Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is the movie that my friends and I intended to see the night we ended up seeing The Descendants. I really like Gary Oldman and when I hear that he was going to be in a film based on a John le Carre novel, I was ready to go opening day. Unfortunately, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was only playing in select theaters at that point (i.e. nowhere near the cultural node that is Albany, NY). It was released locally a few weeks later during my busiest work season and so I figured that I would have to wait until it came out on Netflix or DVD before I’d get a chance to see it. Luckily, a local theater, The Spectrum, plays movies worth seeing after the major box offices have kicked them to the curb. Continue reading
Los Campesinos! – Hello Sadness
27 NovI decided to give Los Campesinos! another shot despite the fact that their 2010 release, Romance is Boring, was a total snooze-fest. This year’s Hello Sadness, though listenable and a step back in the right direction stylistically, still falls short.
I first heard of Los Campesinos! from a friend in 2008 right after the release of Hold On Now, Youngster… That album’s unrelenting pop energy was instantly inviting and pleasantly overwhelming. Continue reading
M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
6 NovHurry Up, We’re Dreaming turned out to be one of the more pleasant surprises of 2011. Anthony Gonzales remarked some months before the release that it was going to be epic. He wasn’t too far off. It’s a neon glitter bomb.
It has all of what made M83’s prior albums great, and despite being a double album, the listener comes away feeling as though some of the fat has been trimmed. Few songs exceed five minutes and those that do are very listenable unlike some of the sparse, sprawling bon voyages on Continue reading
The Auteurs – New Wave
29 SepNew Wave by The Auteurs (1993)
This debut album has a slew of great tracks. The Auteurs, unlike Oasis and Blur, find themselves amongst a number of other Britpop bands that never made a [big] name for themselves in the US: namely Suede, Pulp and Denim. (I feel like I need to start a Britpop band named “Flannel”…who’s with me?) The Auteurs’ sound, Continue reading
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Before Today
19 SepBefore Today by Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti (2010)
I was introduced to Ariel Pink’s Worn Copy and The Doldrums in college by my glorious roommate, Robakabob. Before Today isn’t a complete departure from the Ariel Pink that I knew and loved [parts of], but it is certainly a more focused and market-saavy approach. It is technically Pink’s 10th album. His albums prior to Before Today were often sprawling, lacked consistency and were even unlistenable at times—not unlike his mentor Continue reading
The Olivia Tremor Control – Music From the Unrealized Film Script, Dusk at Cubist Castle
11 SepMusic From the Unrealized Film Script, Dusk at Cubist Castle by The Olivia Tremor Control (1996)
The Olivia Tremor Control’s first album, Dusk at Cubist Castle, is a psych pop tour de force. It is supposed to be the soundtrack for an unreleased film about two girls, Olivia and Jacqueline, and an apocalyptic quake in California. The album offers a wide range of genre exploration: neopsychadelia, indie rock, lo-fi, folk, Krautrock, surf rock and noise. The first time I listened to it, I expected Continue reading
The dB’s – Stands for Decibels
4 SepStands for Decibels by The dB’s (1981)
This debut album is experimental and mercilessly catchy. Chris Stamey (formerly of The Sneakers) and Peter Holsapple take a creative approach to the blossoming genre of power pop. Stamey’s post-punk/psychedelic leanings and love of playing with sound(s) are reined in by Holsapple’s more conventional, simple songwriting that is at the same time completely infectious.
The album starts off with a powerful Continue reading
My Bloody Valentine – Isn’t Anything
31 AugIsn’t Anything by My Bloody Valentine (1988)
This album, although frequently overlooked as the less attractive older sister to 1991’s Loveless, is an impressive and well-balanced introduction to shoegaze in its infancy. It is a near-perfect marriage of terror and warmth.
The wonderful, wandering bass-line in “Soft as Snow (But Warm Inside)” immediately draws the listener in. Continue reading
Beat Happening – You Turn Me On
28 AugYou Turn Me On by Beat Happening (1992)
I figured I would start the music reviews with a bang (a bang of an album that is…hopefully the review is passable).
You Turn Me On is one of my favorite albums by Beat Happening, one of my favorite artists. It is Beat Happening’s fifth and final album. It is also a sonic departure from Beat Happenings earlier repertoire of two-minute, lo-fi, twee-ful pop diddies. In fact, there isn’t a song under three minutes on the album. Continue reading








