CONOR OBERST SHOWS MATURITY ON “UPSIDE DOWN MOUNTAIN”
By Max McKeon Boy genius. The next Bob Dylan. Conor Oberst has dealt with these claims head-on in his lengthy career, and rightfully so. Since performing and recording at the ripe age of 13, Oberst h...
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BLACK KEYS CHANGE DIRECTION WITH TRANSITIONAL ALBUM
By Max McKeon Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney are at the cross roads. The two core members of the Black Keys have developed a defining sound that listeners instantly recognize. Stumbling out of the...
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HOWLIN’ RAIN CONJURES ’70s ROCK HEROES ON LIVE ALBUM
By Michael Lello What if your classic rock station started playing new songs one day? Raw, bluesy, ballsy stuff in the tradition of Led Zeppelin, Free and Mountain? Well, don’t hold your breath. B...
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TUNE-YARDS TACKLES THE ODDITIES OF EXISTENCE
By Emily Votaw Merrill Garbus has made a lot of odd records that somehow manage to mesh the ever-important aspects of catchiness and playful weirdness into something that is incredibly gratifying and...
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GHOST OF A SABER TOOTH TIGER’S FLOYDIAN FREAKOUTS
By Michael Lello Psychedelic rock comes in many forms, from heavy freakouts to out-there folk and everything in between. The Ghost Of A Saber Tooth Tiger on its new album “Midnight Sun” traffics in ...
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ANIMAL COLLECTIVE’S AVEY TARE DELIVERS MEMORABLE ALBUM
By Emily Votaw In late 2012, Animal Collective satiated eager fans with “Centipede HZ,” the follow up to 2009’s “Merriweather Post Pavilion,” an album that had received overwhelmingly positive review...
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SIMONE FELICE’S UNINTENDED FOLK PARODY
By Emily Votaw The bombastic, bloated folk rock genre that preys on miseducated high schoolers and middle-aged women is powerful. Mumford & Sons aren’t rock ’n’ roll, and they obviously aren’t t...
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SIGMAN DOESN’T DELIVER ON PROMISE WITH “VIRGINIA EP”
By Emily Votaw It’s hard to decipher whatever intention Jacob Sigman had throughout the process of writing and recording his five-track “Virginia EP,” released in December. Did he want to write a co...
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THE HOLD STEADY DELIVERS ANOTHER KNOCKOUT PUNCH
By Michael Lello There was never any question about the quality of The Hold Steady’s swaggering brand of beer commercial guitar riffs and barstool sermons. But it never seemed like an aesthetic that...
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FUTURE ISLANDS TAKES ON BREAKUP DRAMA — AGAIN
By Emily Votaw In the post-post-post punk world where the Future Islands discography exists – where romanticism runs wild and every heartbreak is the most meaningful one and synths have the power to ...
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