Archive for the ‘Record Reviews’ Category
Fountain of Youth: A Review of Punch Brothers, Who’s Feeling Young Now?
Posted by: Peter Lillis on: February 20, 2012
- In: Band Profiles | Music | Record Reviews
- 1 Comment
Chris Thile is a monster of modern music. A rare talent, Thile is known for his constant progress, taking his skills and voice into new territories with every endeavor. The mandolin virtuoso has released 19 full-lengths in the last 19 years, while working with renowned artists like Yo Yo Ma, Béla Fleck, Dolly Parton, Jack [...]
Time to Stay Useless: A Review of Cloud Nothings, Attack on Memory
Posted by: Peter Lillis on: February 9, 2012
Despite suffering debasement from low-quality acts and living as a cultural punchline for the better part of the last decade, emo has persevered as a legitimate sub-genre. Songwriters like Jesse Lacey, Patrick Stickles, Max Bemis and David Bazan have managed to preserve the essence of intelligence, self-awareness and honesty that has defined the genre as [...]
Going National: A Review of Sharon Van Etten, Tramp
Posted by: Keith Meatto on: February 7, 2012
- In: Music | Record Reviews
- 3 Comments
After Lana Del Rey’s tortured pop princess act last week and Madonna’s gladiator-cheerleader jukebox musical on Superbowl Sunday, the new Sharon Van Etten record came as a welcome burst of understated authenticity. There’s nothing flashy or pretentious about Van Etten. Her new music is harder and a bit more country than her prior folky material, [...]
Dialogue: Lana Del Rey (4)
Posted by: Keith Meatto on: February 3, 2012
- In: Band Profiles | Dialogue | Music | Record Reviews
- 1 Comment
Lana Del Ray, Video Games L.V., It seems that we’ve come to some basic agreement about Lana Del Rey: She has talent, her songs are catchy, and the negative reaction to Born to Die says more about the biases of her critics than it does about her music. But perhaps I was too quick to [...]
Dialogue: Lana Del Rey (3)
Posted by: L.V. Lopez on: February 3, 2012
- In: Band Profiles | Dialogue | Music | Record Reviews
- 1 Comment
Lana Del Rey – “Off To The Races” Keith, I must admit that your critiques are valid: I certainly short-changed LDR’s vocal capabilities (unfairly so), and I am most certainly a cynic! Allow me, then, an opportunity to re-evaluate and rephrase. I suppose I was trying to say that, although Lizzie Grant is certainly a [...]
Dialogue: Lana Del Rey (2)
Posted by: Keith Meatto on: February 2, 2012
- In: Band Profiles | Dialogue | Music | Record Reviews
- 4 Comments
Lana Del Rey, Diet Mountain Dew Who cares if Lana Del Rey’s daddy is rich or her mama’s good looking? Who cares that music tastemakers made her an Internet sensation, then tore her to shreds by the time her album Born to Die was released this week? Who cares about her fake name or fake [...]
Dialogue: Lana Del Rey
Posted by: L.V. Lopez on: February 1, 2012
- In: Band Profiles | Dialogue | Music | Record Reviews
- 5 Comments
(Today we introduce our new column, Dialogue. Every month, editors Keith Meatto and L.V. Lopez will discuss an ongoing controversy in pop music. This month, the editors take on Lana del Rey’s Born To Die and the critical struggles surrounding it.) Lana del Rey – “Born To Die” For those of you who don’t follow such [...]
We All Blessed: A Review of Schoolboy Q’s Habits and Contradictions
Posted by: Peter Lillis on: January 26, 2012
- In: Band Profiles | Music | Record Reviews
- 3 Comments
It’s been said before and hopefully it will be said again: hip hop is on the rise. Last year we learned that the Internet actually does work as a means for promotion, catapulting hungry artists from nobodies to somebodies over night. By removing the tawdry veil of fake success that defined hip hop of the [...]
On The Frontier: An Interview with Porcelain Raft
Posted by: L.V. Lopez on: January 24, 2012
Mauro Remiddi has led a complicated musical life. He has performed Klezmer Music for the Berlin Youth Circus, crossed the 38th Parallel to re-interpret the folk songs of North Korea, composed music for short films and Vaudeville revivals, and, today, he is set to release his solo debut under the name Porcelain Raft. The record, entitled Strange [...]
