Tag Archives: 2010
New Album Review: Caribou – Swim (City Slang/Merge, 2010)
I can’t ever accuse Dan Snaith of making the same album twice. Swim, his latest album under the Caribou alias, definitely has elements of his past works, most notably his flirtations with rather obscure or esoteric genres (Krautrock, shoegazing, 60s sunshine pop, and, on this album, minimal dance beats), but Swim isn’t a retread of [...]
Jonsi – Go (XL, 2010)
The first notes of “Go Do,” the hyperactive leading track off of Sigur Ros vocalist Jonsi’s newest solo album, entitled Go, were bewildering to say the least. I must say that it was weird to hear him sing in English, something he claimed he would never do at least in Sigur Ros, and that the [...]
New Album Review: Dum Dum Girls – I Will Be (Sub Pop, 2010)
Ah, yes. Another C-86 influenced garage punk band. This style really seems to be in vogue lately, don’t you think? I mean, with bands like the Vivian Girls and Crystal Stilts coming to indie recognition in the past couple of years (and drummer Frankie Rose has, coincidentally enough, been in all 3 of these bands [...]
Fang Island – s/t (Sargent House, 2010)
I’m not sure what I should take away from Fang Island’s self-titled second album. It’s a shapeshifting record, which is evident from the first two tracks, “Dreams of Dreams” and “Careful Crossers” (the former segues into the latter). It sounds like a hybrid of Queen’s vocal harmonies (and occasional Brian May-isms on the triple-guitar attack), [...]
Mixtape: 10 Songs for a Pre-Spring Afternoon Drive (Part One)
Typically, the first days of March in New England fuck with you. You get a feeling that the frigid, everlasting winter is over, and you are pleasantly taunted with a few very very nice days in which the temperatures flirt with 60 degrees. This lasts for maybe 2 or 3 days before winter’s ugly head [...]
Review: Joanna Newsom – Have One On Me (Drag City, 2010)
For an agonizing month, I have waited for this album. On Friday, February 18, it was finally leaked onto the internet, and I went after it like a pack of dogs on a T-bone (I consider myself a professional music critic now, so shut up! And I pre-ordered it on vinyl, so suck on that, [...]