MetroPulse Stories: Music Reviews

Uncle Acid and Ghost B.C. Try to Stay Mysterious in the Information Age

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 08 May 2013 13:55:00 -0000

Sometimes the best publicity is no publicity at all. When the British band Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats released its second album, Blood Lust, in 2011, the group was shrouded in mystery—no interviews, no photos, no concerts, no names, even. But the finely spun web of secrecy that had surrounded the band started to come apart in the months leading up to the release, in April, of Mind Control, also on Rise Above and Metal Blade.

French Alt-Rock Stars Phoenix Rise Again With 'Bankrupt!'

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:40:00 -0000

Bankrupt! (Glassnote) is a logical extension of their trademark style, playing like the woozy hangover after Wolfgang’s decadent night out.

Ashley Monroe and the Mavericks Take Advantage of Second Chances

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 14:49:00 -0000

Ashley Monroe's new album, Like a Rose (Warner Bros. Nashville), released earlier this month, is even more deeply indebted to hardcore country traditions than the Pistol Annies' Hell on Heels, and while it seems likely to earn Monroe respect from outside mainstream Nashville, much of it simply feels too traditional—and maybe even too daring—for country radio.

Will Oldham and Dawn McCarthy Present an Unfamiliar Side of the Everly Brothers on 'What the Brothers Sang'

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 14:42:00 -0000

It makes a funny sort of sense that singer/songwriter Will Oldham would be an Everly Brothers fan.

British Pop Weirdo Jamie Lidell Channels George Clinton on New Self-Titled Album

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 15:20:00 -0000

Part of what’s always made Jamie Lidell so compelling is that he’s so difficult to pigeonhole.

A New Box Set Could Turn Casual Reggae Fans Into Obsessives

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 16:02:00 -0000

Reggae Golden Jubilee: Origins of Jamaican Music is not necessarily the best compilation of Jamaican music available, or the best introduction for newcomers. But it is just the thing for casual fans who want to step up to a more serious understanding of ska, rocksteady, dancehall, and all the other genres associated with the island.

The Best Music of 2012

Wed, 26 Dec 2012 22:00:00 -0000

The best CDs, mixtapes, and downloads of the year.

New Box Set Highlights the Horror Soundtracks of Italian Weirdos Goblin

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 14:47:00 -0000

The Awakening makes a solid case for Goblin as one of the most important independent film-music forces of the late 20th century, alongside Ennio Morricone, Carpenter, and Popol Vuh.

30th Century Man: Scott Walker’s Second Act Continues With 'Bish Bosch'

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 15:00:00 -0000

Bish Bosch is a meticulous, intelligent, and generally stupefying addition to what has already been one of the most remarkable second acts in pop-music history

Brian Eno's Returns to Ambient Music With 'Lux'

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 15:12:00 -0000

Ever since his earliest years, adding his spacey synth treatments to Roxy Music’s polarizing art rock, Eno’s been a musical provocateur, pushing listeners to question traditions and extend the boundaries of what constitutes pop music. But in 2012, Eno’s influence on mainstream culture has never been more massive.

Bat for Lashes' Kate Bush Obsession Provides Diminishing Returns on 'The Haunted Man'

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 14:05:00 -0000

On her third album as Bat for Lashes, The Haunted Man, Natasha Khan takes her Kate Bush obsession to new extremes with diminishing returns, channeling her fairy godmother’s brooding soundscapes and ’80s-style production but little of her sensual melodic catharsis.

Dave Douglas Turns His Trumpet to the Hymnal on 'Be Still'

barrettc@metropulse.com (Chris Barrett) — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 14:20:00 -0000

The restless trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Dave Douglas does not make music for lazy listeners. Since 1993, Douglas has released around three dozen recordings under his own name, and has appeared on many more than that as a sideman. About the only thing all of that music has in common is Douglas’ apparent determination to never play the same thing twice.

Animal Collective Throws in the Kitchen Sink on the Experimental 'Centipede Hz'

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 16:47:00 -0000

Animal Collective embraces messiness and abrasion on its ninth studio album: playing live instruments together in a room for the first time in nearly a decade, downplaying feathery loops and pillowy textures in favor raw muscle and eardrum-busting mayhem.

Lost and Found: You Can't Go Wrong With Can's New Leftovers Collection

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 14:36:00 -0000

Can's new three-disc set, The Lost Tapes, includes previously unreleased material recorded between 1969 and 1978 and traces the band’s gradual development from eggheaded garage band to prog-reggae experimentalists and, finally, a proto-ambient ensemble.

Technical Ecstasy: What Counts as Brutal in 2012?

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 15:24:00 -0000

What used to come off as a nearly unimaginable extremity—the sort of forbidding musical brutality that Dying Fetus has made its specialty—now can seem almost quaint.

Liars Continue Their Unpredictable Career Path With the Digital-Pop Surprise 'WIXIW'

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 21:39:00 -0000

In 2012, pop radio sounds like an airbrushed, Auto-Tuned wasteland, and nobody in their right mind knows what the hell “alt-rock” means anymore. But a number of Pitchfork-approved, taste-making experimentalists have emerged in the past decade—chief among them Brooklyn trio Liars, who have based their entire career thus far on being totally unpredictable.

Johnny Lydon Finds New Perspectives on the First Public Image Ltd Album in 20 Years

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 15:50:00 -0000

Lydon was perhaps the greatest angry young man ever, twisting with cynicism and contempt, raging against the machine. But at 56, he’s long past his angry-young-man years, and repositions his shtick effectively as a babbling old man.

Sacramento Trio Death Grips Goes Mainstream (Sort of) With 'The Money Store'

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 30 May 2012 15:02:00 -0000

Both Exmilitary and The Money Store have offered reviewers a seemingly unlimited supply of influences and reference points to chart, analyze, and argue about: noise rock, Public Enemy, industrial dance, dubstep, Suicidal Tendencies, Gang Gang Dance, Def Jux, Dalek, even Gary Numan and the Human League.

Christian Mistress and High on Fire Reclaim the No-B.S. Spirit of Classic Heavy Metal

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 14:54:00 -0000

On its sixth album, High on Fire further entrenches its position as the American version of Motörhead, not least because singer/guitarist Matt Pike sounds more than ever like Motörhead main man Lemmy Kilmister. (And also because the initial response to the new disc, like the response to every Motörhead album since Orgasmatron, has been, “It’s great, but do I really need another High on Fire album?” Of course you do.)

Nite Jewel Escapes the Genre Ghettos of Electronic Music With 'One Second of Love'

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 13:56:00 -0000

On One Second of Love, her third full-length and first on Secretly Canadian, Ramona Gonzalez has finally secured an appropriately widescreen sound to match her biggest, funkiest, darkest, most eclectic ideas.