True Widow
Circumambulation
Relapse (2013)
I know when I think of stoner music, I think of pot-fueled haziness, guitar theatrics straight out of the '60s, and a red-eyed three-piece to play it all. But there is one band that steadfastly refuses to conform to that stereotype, and that's Texan trio True Widow, whose third album, Circumambulation, is one of the most intriguing to come out of the genre this year.True Widow's take on stoner rock is fittingly hypnotic, their slow, repetitive rhythms pulsing with clockwork regularity, drawing the listener into a trance-like state. While they lack the drawn-out labor of Om or the frantic psychedelia found in Boris, they've taken a healthy dose of shoegaze and injected it into the music, giving it a much more reverent, measured quality while still remaining every bit as loose as their contemporaries. And though it's very slow and deliberate, the music never becomes so droning as to become a lethargic plod; not a moment on this album feels monotonous or unnecessarily ambling.The only major weak point on this album is that True Widow never really break up their style. They've gone one trick--their self-described "stonergaze"--and they stick to it. Now keep in mind that True Widow do their … Read more
Kanye West
Yeezus
Def Jam (2013)
In an interview with the New York Times that predated the release of Yeezus, sixth solo album from Kanye West, … Read more
Night Birds
Born To Die In Suburbia
Grave Mistake (2013)
Releasing the 7” teaser Maimed for the Masses certainly helped introduce the increasingly prominent surf guitar in Night Birds. Still, … Read more
Ice Dragon
The Soul's Midnight
Independent (2013)
As far as downright ass-dirty stoner metal goes, Ice Dragon are amongst the best. Their latest EP, The Soul's Midnight, … Read more
