A Tribe Called Quest The Love Movement Jive By: Eric G. A Tribe Called Quest stormed the rap scene at the start of this decade with People’s Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm, an album that showed a level of sophistication on par with De La Soul’s 3 Feet High And Rising. The group’s […]

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Peter Jefferies Substatic Emperor Jones By: Eric G. Peter Jefferies has been on the fringe of New Zealand’s post-punk underground scene since fronting Nocturnal Projections almost eighteen years ago. He went on to form This Kind Of Punishment with his brother Graeme (The Cakekitchen), lacing his brother’s guitar work with haunting piano playing. Since then […]

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Love And Rockets Lift Red Ant By: Eric G. When Love And Rockets returned from a five year hiatus in 1994 with Hot Trip To Heaven the band’s music was barely recognizable. Electronic samples and atmospherics had replaced the trademark fuzzed-out guitars and Beatles-esque harmonies. It was a huge risk for a band that had […]

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Zeena Parkins No Way Back Atavistic By: Eric G. The eight pieces comprised on this album consist only of electric harp, sampler, and tapes all played by Zeena Parkins, who is a staple in New York City’s downtown art-scene of avant-garde jazz/noise/rock. She has over half a dozen solo albums and was a founding member […]

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20 Minute Loop S/t Self-released By: Eric G. The name and the Radiohead-esque packaging suggest an altogether different beast, but this quintet sounds more like Poi Dog Pondering than any droning UK space-rock. The band’s self-proclaimed “freak pop” is a strange amalgam of tight rhythms and ultra-quirky songwriting. The two main vocalists, Greg Giles and […]

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Melt Banana Charlie A-zap By: Eric G. Tokyo’s Melt Banana is an acquired taste. Frantic and frenetic barely describe the aural assault of this band. It’s not just a bunch of random noise either- at least not at the core. This music is extremely tight and perfectly executed. The stop/start dynamic is so overused that […]

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Lambchop What Another Man Spills Merge By: Eric G. Nashville, Tennessee's Lambchop looks like a two-dollar jug band live, but the sounds come together with a plaintive, nuanced cohesiveness that quickly snuffs out any thoughts that this is some thrown together party band. Lambchop has carefully avoided being dumped into the "no depression" movement by […]

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