Best album of the year by a member of Sleater Kinney: Wild Flag by Wild Flag Corin Tucker won this last year, so Wild Flag had to win it this year. In all seriousness, both those records kill and for very different reasons. Wild Flag is loud and fun and probably the record I danced [...]
It’s a puritan nation, baby. And yet, there was still some good, weird, unorthodox music made last year. I realize its January 3, a few baby steps into the last year of existence, 2012, but I have to finish off all the Old Yellers from last year before I move into this one. Best song [...]
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Gnarwhal – Duane This is music for the Two Thousand Teens. Frantic, disturbed, paranoid, unsettling punk played by four dudes from Nashville, Tennessee. The album is exhausting. To make it worse, or better really, it fills your head with questions. How does he play guitar like that? How do these guys play this stuff live? [...]
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Feel like I’ve listened to this album for years, and I haven’t even listened to Wilco for years. Weird sounds inhabit this album. Layers upon layers of abnormal stuff. In desperation, I have pointed to the Beach Boys as an example of a band able to pull off the impossible task of playing catchy songs [...]
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Was I hungrier this year? I don’t think so. I eat a lot every year. I did eat more jazz, though, even though I’m still very lost when it comes to knowing what’s good what’s great and what’s garbage. Let’s change this metaphor. I drank a lot of jazz this year, and I drank it [...]
Sunday, November 20, 2011
I had never heard the name Alejandro Escovedo before he walked on stage at Castle Clinton in Battery Park in 2007. Evelyn and I were there for Roky Erickson. He came on stage with three other dudes, I remember a violin and a cello. He had a guitar and they all sat down in a [...]
“Do you remember the first time that Sleater-Kinney broke up,” you’ll ask. “Yeah, those were the dark days. It was really a hiatus more than anything else,” you’re significant other will respond. “They weren’t all dark days though; Corin’s first album was really good. And Wild Flag was just an all around amazing group.” “Oh [...]
A moment ago, “Sickle” faded out to end the new Vaz album titled Chartreuse Bull. I’ve had it on for the past 35 minutes, which not so coincidentally is the running time of the 11-track record. I was writing, or better yet, thinking about writing, or better yet, making notes about what I will (or [...]
A word of caution before reading this post: there will probably be more “Al” themed puns than you have ever read or will be comfortable with. You have been warned. Is this 6th grade? No? You say I’ve been out of grade school for over a decade and a half? Well I can honestly say [...]
So I had written this review the other day for one of the places I’ve been freelancing recently and Cornershop tweeted about it thanking us! Finally, some sort of validation! It’s been too long here, so I’m gonna re-post it (in hopes they’ll tweet about us too!), very slightly altered, for the 4 people who [...]
