Album Reviews

CJ Boyd: Aerial Roots [Album Review]

Andy Fenstermaker
November 11, 2009May 8, 2023

Three songs totaling three-quarter hours. That’s a scenario you’d expect from masterful instrumental acts like Godspeed You! Black Emperor or early electronic geniuses like Klaus Schulze. In a way, on Aerial Roots CJ Boyd channels both artists. He has the instrumental aspects of the former and the minimalist drone of the later. “Everytime I Don The Ski Mask” mixes various loops and, for the most part, maintains a delicate balance between complex minimalism and meditative consistency. Aerial Roots is an expansive aural state of being on par with the metaphysical experience.

Andy Fenstermaker
November 10, 2009November 10, 2009

Universal Indians was an album that bathed in obscurity. After all, opening track “Freedom Ritual” was a blissful track in… Read More »Dark Meat: Truce Opium [Album Review]

Hyperstory: Hyperstory [Album Review]

Ron Trembath
November 9, 2009March 27, 2022

Hyperstory‘s self titled debut album is something that hasn’t been heard in a good while – a bit of mystery. A strange sense of funk soul inspiration over songwriting stamina is ever present and ever-ready throughout this album. The drawing of so many musical backgrounds is a key factor in the purity and brilliance in this album.

Andy Fenstermaker
November 6, 2009November 5, 2009

Experimental pop and electro-pop meet in Beat Radio‘s Safe Inside The Sound. Opening track “Follow You Around” surfaces somewhere around eerie folk artist Okay, but with fuller instrumentation, less heartache, and a bit more experimentation. It’s a valid beginning, leading straight into the album’s highlight, “Sleepwalking”. Heavy with guitar-meets-synth instrumentation, the album continues is a much more pop-oriented fashion. There’s nothing masked or hidden here, it’s all upstanding, on-the-sleeve pop greatness. Read More »Beat Radio: Safe Inside The Sound [Album Review]

Alan Semerdjian: The Big Beauty [Album Review]

Ron Trembath
November 5, 2009November 4, 2009

Have you ever wondered what Joe Walsh would have sounded like if he came out in 2005? Or if he was actually any good at any time? Well, wonder no more! Alan Semerdijan and his sophomore release The Big Beauty has brought to light an accessible and bouncy pop/rock album so many artists have attempted to do in the past. But, this guy got it right. With a collection of heartfelt lyrics and a spectacular set of vocals, this is exactly the sort of singer/songwriter we need right now. Read More »Alan Semerdjian: The Big Beauty [Album Review]

Fieldhead: They Shook Hands For Hours [Album Review]

Ron Trembath
November 4, 2009November 3, 2009

Fieldhead‘s They Shook Hands For Hours is that midnight hour electronica album anyone can enjoy. It is a true aural ambiance filled experience. As well as a digitalized scratch to the face. P. Elam (of The Declining Winter notoriety) has successfully broken out on his own with this fine first full-length solo release. At times it is very easy to criticize the instrumental electronica artist (a.k.a. laptop jockeys) for lack of vocals, but this album can easily rid these stereotypes by basically being plain directive and superior to others. Read More »Fieldhead: They Shook Hands For Hours [Album Review]

Capybara: Try Brother [Album Review]

Andy Fenstermaker
November 3, 2009November 2, 2009

Like any genre, folk has artists that are true to the origins of its particular style of music. And, like any genre, it has artists that push the boundaries. Capybara is of the latter classification. Try Brother sees the group expanding into new arenas, mashing pop and freak-folk, and sure, let’s throw in a splash of psychedelic as well. That being said, Capybara’s relation to folk is one that can be listed as partial – it is and it isn’t. It is the root, but there’s much more behind Try Brother to limit it to merely folk. Read More »Capybara: Try Brother [Album Review]

Alan Cohen Experience: Eat The Peace [Album Review]

Ron Trembath
November 3, 2009October 30, 2009

There isn’t much you could say about a group like Alan Cohen Experience that wouldn’t be bloody obvious after a quick listen to Alan and his orchestra’s latest experiment, Eat The Peace. This is piano-laced and hippie-friendly southern driven rock and roll that also parallels Phish at their happiest moments. It’s happy-go-lucky storytelling about every free-loving individualist’s favorite subjects: peace, love, train rides, and truck drivers. The lava lamp torch should instantly be passed down to Mr. Cohen. Read More »Alan Cohen Experience: Eat The Peace [Album Review]

Forcefield Kids: Harmony & Discord [Album Review]

Ron Trembath
November 2, 2009October 30, 2009

A typical hip hop team might save two EP’s worth of material for one big exploitative piece. But, The Forcefield Kids are far from typical. They have an agenda and they stick to it. That is why their second EP, this year, Harmony & Discord was absolutely necessary. It is obviously too dark to fit the agenda of their prior release, Home. But, Newcastle’s finest duo have not lost their ability to drop flows with a shock and awe mentality. Read More »Forcefield Kids: Harmony & Discord [Album Review]

Thom Yorke: Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses [12″ Single Review]

Andy Fenstermaker
October 30, 2009November 15, 2009

The Man can do no wrong. Capital M: He deserves it. Thom Yorke‘s latest project finds him slipping further into… Read More »Thom Yorke: Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses [12″ Single Review]

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