Music Review XLR8R May 2009 Link 9.0 The term of the moment is “wonky,” but when it comes to Alexander Nut’s superb blend of urban beats, it’s all about soul, swing, and a distinctly contemporary kind of swagger. The mix starts off in the sunshine poolside, glowing under the warm rays exuded by tracks like […]
Music Review XLR8R July 2009 Link 7.5 Stephen Wilkinson’s latest Bibio disc blends together many of the disparate strands that now comprise Warp Records, so it’s fitting that he’d drop it on the label’s 20th anniversary. It’s even more impressive that his production sounds fresh despite fitting squarely within a style—dope beats, funky samples, warm […]
Music Review Pitchfork September 2009 Link 5.6 Getting called a virtuoso or mad scientist comes with some heavy baggage for a musician, so it says a lot about Tom Jenkinson, who records as Squarepusher, that he’s been repeatedly labeled as both. Getting tagged with these contradictory stereotypes– a classically trained workhorse mastering the canon versus […]
Music Review Pitchfork August 2009 Link 5.0 Modern life can be rubbish. Or so says Esser, an English electro-pop troubadour who sports a flattop that’s vintage mod (or exaggerated Jordan Knight). Despite a nonchalant delivery and mostly sunny melodies, he seems down. On opener “Leaving Town”, he says, “It feels like I’m drowning, so I […]
Music Review Pitchfork June 2009 Link 6.4 Franz Ferdinand singer Alex Kapranos’ vocals are often wry snapshots of hedonistic nights spent with mysterious, mercurial women. It’s an example, perhaps, of a globetrotting pop star singing about what he knows (his food writing doesn’t translate into three-minute singles quite as well). But the band isn’t nearly […]
Music Review Pitchfork May 2009 Link 6.1 “I’ve played every kind of gig there is to play now,” intones Sixto Rodriguez on the track “A Most Disgusting Song”. “I’ve played faggot bars, hooker bars, motorcycle funerals… in opera houses, concert halls, halfway houses.” Not sure where opening up for Animal Collective in Chicago this past […]
Music Review Pitchfork April 2009 Link 8.0 Despite all the superlatives lobbed at the Numero Group’s catalog, the descriptions that really stick often come from the reissue label’s own liner notes. Along with the warm patina of age emanating from re-mastered recordings and the cracked, yellowing photographs, these narratives are prime examples of music anthropology, […]
Music Review Spin March 2009 3.5 out of 5 Link On the latest analog indie-pop gem from singer-guitarist Jason Quever, it’s as if the sun is always cutting through an early-morning mist. Or reflecting through stained glass, since Quever is so fixated on mortality and gazing skyward. Foregrounding vintage organ tones, You Can Have What […]
Music Review Remix January 2009 3.5 out of 5 Stars Link Franz Ferdinand hasn’t lost its propulsive pace on Tonight, but like the Greek hero alluded to on lead single “Ulysses,” the group is searching for something. There’s plenty of swagger out of the gate. The dark, slinky “Ulysses” boils over with crunchy synths. “No […]
Music Review Remix January 2009 3.5 out of 5 Stars Link Multifaceted musician Andrew Bird doesn’t let his big vocabulary—lyrically or musically—spoil his refined chamber pop. On Noble Beast, Bird incorporates tasteful flourishes into his polymath approach, sounding more breezy and stripped down than he did on Armchair Apocrypha. “Anonanimal” and “Effigy” open with crisp, […]