In their first offering since 2010, Dirty Projectors do not disappoint. “Gun Has No Trigger” is an instrumentally sparse song, consisting of only vocals, drums and very subdued bass guitar. The track highlights the vocal prowess of David Longstreth along with the ethereal accompaniment provided by Angel Deradoorian, Haley Dekle and Amber Coffman. The interplay between the choir-like backing vocals and theLongstretch’s poetic heights is an exercise in deceptive depth.

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Who would’ve thought that one of 2011’s best albums would come from none other than The Beach Boys? While the album was recorded way back in the ’60s, it is only now that the album is being properly released. The album was originally intended to be a follow-up to the now legendary Pet Sounds. It has been widely recognized as the most famous unreleased album of all time. It is part legend, part psychedelic opus magnum, and complete perfection. Read More »

Dom’s website does a far more adequate job than I could ever dream of doing summing up the band in one sentence: “Dom filters a DIY aesthetic through the upbeat, sunny rhythms of pop music.” With Family of Love the five-piece succeeds in bringing back the buoyancy of their previous EP, Sun Bronzed Greek Gods.

Their second effort has a much more polished feel, but in all honesty, it is more of the same. It fails to experiment or adventure beyond their established milieu of guitar and synth-based pop tunes. Read More »

Simply put Battles’ debut LP is one of my favorites ever. Mirrored is a treasure trove that seems to be the gift that keeps on giving. Much as some artists have their way with words, Battles have a special sensibility when it comes to expressing themselves instrumentally. The jumpy jazziness of the drums and the brooding baritone of the guitars combine with outright weird digital effects to create some of the most thought provoking music to date.

How, you might ask, can music be that thought provoking without any lyrical basis? That is the sheer power of Battles. They are able to plug their soundscapes into your very consciousness and alter the way you experience the world as you listen to their insanity unfold from your headphones/speakers. Read More »

TV on the Radio has the unique ability to write about some of the most depressing concepts set against the backdrop of uplifting and soaring melodies. This in a sense provides these topics with a depth which before would seem unimaginable. With their sophomore effort, Dear Science, they wrote of longing, loss, and death but their musicianship rang triumphant. In fact, only recently the band suffered the loss of their bassist, Gerard Smith.

With Nine Types of Light they set their cross-hairs on love in all of its beauty and destruction. This album lacks the production depth and clarity that was very evident in their previous two releases but the energy and triumphalism reigns supreme. Read More »

Innovation is inherent to the very foundations of Radiohead as a band. This would explain why lead singer and guitarist Thom Yorke would dabble in DJing shows while Jonny Greenwood would engage in composing film scores; one of which is the subject of this review. Greenwood is a tried and tested composer with his previous scores for the films Bodysong and There Will Be Blood. There Will Be Blood is one of my favorite scores of the past decade and it was not even written for the film in the first place. The score for Norwegian Wood was intentionally written for the film and once again demonstrates Mr. Greenwood’s ability to transcend genre and make a musical masterpiece with any and all tools given to him. Read More »

Each of the artists in this collaboration has revolutionized his respective musical niche. Burial amazed the London electronic scene with his innovative dub step; Four Tet tweaked the electronic music art form with jazz improvisation; and Thom Yorke, singer of Radiohead, needs no further introduction. The combination of these artists is no revolution in and of itself, but the crispness of the melodies and the seamlessness of styles does indicate that these pieces of music are the work of greater visionaries. The minimalism of the A side track, “Ego”, harkens to the stark minimalism which Yorke has adopted as of late, the jangled pianos of Four Tet, and the warped vocals of Burial so seamlessly that it could have only been the work of pure geniuses such as these to make it happen.
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