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 | Released on Fader, 1/20/09 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.
If you know anything about Brooklyn’s Matt and Kim it probably has to do with their live show which, from what I can tell from the reviews and videos, seems more like an all out dance-off than a rock concert. I think this is what first struck me about the duo: they actually look like they are having fun! Their press photos are exuberant and quirky. Not a sulk or pout among them. No ironic hair, no white jeans that are four sizes too small. How are these two managing to single-handedly reinvent the meaning of the typical “rock and roll band”?More |  | Released on Matador/Last Gang Records, 1/20/09 Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars.
[b]Get Guilty[/b], the second solo release from A.C. Newman, perhaps better known for fronting pop sensations The New Pornographers, recruits the help of Jon Wurster (Superchunk/Mountain Goats), Mates of State and Nicole Atkins to help develop a sound both vastly immense and explicitly precise. There is a certain amount of familiarity within the song structures and lyrical flow, something any New Pornographers fan would recognize, but where that project would have let the dramaticism of the song take the lead, Newman is able to bridle this emotion into something more intimate, something more real.More |  | Released on Domino Records, 1/20/09 Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars.
[b]Merriweather Post Pavilion[/b], the ninth release from the Baltimore-based pioneers of avant-garde progressive, neo-folk, (add your own fawning, far-reaching, sonic descriptor here), is nothing short of mind-blowing. Having managed to bridge the gap between true compositional and performative experimentalism, the members of Animal Collective are the innovators of a new and true polyphonic era.More |  | Released on Matador/Domino, 12/9/08 If I were to make a mix tape of my high school years, not only would I need to buy a tape deck and some cassettes but I would also need to dig out my old tape box. And if I felt willing and emotionally stable enough to take a little trip back to 1992 and create a soundtrack to my awkward coming of age and self-conscious adolescent angst, Pavement would be a featured artist.More |  | Release on Rough Trade Records (November 4, 2008) I wasn’t sure what to expect upon learning of the collaboration between Fabrizio Moretti, drummer for The Strokes, and Rodrigo Amarante, guitarist and songwriter for the Brazilian-based indie rock band Los Hermanos. I will admit - I can get down with some Strokes. When I hear a steady four-on-the-floor coupled with a melodic bass line and drawling, affected vocals, I am happy as a clam in the ocean of rock, or perhaps…a rock lobster? Sure, there are many things about The Strokes that are ridiculous...More |  | Released on 4AD, 10/7/08 A lot of things can happen in an NYU dorm room. Grab yourself a couple of fresh-faced teenagers, a vast and ever-expanding metropolis, and a lack of overall guidance coupled with the egotistical invincibility of a young, eager mind. Though, if you happen to be Fred Nicolaus and Daniel Rossen, in lieu of the typical academic and social roommate rivalry and middle of the night oh so alone panic attacks, you begin a musical romance that not only outlasts your college days but also, for your second performance, lands you on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Not too shabby.More |  | Released on Kill Rock Stars, 10/7/08 Deerhoof has been cranking out albums for the past fourteen years which, in and of itself, is quite a feat for any band, not to mention one that always seemed to be slightly outside of the norm, if not above it. Deerhoof has risen from what could have easily turned into the next noise-rock party band to one of the most innovative art rock bands of this time.More |  | Released on Matador Records, 8/19/08 Within all the reviews I read of Jennifer O’Connor’s catalog of work, spanning from 2002 to present, one thing was made clear: this ain’t your ordinary female indie folk songster. For Jennifer O’Connor, abiding for the time being in Brooklyn, NY, music just so happens to be her religion as well as her muse. Or, at least, this is what I am told.More |  | Released on Rough Trade Records, 9/9/08 Listening to [b]Me and Armini[/b], Emiliana Torrini’s third release since her breach into the pop world, I am immediately reminded of Taken by Trees singer Victoria Bergsman, better known as the female vocalist on the hit single “Young Folks” by Peter Bjorn and John. The two do share a label, but while Bergsman is from Sweden, Torrini is half-Icelandic, half-Italian and spent a fair amount of her summers in Germany. Perhaps it is more the tentative singing style that both employ; certain amounts of restraint that surpass shyness and merge with a coyness that is both compelling and downright stressful.More |  | Released on Dangerbird Records, 8/5/08 Darker My Love did not have me at 'hello'. In fact, before I even heard them I took one look at the band name and wrote them off as a neo-gothic electro-pop band pumping out mediocre hopped-up My Bloody Valentine meets Duran Duran numbers. Well let me just say, for the record, that I couldn’t have been more wrong. Darker My Love, I apologize. I am sorry I judged your band by its name. I, of all people, should know better. It wasn’t until I played their sophomore album, [b]2[/b], about 7 times in a row that I was able to pick up on the genius I have now discovered as Darker My Love.More |
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