{Shabazz Palaces photo from the Three Imaginary Girls Flickr Pool by Jason Tang} Through sheer quirk of fate and possibly my own fatally quirky tastes, the top spots for my four favorite records of the year were given to two separate EPs by two different bands. I’m going to start my Top 20 of 2011 list […]
(Say Goodbye is set to be released on December 7, 2010.) It’s kind of neat to alternate listening to Liz Janes’ long-awaited third album Say Goodbye with Asthmatic Kitty label-mate (and producer of her 2002 debut Done Gone Fire) Sufjan Stevens’ recent work. Janes creates adorable miniatures from very precise keys and guitars beneath patiently […]
I always laugh when people say, “That sounds so 80s.” The 80s are bigger and stranger and even more stupid than you can possibly imagine. But I sort of get what “the kids” mean by use of the phrase “the 80s” when I listen to Fol Chen. They sound like many people remember the suburban-angst […]
The great Dave Allen of Gang of Four, Danny Seim (Menomena) and John Askew (Tracker) have a new project: Faux Hoax, crazily pronounced "Folks". The Portland trio are creating a canvas of lyrics and music onto which all sorts of collaborators will make their stamp as well, birthing an experimental-style approach that challenges the conventional […]
There are very few artists who can make the dark night of the soul sound like a broken-down, probably murderous carnival ride, and Grampall Jukebox is one of them. David "Moose" Adamson and Aimee Brown are from the cold, creepy plains of Indianapolis, and that land's combination of arid nature and fucked up civilization glues […]
Rafter is sort of a musical menagerie that can actually pull off the act. Sex Death Cassette is the closest thing you can get to a true musical garbage bag, and I mean that in a good way. The collection of sounds put together by Rafter Roberts samples from, at least what I can ascertain, […]
It's nice to start a new year with a blank state. Well, maybe at least a less covered slate. Or maybe a slate that you can maybe discern is buried under the pile of records that have been haunting your every waking moment for the last six months. So, without further ado, here are some […]
