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 | Released on Drag City, 7/22/08 My family moved from Northern Ireland to Lincoln, Nebraska in 1984. We were truly strangers in a strange land. We were Irish transplants smack dab in the middle of the U.S. on a one year “working vacation” which lasted 24 years and running. Suffice to say I listened to one heck of a lot of traditional and popular Irish jams in that duplex in Lincoln.More |  | Self released on Shipwreck Music & Co, 5/17/20 I think [b]The Hour is Upon Us[/b], the new album from L.A.’s Hour of the Shipwreck, would have scared the bejesus out of me as a child. At first listen I considered it to be the quintessential soundtrack to any and every game of Dungeons & Dragons from this moment forward, but I fear it may send too many children running home to their mommies at full throttle.More |  | Released on Anti Records, 5/6/08 Things happen beyond the boundaries of reason and civility. Tim Fite’s latest release [b]Fair Ain’t Fair[/b] is certainly a nod toward that statement on a much larger scale. It is a practically unclassifiable social, political and economic review filled with more beauty, depth, and passion than most artists accomplish in the span of their entire career.More |  | Released on Matador Records, 6/3/2008 According to the beautiful world wide web, in addition to being an experimental indie rock band from the heart of the sunny south -- Austin, to be exact -- a shearwater is also an open ocean-dwelling seabird. The name comes from their flight technique where, stiff winged, they move across wave fronts with little to no movement required. Nary a flap nor a flutter from these hearty feathered beasts is necessary, even when migrating up to 20,000 km a season. Wonder of wonders! I feel this same authority and presence of belief within the music of Shearwater.More |  | Released on Vice Records, 2/19/2008 Knowing nothing of The Raveonettes and judging them solely by their name and appearance I expected some type of blues-based electro-garage. But, upon listening to their latest release, [b]Lust Lust Lust[/b], I breathed a sigh of relief, which I then harmonized with a parallel third.More |  | Released on Rough Trade Records, 6/18/07 Whistling and bongos -- two things I never imagined would pair well. But not only do they pair well, they have actually made it too “cool”. Tell me you haven’t gotten the Peter Björn and John track “Young Folks” stuck in your head, that you haven’t found yourself whistling along to the intro, and I will have to challenge you to a duel. It’s darn catchy!More |  | Released on Kill Rock Stars, 8/21/07 Here in San Francisco we like our art rock-y and our rock arty. There is none of this straight shooting standardized expressionism that may come out of a place like, say, Los Angeles. I'm not saying that straight shooting standardized expressionism is bad, boring or brittle. I thrive on routine just like the millions of other people addicted to Bravo TV and popcorn during a movie. What I am saying is I love this fair city for the unique spin it imposes upon just about every and any thing it can get its grimy paws on.More |  | Released on Jdub Records, 6/12/07 Josh Dolgin grew up in the outskirts of Ottawa, a suburb named Chelsea, as one of the only Jewish kids in a predominantly Protestant area. He took part in typical childlike activities in the face of such an unconscious cultural and religious divide. He joined a Christian gospel group and played piano. He also joined a salsa band, a folk band and, the detrimental-to-any-teenage-musician, a rock and roll band. It was around this period that Dolgin was introduced to hip hop by one of his God-loving gospel band mates.More |  | Released on Firebird Field Recordings, self-released 2007 This debut release from Los Angeles based singer/songwriter Carl Jordan flies by like so much time on a warm summer day. Three minute pop songs in the vein of Grandaddy meets a less tragic Elliot Smith at a mid-June picnic, they fall in love and have two babies -- Ween and The Shins. There you go.More |  | Released on Drag City, 8/28/07 The fourth release from local guitar legend Tim Green’s solo project, Concentrick, is a folk-inspired instrumental rock album for seventies purists and post-prog rockers alike. To say that it is lush would be an understatement. [b]Aluminum Lake[/b] is dense.More |
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