El-P
I'll Sleep When You're Dead
Definitive Jux (2007)
Nas' latest release makes the claim that hip-hop is dead. If he paid attention to the underground, he'd know the genre is not only alive and well but with a pulse fresher than ever. Five years after the release of his first solo release, Fantastic Damage, El-P returns with I'll Sleep When You're Dead, an album proving why El's label … Read more
El-P & Killer Mike
Run The Jewels
Fools Gold (2013)
Run the Jewels could easily have been a victory parade after the momentous 2012 that Killer Mike and El-P had. Before declaring themselves an actual duo, the two artists were both lauded for albums that were released a week apart of one another. Killer Mike's R.a.p. Music, produced almost entirely by El-P, combined Producto's electronic palette with the slow draw … Read more
Electric Chair
Social Capital
Iron Lung (2021)
This is short, fast, loud; brutal, punishing stuff. Ripping straight into it with “Bastard,” the first verse is spit-shouted in a way that, to normal people who don’t listen to this kind of thing all the time, will literally sound like he’s saying “blah blah blah, fuck shit.” It’s damn fast, and damn angry.But speed and intense drumming isn’t enough … Read more
Electric Funeral
Total Funeral
Southern Lord (2014)
Total Funeral is the entire anthology-to-date of Electric Funeral, the one-man Swedish raw punk hobbyhorse manned by Jocke D-Takt. And holy crap is it ever unnecessary. We’re talking about 53 songs that, to the untrained ear, are nearly indistinguishable from one another. Southern Lord, as is their wont, reached into their deep-ish pockets to compile material from yet another act … Read more
Electric Horsemen
Electric Horsemen
Churchtown Deathbed (2006)
Somewhere - where I have no idea - the idea that traditional stoner-rock could get a huge kick in the ass by adding some of the successful elements of "hardcore" popped into some tattooed (probably grizzly) peoples' heads. I imagine the plethora of people who own the Hydra Head catalog also have a few Eyehategod and Sleep records, and vice … Read more
Electric Wizard
Time To Die
Spinefarm Records (2014)
Somewhere along the way (and it's hard to say when exactly), but somewhere along the way Electric Wizard became more than a band. They became an idea. They became an attitude. A state of mind. Words like "titans" and "legends" began to accompany the band any time they were mentioned in print or online. People who didn't before identify as … Read more
Eliot Borenstein
Pussy Riot – Speaking Punk to Power
Bloomsbury Academic (2020)
It would be appropriate to refer to Pussy Riot not only as revolutionary art collective, but a cultural phenomenon that has itself firmly established on international terrain. Having first risen to prominence via their anti-Putin protest performance in a cathedral in Moscow, there have been a myriad of misconceptions about the conglomerate.Speaking Punk to Power’s approach is informed by not … Read more
Elizabeth
Where Vultures Land
Throatruiner (2012)
Throatruiner Records have steadily increased their presence in the world of black/hardcore/completely mad music of late, and this little French label continually put out some of the most exciting and interesting sounds out there. The Phantom Carriage, Love Sex Machine, Clinging To The Trees Of A Forest Fire....each hold massive sound and that little something extra that gives Throatruiner that … Read more
Elliott
False Cathedrals
Revelation (2000)
There are those records out there where people can point to them as a turning point in their musical taste or a shift in their musical aesthetic and say that the record really changed how they viewed entire swathes of music or entire genres, and I will never forget the day that I bought False Cathedrals from Elliott in part … Read more
Elliott
Photorecording
Revelation (2005)
This is not a re-release. Photorecording is Elliott's last testament. Allow me to regress a few years. I had always dismissed them as overrated. US Songs was okay, but it just seemed like it was missing that little extra something. When False Cathedrals came out, I gave them another chance; it was their statement, an almost perfect 10 in my … Read more
Elliott
Song In the Air
Revelation (2003)
It's always sad to see a pioneer go. Especially when it feels like they have reached the peek of their game. This was the case for Elliott. Since their birth back in 1995, Elliott has cemented themselves as a trailblazer in the "emo" game. With every release, they set new standards on how the game should be played. Your first … Read more
Elliott Smith
An Introduction To...
Kill Rock Stars (2010)
It is hard to understand the purpose of a release like An Introduction to Elliott Smith. Should it be seen as a retrospective look at one of the more revered artists to come out of America in the nineties or a record label sanctioned attempt at creating the type of mix-tape people used to make pre-internet when you wanted to … Read more
Elliott Smith
New Moon
Kill Rock Stars (2007)
Elliott Smith's tragic death is seemingly unavoidable when talking about his music. It seems so interlinked with the subject matter of his songs that one must always connect the two; many of his lyrics seem to prophesize his untimely death, referencing his unhappiness and growing drug addiction, and it's this that seems to draw many people to Smith's music. In … Read more
Elphaba
Any Land But This
Rome Plow (2006)
Elphaba is a noisy band that at times is reminiscent of the sound of The Blood Brothers mixed with No Kill No Beep Beep-era Q and Not U. Upon first listen, their album, Any Land But This, is a very difficult record to digest. But, repeated listening showed the album to have several interesting qualities. "Long Decay Slow Delay" not … Read more
Eluvium
Copia
Temporary Residence (2007)
Music has a way of bringing out many emotions in the listener. Whether it is fun music in the summer while you are having a good time or the making of a mixtape for a girl that you are trying to impress, music plays a very important role in all of our lives. We all have that one album that … Read more
Eluvium
Talk Amongst the Trees
Temporary Residence (2005)
1:49 a.m. I'm tired. Not tired enough to pass out, but tired enough to browse the internet and listen to music. So I put on Eluvium's Talk Amongst the Trees. Perfect. The first song, "New Animals from the Air," whispers from my speakers. As if the effects of my Sleepy Time Tea weren't enough, I can feel my subconscious beckoning … Read more
Elvis Costello
Momofuku
Lost Highway (2008)
It can be kind of intimidating to just jump into the oeuvre of an artist like Elvis Costello. It's like playing Pin the Tail on the Donkey, but the wonderful old donkey has magic powers that let him move from one decade to the next - he's hard to get a handle on. Honestly, record reviews don't always help that … Read more
Elvis Costello
North
Deutsche Grammophon (2003)
By now, if you haven't heard or at least heard of Elvis Costello, something is terribly, terribly wrong with you. Emerging as a part of the punk movement in the late 70s, Costello's combination of biting wit, sociopolitical consciousness, and his amazing songwriting has led to him being heralded by many as the best pop songwriter since the Beatles. The … Read more
