Some friends of mine were lucky enough to witness Sigur Rós perform in Iceland last year and I’ve been meaning to ask them if the locals were singing along. Granted, some of the lyrics are sung in Jónsi’s own Hopelandic tongue, but I’m almost positive that the majority of sounds escaping his mouth are truly Icealandic. And...
Read More »
To say Oakland, California’s Neurosis have been influential in the modern metal space would be a gross understatement. In fact, I have learned more about Neurosis’ signature sound by reading comparisons in reviews of albums by other bands than I have by listening to their actual music. Starting out as a hardcore outfit in...
Read More »
The end of the year is usually pretty light on new releases, so I don’t have a lot to recommend right now. In fact, November was so sparse I’ve gone ahead and included albums from late last month as well. I realize this is being posted a little early, but I will be traveling...
Read More »
October turned out to be a HUGE month for new music. The return of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, a double album of original material from Neil Young & Crazy Horse, the debut from Kendrick Lamar…Death Grips bypassing their label with the graphic NO LOVE DEEP WEB, hardcore shit from Pig Destroyer, Enslaved and Converge…the return...
Read More »
September more than made up for August’s lack of color. Maybe there wasn’t anything as dense and mindblowing as The Seer, but I seriously doubt I could’ve handled another one of those anyway. What follows is a fitting goodnight to the long days of summer. And as much as I hate grouping these albums...
Read More »
As most of you are aware by now, I tend to become slightly long winded when it comes to reviewing shows that have impacted my life in a major way, so you might find some relief in the fact that I am at a complete loss for words when it comes to last night’s...
Read More »
Swans – The Seer (Young God, 2012) When I posted my recommended releases for August, I made the mistake of saying the Swans’ latest epic was not “extraordinary”. I was wrong. The Seer is nothing less than an absolute beast, with the density of the blackest of holes. The fact that I couldn’t come...
Read More »
August has been one of the most disappointing months of new music in recent memory. I literally had a hard time finding even one album I could recommend in good conscience. Sure, there was that comeback Redd Kross album, that 2 hour opus from Swans, that Ash Borer album, and that debut from Jessie...
Read More »
Most of July was spent in transit, so my tastes might be skewed towards albums that sound good turned up loud while flying down the freeway, but that’s not to say there wasn’t variety in my roadtrip soundtrack. The past month might have been heavy on metal, but it also saw exciting releases in...
Read More »
It was 997°F in the Baker neighborhood of Denver yesterday, which coincidentally made it just a few degrees cooler than it was in the Golden Triangle for the Westword Music Showcase a few weeks ago. You would have thought we’d have missed the worst of the heat by waiting until 5:00pm to show up,...
Read More »
The first half of June was spent working on the mid-year review, so there wasn’t quite as much time for new music. That being said, there are still quite a few recommendations from this month — a month dominated by metal and female vocalists, including one incredible metal album with a female vocalist. And...
Read More »
