Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s debut full-length surprised me in some places, but underwhelmed in others. I love how effortlessly these guys pull together a fun and bouncy salute to the world of 60s rock and pop. It sounds as fresh as it does retro. Where this album really ended up
Though Blackenedwhite isn’t perfect, it’s definitely a likeable release from this OFWGKTA-affiliated duo. With Hodgy Beats on the mic and Left Brain building the beats, the tracks here offer up a series of fantasy raps about girls, weed, and guns. This is by no means an mind-blower of
Little Dragon’s third album comes after a move toward accessibility on 2009’s machine dreams, but doesn’t go further down that path. Making things simpler to gain a wider audience just seems like something a band in Little Dragons’ shoes would do, though. They’ve had plenty of
If the rock history books stay accurate, Brooklyn’s They Might Be Giants will go down as being one of the most idiosyncratic bands of all-time–even if that idiosyncrasy seems to wane a little bit on Join Us. This record isn’t completely devoid of fun or flavor. The
From the forthcoming M83 album, Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, the track “Midnight City” is a super-sized pop song with synthetic mountains majesty. It’s structured simply, but that doesn’t stop the sounds and energy on this thing from becoming overwhelming. So overwhelming, that dancing must occur. Dance. Please.
On the second track to drop from this collaboration between Kanye West and Jay-Z, we get an Otis Redding sample, an answer as to who invented swag, and a whole lotta hot air. Sure, Kanye West and Jay-Z are notorious for their bragging skills. But when they’re together, those
For a duo, JEFF the Brotherhood has an incredibly full and distorted sound. There’s a lot of kinetic energy flying between these two Nashville musicians on this new recording, We Are the Champions. And if these guys are champions as anything, it’s bringing back the vocals and melodic
Alaska’s Portugal. The Man made its Atlantic Records debut with this new album, In the Mountain In the Cloud. And because I didn’t really like the band’s past two albums, I’m surprised to see the music moving in a direction I like a lot more this
On Toxic Holocaust’s fourth album, the Portland band takes a leaner approach to its grimy fusion of punk and thrash metal, lowering the black metal influences that were once prominent on the band’s earlier releases. While there’s not a lot of variety to be had on this
On its latest album, Zombi throws guitars and bass to the wayside, and brings the focus back to the duo’s foundation: drums and synths. It might just be the direction longtime fans wanted after the extremely rock-oriented Spirit Animal. WATCH THE REVIEW
