TAG: Reviews

Feb03

Cut Copy – Zonoscope (Review)

Cut Copy

Zonoscope

Released by Modular


While Cut Copy’s previous releases saw them producing music predominately along the lines of neon-drenched electro-pop/rock meant for the dance floor, their third album sounds like it was meant to take you somewhere much higher. Zonoscope glimmers with a certain sonic presence that sort of showers the ears in idyllic ecstasy – so much, that you’ll probably catch yourself looking down to make sure your feet are still on the ground. This album grooves and glides through the ear canals while inducing a hypnotic bout of movement in the course ...
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Jun25

Jazz Mafia Hip-Hop Symphony – Brass, Bows & Beats (Review)

Jazz Mafia Hip-Hop Symphony

Brass, Bows & Beats

Released by Jazz Mafia Records


Brass, Bows & Beats  is “what you’d hear if a full-size philharmonic found itself jamming with a classic big band during a street corner rap battle” according to the critics, and they couldn’t have been more accurate with that imagery. Because Jazz Mafia Hip-Hop Symphony is not your every day philharmonic ensemble; it’s a musical assemblage based out of San Francisco, California and a band that has a lot to offer. Not only do they play, write and arrange all types of music from jazz, soul and ...
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Feb23

Hello Morning – Self Titled EP (Review)

Hello Morning

Self Titled EP

Released by Timber Carnival Records


The gentlemen of Hello Morning are no aliens to the world of music. In fact, the members separately made a name for themselves early on while performing in other bands such as Jonah, Smalltown Poets, Sappo, Boy Eats Drum Machine, and Chris Robley & the Fear of Heights. But it wasn’t until 2007 that they finally came together to form Hello Morning. Now, three years since the band was officially founded, the guys from Portland, Oregon have completed their self titled debut EP and are copiously equipped to make a distinct avowal.
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Feb22

Yeasayer – Odd Blood (Review)

Yeasayer

Odd Blood

Released by Secretly Canadian


For whatever reason, wanting to go pop and rocking your indie foundation is a sin punishable by having heaps of shit talked about whatever skills you may have stepped-up in order to appeal to wider audiences--even if those very skills are things we all love. Conceived with the mindset of crafting a sound that will become your next favorite record, Yeasayer’s second album, Odd Blood, will make many of those “don’t tell me who you love, but show me” critics hurl pejoratives from their ivory tower. While it almost goes without staying that every band's aspiration is to ingeniously pique the interest of their listeners by reinventing old elements and coupling them with new and creative tones, it seems this record's goal is not necessarily to go without saying, but say it all in the fewest possible breaths. In theory, the record, pulling from both '80s synth-pop constructs and its experimental arrangement, approaches its themes in such a way that it would be an inevitable pop smash. Why is it then, that with all of these irrefutably enjoyable elements that this sophomore effort comes off more as an awkwardly self-aware attempt at commercialism than a genuine artistic venture?
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Jan26

Voices Voices – Origins (Review)

Voices Voices

Origins

Released by Manimal Records


Listening to Voices Voices is like being back in the womb; it’s warm yet occasionally haunting and there are voices present, but sometimes they just cannot be deciphered. However, if the womb thing were literal, then listeners could hardly be held accountable (seeing as how they have yet to learn anything about language, Teletubbies or not being submerged in embryonic fluid). Well, what is known about these two Los Angeles-based sirens is this: they do not have a Wikipedia page (yet), they heavily volunteered helping out with the “No on Prop 8” campaign, Prefuse 73 lent a huge hand as far as the production on the EP and (not surprisingly) they are on to something with this music stuff.
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