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Big Eyes

Stake My Claim
Don Giovanni (2016)

As much I knew I’d like this record after spending some time with Almost Famous and seeing the band live a few times, I was hesitant to review it. There are certain sounds I have trouble describing. So while I enjoyed Almost Famous, it had this hard to summarize element where I felt vocalist Kait Eldridge’s lyrics blended into guitar … Read more

Taking Back Sunday

Tidal Wave
Hopeless (2016)

Taking Back Sunday accidentally ended up being one of the bands that spearheaded the emo movement that bled into the mainstream in the early noughties, a label that the band aren't entirely comfortable with. More recently, frontman Adam Lazzara got into an argument with the organisers of an LA club night that catered to the nostalgic whims of former emo … Read more

Pinned In Place

Ghostwritten By
Razorcake (2016)

One (of many) differences between indie rock and punk is generally the sense of humor as it relates to self-awareness. Considering that other reviews namedrop Built to Spill frequently in the RIYL section for Pinned in Place, it’s a nice touch to start the record with the song “Built to Chill.” It’s both self-referential and a sweet name that describes … Read more

Various Artists

Amirtha Kidambi, Elder Ones – Holy Science
Northern Spy (2016)

Amirtha Kidambi is an intriguing musician, an exploratory musics creator and a stellar singer. Having participated in a number of projects, including Mary Halvorson's Code Girl, Seven Teares and Tongues, with Elder Ones we see her for the first time acting as the band leader. Around her is an excellent cast, comprising of saxophonist Matt Nelson, bassist Brandon Lopez and … Read more

Toys That Kill

Sentimental Ward
Recess (2016)

It’s nice when your favorite bands surprise you. It took six years for Fambly 42), so I wasn’t ready for Sentimental Ward yet (though apparently it’s already been another four years). Fambly 42 acted like no time had passed and the same holds true here, on Toys That Kill’s fifth full-length release. The four-piece continues playing off kilter pop punk … Read more

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Skeleton Tree
Bad Seed LTD. (2016)

When it was announced that Nick Cave was releasing a new album Skeleton Tree to accompany the release of his documentary One More Time With Feeling, it felt decidedly unnatural for a couple of reasons – first and foremost, marketing tie-ins don’t really come to mind, when it comes to an artist like Cave. And two, it was all coming … Read more

Bobby Kapp & Matthew Shipp

Cactus
Northern Spy (2016)

Drummer Bobby Kapp and pianist Matthew Shipp are legends of free jazz. Improvisation is their arena, and through a series of albums they have proven unique musicians they both are. Strangely enough, the two have not crossed paths in the past when it comes to recoding, apart from Kapp's album Themes 4 Transmutation. In Cactus the two are thrown into … Read more

Sims

More Than Ever
Doomtree (2016)

Sims is something of a firebrand on his early work, spitting political vitriol and pointing fingers outward and in on records like Lights Out Paris and Bad Time Zoo. This time around, the Minneapolis rapper is looking even more inward on the new More Than Ever, a record that pushes expectation beyond the hard-hitting beats and spitfire lyricism with echo-y … Read more

40 Watt Sun

Wider than the Sky
Radiance Records (2016)

40 Watt Sun hold a special place in the hearts of those who have heard their music and been affected by the honesty within. 2011s The Inside Room was a stunning debut that still garners regular plays from this writer and Wider than the Sky will do the same in the years to come. Having been many years in the … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Courteeners

Mapping the Rendezvous
Ignition Records (2016)

Written in Paris while the city was still reeling in the aftermath of the November 2015 attacks, Mapping the Rendezvous is an album that brims with escapism and the irrepressible desire to live for the moment. Part of the the band's previous album, 2014's Concrete Love, was also written in the French capital but this time it was different: frontman … Read more

Dean Ween Group

The Deaner Record
ATO (2016)

I’ve never met Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo, the two-headed songwriting duo of Ween, but I have my own speculation about who contributes what based on their output in other projects. That guess is that Gener does the Pink Floyd styled space-prog-pop while Melchiondo, aka Dean Ween aka Deaner, brings on the grimy and oddball guitar rock.The Deaner Record only … Read more

Street Sects

End Position
Flenser (2016)

Austin, Texas duo achieve an unholy alliance of industrial music and punk rock in their debut album, End Position. In paper it feels that something like that would not work, and a failed attempt to produce something coherent would only end in hysterical laughter. Thankfully, this is far from the case here, and Leo Ashline and Shaun Ringsmuth unleash one … Read more

Jenny Hval

Blood Bitch
Sacred Bones (2016)

Jenny Hval has soared into the experimental scene since the release of Viscera, the first album under her own name. The quality of her work, and the scope of her vision continued to take form through a series of excellent records in Innocence is Kinky and Apocalypse, girl and is now reaching a peak with her newest album. Blood Bitch … Read more

Myrkur

Mausoleum
Relapse (2016)

The project of Amalie Bruun has stirred quite drastically the black metal scene, since the release of her debut, self-titled, EP in 2014. M, the first full-length of the project, came in 2015 and it displayed in glorious fashion the extent of Bruun's vision. Comparisons with early days Ulver are to be expected, with Myrkur's style fashioned around the more … Read more

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