of us in the band, erstwhile goths (raises […]
Helium “Ends With And” (Matador)
Ends With And collects the band’s singles and compilation tracks. Early singles like the liberatory “Hole In The Ground,” from their second 7-inch, and the churning “XXX”-“OOO” diptych, from the Pirate Prude EP, show how immediately Helium’s aesthetic was established; later offerings like the swirling “What Institution Are You From,” […]
Helium “Magic City” (Matador)
Led by Mary Timony (Ex Hex, Wild Flag, Autoclave), Helium was one of the most important rock bands of the ’90s, and finally their influential output is being released on vinyl after a decade of being out of print courtesy of Matador Records. In addition to the reissues of breakthrough […]
Helium “The Dirt Of Luck” (Matador)
Led by Mary Timony (Ex Hex, Wild Flag, Autoclave), Helium was one of the most important rock bands of the ’90s, and finally their influential output is being released on vinyl after a decade of being out of print courtesy of Matador Records. In addition to the reissues of breakthrough […]
Mac DeMarco “This Old Dog” (Captured Tracks)
Before you ancients out there turn your heads and scoff at the premise of a 20-something rock-and-roll goofball calling himself an old-anything, consider this: said perpetrator, he who answers to the name Mac DeMarco, has spent the better part of his time thus far writing, recording, and releasing an album […]
Moon Duo “Occult Architecture Vol. 2” (Sacred Bones)
Offering a cosmic glimpse into the hidden patterning embedded in everything, Occult Architecture reflects the harmonious duality of these light and dark energies through the Chinese theory of Yin and Yang. Following the Yin (feminine, darkness, night, earth) represented on Occult Architecture Vol. 1, Vol. 2 presents the Yang. Yang […]
Look Blue Go Purple “Look Blue Go Purple” (Flying Nun)
Look Blue Go Purple were part of Flying Nun’s ‘second wave’ (along with Doublehappys, Straitjacket Fits and the Abel Tasmans). Formed in 1983, they honed their sound in a Dunedin practice room under a record shop, where they developed a distinctive style with layered vocal harmonies, keyboards (and even flute) […]
Perfume Genius “No Shape” (Matador)
Perfume Genius, nom de poster-wraith of musician Mike Hadreas, will release his fourth album, No Shape, May 5 on Matador Records. The album was recorded in Los Angeles, produced by Blake Mills, mixed by Shawn Everett. Perfume Genius’s 2014 breakout album Too Bright—called awe-inspiring, magnificent by NPR—marked a musical and […]
The Pin Group “Go to Town” (Superior Viaduct)
New Zealand’s Pin Group emerged out of the early ’80s Christchurch scene and, with just two stunning singles and one brilliant five-song EP, have become an archetype for nearly all indie bands ever since. Ambivalence was not only The Pin Group’s hypnotic debut, but also the very first release on […]
Milk Music ” Mystic” (Dom America)
“From a cocoon of ambitious distortion, the caterpillar once known and loved as Olympia’s MILK MUSIC, reemerges as a butterfly in full psychedelic Technicolor as Mystic 100’s. This LP might be Mystic 100’s 1st or Milk Music’s 3rd, either way it’s a sonic thrill ride through an acid laced apocalypse […]
Superchunk “Cup Of Sand” (Merge Records)
On April 22, 2017 (a.k.a. Record Store Day), Cup of Sand, the 2003 compilation of Superchunk singles, b-sides, and rarities, was released on vinyl for the first time ever. The original 25-song, double-CD package has been expanded to a triple-LP gatefold edition that showcases Laura Ballance’s original album art and […]
Cold Beat “Chaos By Invitation” (Crime On The Moon)
Cold Beat, aka Hannah Lew, returns with the announcement of her third album, Chaos By Invitation, out April 7th via her own Crime on the Moon label. As compared with previous releases, Chaos By Invitation began in Lew’s home, alone, with additional tracking done later by Phil Manley (Trans Am) […]
Future Islands “The Far Field” (4AD)
Across “The Far Field”’s twelve chest-pounding love songs and odes to the road, Future Islands brilliantly express the band’s central themes they’ve been exploring for the last decade: that there is power in emotional vulnerability, that one can find a way to laugh and cry in the same breath – […]
Cameron Avery “Ripe Dreams, Pipe Dreams” (Anti)
SINGER/SONGWRITER/MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST CAMERON AVERY’S DEBUT SOLO ALBUM RIPE DREAMS, PIPE DREAMS IS AVAILABLE NOW. KNOWN FOR HIS WORK AS THE TOURING BASSIST FOR TAME IMPALA, AVERY OFFERS AN ORNATE YET GRITTY SOUND DRIVEN BY HIS SOULFUL WIT AND SWEEPING ARRANGEMENTS. WITH HIS DEEP, HUSKY BARITONE, AVERY HARNESSES THE DARK POWER AND […]
Elliott Smith “Figure 8” (Geffen)
Double vinyl LP pressing. Figure 8 is the fifth studio album by Elliott Smith, and the final album he completed before his death. It was recorded from 1998 to 2000 at numerous studios and released on April 18, 2000 through DreamWorks Records. Preceded by the singles “Happiness” and “Son of […]
Timbre Timbre “Sincerely Future Pollution” (City Slang)
Timber Timbre’s music has always traced a shadowed path, using cues of the past to fuse the sound of a distant, haunted now. It’s fourth record – Sincerely, Future Pollution – is the cinema of a dazzling dystopia, rattled by the science fiction of this bluntly nonfictional time. Taylor Kirk […]