Maudlin Of The Well
Bath (Re-Issue)
Antithetic (2012)
I think I can tell you the exact moment my perception of music changed. It was a complete Gestalt switch, an utter reconception of the possibilities that lay open to the artists I enjoyed so much. Several artists had widened my view and primed me for this change--hearing the pulverizing waves of Isis, the mathematical crunches of Meshuggah, the vast … Read more
Maudlin Of The Well
Leaving Your Body Map (Re-Issue)
Antithetic (2012)
(This excessive treatise is continued from my review of Bath)You can already tell the second album is going to be different from how it opens. Completely abandoning the soft, melodic introduction, "Stones of October's Sobbing" instead begins with an almost dissonant combination of winds and acoustic guitar which begins to build into a massive doom-laden epic, the various brass instruments … Read more
Maur
Elegy
Independent (2014)
Running nearly twenty minutes in length and featuring two tracks, 2014’s Elegy is the second demo from Indonesian five-piece Maur. I’d classify this band as sounding somewhat similar to stoner metal, particularly on Elegy’s fourteen minute title track which unleashes crisp guitar work played at a deliberate, relaxed tempo. There are moments when the instrumental parts didn’t quite match up to the rhythm, … Read more
Mauser
End Of The Line
Vinyl Rites (2011)
While eventually churning out some less than desirable material late in their career, there is no arguing the impact early Discharge made in both the punk and metal scenes—going so far as to create their own sub-genre in the process. D-beat, as it is aptly titled, signifies thick, lumbering guitars matched with an intensely repetitive drum beat, and shouted vocals, … Read more
Max Brzezinski
Vinyl Age: A Guide to Record Collecting Now
Hachette Publishing (2020)
Carolina Soul Records should ring a bell with anyone seriously into collecting vinyl as it is one the largest record sellers both in the third dimension as well as online along with having cultivated its own radio show and a far reaching social media presence.Vinyl Age sheds light on how the record collecting game has changed since the advent of … Read more
Max Richter
Three Worlds: Music From Woolf Works
Deutsche Grammophon (2017)
Neo-classical music and minimalistic explorations always had a point of convergence. Minimal electronic applications found their way into classical orchestrations, expanding the sound of the orchestra, as well as the emotional scope of the composer. Max Richter is a proud example of this tradition, a composer who has learned as much from Philip Glass and Steve Reich, as he has … Read more
Maximum Penalty
Demo '89 & East Side Story EP
I Scream (2006)
By the end of the 1980's New York City youth-crew was in its final days and tougher, fatter, metal-laced hardcore bands were ruling the Sunday Matinee shows at CBGB's in the Bowery. Somewhere in the thick of long hairs, skinheads, and horrible tattoos were East Side's Maximum Penalty. Maximum Penalty releases a demo and one EP and for some reason … Read more
Mayflower
Second Best Sunsets
Kiss of Death (2010)
After a brief intro track (what's the point of intros, anyway?), Mayflower kicks things off with the energetic "I Never ", an Off With Their Heads influenced gruff punk song with group choruses and a memorable hook. It's a fitting start to Second Best Sunsets, setting the tone of cynicism contrasted with bouncy, hold-your-beer-in-the-air sing-a-longs. What separates Mayflower from other, … Read more
Mayhaw Hoons & the Outsiders
Lime Green
Good Cheer Records (2017)
When John Lennon went into the studio to record the vocals for "Twist and Shout" he had already taken multiple throat lozenges and even gargled some milk to combat the sore throat he was suffering from at the time. The recording, a throat-shredding, rough-edged track that sounded unlike any of the band's other songs, left Lennon's throat feeling like sandpaper … Read more
Mayhem
Ordo Ad Chao
Season of Mist (2007)
Black Metal: (n) a subgenre of heavy metal music that uses screamed Satanic lyrics, fast guitar playing and drumming, and heavily distorted music with a focus on satanic imagery and occult themes. For some, the above definition is redundant. Some of you reading this review are already familiar with Mayhem and their, shall we say, tumultuous history. For the rest, … Read more
McLusky
Difference Between Me and You is That I'm Not on Fire
Too Pure (2004)
Super producer of such illustrious bands as McLusky, Nirvana, and Bush, (SERIOUSLY STEVE WTF?) Steve Albini recently said that McLusky is the best band working in England right now. Yeah, that may be his characteristic bravado and showmanship, but it also may be pretty close to the truth. On their third full length, The Difference Between Me and You is … Read more
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
Go Down Under
Fat Wreck Chords (2011)
Well they’re back with a vengeance, the punk supergroup coverband known as Me First and the Gimme Gimmes with the release of their eighth album the Australian tinged EP entitled – Go Down Under. For a band that started out as a side project for fun these guys have worked up a great formula. Take the cheesy pop songs and … Read more
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
Have Another Ball
Fat Wreck Chords (2008)
We've all been to parties where there's always one guy. One drunk asshole to pooch the proceedings. Either he's slobbering all over you, back slaps and all regaling everyone with tales of how much he loves you, or giving you the drunken skunk-eye from across the room quietly seething and simmering in his jack n' coke with hatred for you … Read more
Mean Jeans
On Mars
Dirtnap (2012)
Whoa, is it 1994 again and someone didn't tell me? Much in the way Teenage Bottlerocket appropriated the early to mid-‘90s Lookout bands like Screeching Weasel and the Groovie Ghoulies, which were puréeing the Ramones, Beach Boys and macabre cinema, you can't really credit Portland, OR's Mean Jeans for bringing anything new to the pop punk landscape whatsoever. In fact, … Read more
Mean Season
The Memory and I Still Suffer in Love
Indecision (2005)
It must have been over a decade on since I picked up Grace, the debut and what would be the last full-length from California's Mean Season. Out here on the east coast, they have been discussed in low voices and hushed whispers almost as if the band was some well kept secret. You see, Mean Season were around when Unbroken … Read more
Meat Wave
Malign Hex
Swami (2022)
I heard people raving about Meat Wave for a while before I finally saw the band a few years ago. But I still hadn’t really checked out their recorded material and I wasn’t sure how the band’s powerful set would translate to the at-home experience. Many bands with a raw concert experience struggle to set that same tone to tape. … Read more
Medicine
Self, Shot Forth Living
Captured Tracks (2013)
“Sometimes it rains inside my head / All the words run dry…”She sang so sweetly up there on the big screen, and I had absolutely no idea at the time that what I was seeing in the movie theater at that minute was to become a weird love affair that has literally spanned virtually two decades, and I have loved … Read more
Medicine
The Buried Life
Captured Tracks (2013)
Give me a few minutes to simply gush about this album (I insist) because while I love the first album from Medicine (Self, Shot Forth Living), I find myself popping this delicious ear candy of a record on a tad bit more; The Buried Life is an excellent sophomore album that shows a definite growth for the band, and the re-issue that comes complete … Read more
