Sleater-Kinney The Hot Rock Kill Rock Stars By: Eric Greenwood The Hot Rock is an abrupt departure from the angular assault of Sleater-Kinney’s last offering, Dig Me Out. The guitars are quieter and more intricate yet they retain a sense of urgency that is the common denominator in all of Sleater-Kinney’s music. Lead vocalist Corin […]

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The Magnetic Fields 69 Love Songs (Volume 2) Merge By: Eric Greenwood 69 Love Songs is a literal title with blatant innuendo, but amidst Merritt’s masterwork are a few songs that seem forced and self-indulgent, which is easily overlooked when you compare the hits versus the misses ratio on an effort this colossal. It’s almost […]

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Guyana Punch Line Maximum Smashism Prank By: Eric G. This is no ordinary punk rock: Guyana Punch Line is just as much concept as content, using blatant, in your face hard core as a platform for its biting social commentary. The band slays with an abrasive onslaught of melodic guitars that transform into a brutal […]

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Dallas S/t High Park Records By: Eric G. Dallas is a quintet from Estonia, and its debut album is an elegantly brilliant blend of jangly sixties pop, Stereolab, The Cardigans, and early nineties shoegazing. The songs are all tightly woven with swirling melodies and ace hooks with a healthy dose of noise. Vocalist Kristi Kindel […]

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Barry Adamson The Murky World Of Barry Adamson Mute By: Eric G. Barry Adamson has some heavy-duty props under his belt. He played bass for Manchester’s influential Magazine for four years before a brief stint with The Birthday Party, which led to his being a founding member of Nick Cave’s Bad Seeds. He left the […]

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Westbam We’ll Never Stop Living This Way Mute By: Eric Greenwood Mute was bound to hit a dud after releasing so many ace records in a row, and Westbam is it. Germans are much better at experimentalism than they are at techno as evidenced by this pile of utter tripe. Westbam is the German equivalent […]

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Si-{cut}.db Rate Of Living Sprawl Imprint By: Eric Greenwood This is Britain’s Douglas Benford’s third release under the Si-{Cut}.db moniker, and it is stylish, high caliber headphone music. Disparate beats shake the foundation of simple, congruent melodies throughout this record. “Stop London Sinking” fits this scenario perfectly with steel-drum sounding keyboards twinkling happy little melodies […]

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