You know, cranking out a monthly EP for an entire year is an absolutely tremendous achievement, one of the more impressive ones I’ve seen from an artist in years. I think it’s kind of a shame that they didn’t have a wider audience for them. It looks like 5-600 people subscribed, judging by how many people have them in their collections on Bandcamp. Maybe they’ll package stuff up and release them later.
[Read More]Vampire Weekend’s third album was a return to form to my ears. Contra was a little bit too scattered, and sounded a little bit tired, and just didn’t quite hang together. But Modern Vampires of the City had some of that ineffable charm back, with this song serving as a good example. This could easily have gone on the debut album, and that’s a high complement.
Hmmm. I wonder what I’ve said about Flying Saucer Attack in the past? I’m sure I had opinions. I am also not going to look. I shouldn’t have to do all the work here! I tag these things, go look it up yourself!
[Read More]Bathory’s second album, The Return of the Darkness and Evil, was one of the touchstones in black metal’s first wave. Most of the traits of the genre were in place at this point, with the murky production, shrieked vocals, satanic themes, and punishing pace. The template would get refined on Bathory’s next record, but this is one of the establishing albums.
The Unsemble are an experimental outfit consisting of Alexander Hacke (Einstürzende Neubauten), Duane Denison (The Jesus Lizard, Firewater), and Brian Kotzur (Silver Jews). There’s nothing really rock about it, and it doesn’t sound much like any of these folks’ other bands, other than some of Neubauten’s quieter moments. It’s an interesting listen, though, and I recommend it.
[Read More]There was a decent sized indie rock scene in Champaign-Urbana in the late 80s/early 90s, with Hum, the excellent and forgotten Steakdaddy Six, Honcho Overload, and the Poster Children all emerging to varying levels of success. Of that group, the Poster Children had the most success at the time, signing to Sire and producing a string of well-received albums. Hum is probably the one with the best enduring reputation (especially given a comeback), but the Poster Children still hold up today as well-executed indie rock.
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