The morning is generally associated with hope and rebirth. Leave it up to sad-eyed pessimist Conor Oberst to reverse this symbol in I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning . Now the morning reveals all the clandestine secrets that lurk in the dark, all the secrets forgotten from a drunken night of destruction bask and glimmer in the sunlight. It brings consequences and challenges; some mornings even appear to be apocalyptic. Somehow, Oberst manages to wake up and get out of bed to uncover the human condition through his dreary songwriting. From the experimental and gritty lo-fi production of Letting Off the Happiness up to 2002's orchestral opus, Lifted, none of the Bright Eyes albums sound the same. This time around, Oberst has broken the habit of digressing so much that the listener is left wondering how he got from point A to point B; the songs are much more cohesive and connected. He, however, still can't extract himself from his songs and write as a mere bystander. Though it is a method of extending a personal hand to the listener, it leaves a question of whether or not he can consider other points of view, a limitation to both a songwriter … Read more
I have too much love for James Murphy, the man behind LCD Soundsystem. This guy sits atop a throne of … Read more
Vocalist Conrad Keely poses a question on the album's title track; "What's the future of Rock-n-Roll?" A rhetorical question? Perhaps, … Read more
Music as true art begs to be delved deeper into. Controversially classic albums such as Daydream Nation, Zen Arcade, and … Read more
The city of Detroit has a bad reputation on the streets of, well, the entire United States. It's known as … Read more
Hating to love something is a complicated and frustrating emotion. When it comes to music, I prefer one of the … Read more
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In 2005 we saw the amount of instrumental bands coming out rise significantly. Most of these bands either sounded too soft and sparkly (resembling Explosions in the Sky too much) or too over the top and heavy (sharing too much in common with the likes of Isis and Pelican). The Brooklyn quartet, New Electric has found a medium between the heavy and soft in the instrumental realm on this self-titled debut EP. Formed from the ashes of former bands, New Electric features the principle songwriter of Nakatomi Plaza, Oscar Rodriguez, on guitar. The other three members were students of jazz in college along with Rodriguez, and played in numerous jazz-influenced bands before New Electric. The jazz influence is hardly noticeable, as New Electric plays fuzzed out rock-n-roll more akin to … Read more
Sharks are awesome. They have big teeth, they've been around since the dinosaurs, and they'll eat anything. Sharks are awesome. We Versus The Shark are pretty cool, too. Their music is razor-sharp and jagged, not unlike shark teeth. But they haven't been around quite as long, it seems. Ruin Everything! is their debut effort. (Pfft. Mick Jagger rocked out with … Read more
By now everyone is familiar with "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon," that fun movie trivia game that is ever-so-often used as a conversation stimulator. Well I plan to create a variation of the game for the music industry, "Six Degrees of Mike Patton." Why? Simple, Patton has ties with notable artists in nearly every genre of music: metal, hip hop, … Read more
The city of Atlanta is known for its output of southern fried rap and hip hop MC's like Outkast, Ludacris, and Jermaine Dupri. But there is more to the city than just inane rhymes and crunk beats. Not unlike hip hop in the 80's, Instilled are ready to break out of the shadow of modern music and take the world … Read more
*Sound of Scavengers being slipped into a CD player* "Holy crap! What am I listening to?" "Is this Vast Aire fronting Wolf Eyes?" "Is this the sound of my imminent doom via an aural assault so intense my face is about to explode?" "Holy crap! What am I listening to?" All valiant guesses, friend of friends, but let me give … Read more
Split releases are a breed that can be difficult to review. Do I review each band's portion separately, or do I give the entire release one score? It's a tough call, but I think you have to treat each split album differently. This time around, mostly for Legs Up sake, I am going to review these two bands apart from … Read more
Though both bands play their own variations of metalcore, this split release is an unlikely partnering. While With Resistance hail from New Jersey, Twenty Inch Burial call Portugal home. Despite being separated by the entire Atlantic Ocean, these two compliment each other well. Each band contributes three songs to this split from State of Mind Recordings. With Resistance kicks things … Read more
East coast and west coast heavyweights collide on this split release from two under the radar acts in today's metal/hardcore scene. Hoods and Freya attempt to set themselves apart from the dullness that is plaguing the hardcore and underground metal scenes. Sacramento's Hoods has been striving for recognition for the past seven years; the majority of that time has been … Read more
With the crumbling of The Burning Paris, a void was left that needed to be filled. The Burning Paris' farewell of And By December You'll Know Where You're Heart Truly Lies was the masterpiece that everyone ignored. Only four songs, one being a Smiths' cover that managed to one up the original, the album was gut wrenching and utterly soothing … Read more
When was the last time you left your car running while going inside your house to get a jacket from your room because it began raining? And while you were in your room you noticed a CD you thoroughly enjoyed? You began playing the CD and realized the next day that your car blew up and everything inside it was … Read more
The way the underground music scene, namely hardcore, functions is vastly different from the days before the existence of the Internet. Gone are the days of having to attend shows to purchase records, shirts, and other merchandise. We now have online distros and record labels that exist only in theory. Gone are the days in which music was spread by … Read more
On The Lost Riots, Hope of the States debuts with tragedy on their shoulders. In midst of recording the album, founding guitarist James Lawrence was found dead in the studio as a result of an apparent suicide. Do not, however, write this album off as merely pieces of suicide notes because of some lamenting lyrics like "I carry sadness on … Read more
The time has finally come. Originally scheduled for a release in November, printing and pressing delays pushed the album's release back to January. Fortunately we were able to pass the time with a new Isis full-length, Panopticon. But now, the fourth and final volume of the remixes and reinterpretations of Isis' titanic effort Oceanic is available for us to bear … Read more
Since June, I've been laboring over how to start off a review of Sonic Nurse. Now, it's December, and all I've come up with is a cliche about how I don't know what to say. Really, the only thing I can think to say is that Sonic Nurse is great. It's not flawless, but it is great. Style goes a … Read more
Writing, recording, and releasing the "emo opus." Selling roughly around 175,000 units of that opus. Playing on late-night talk shows while maintaing indie-label status. Being courted by every major under the sun and being able to turn them down non-chalantly. Making out with Winona Ryder. These are just a few of the things that would have happened to you in … Read more
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