Pearl Jam – Gigaton

Pearl Jam – Gigaton

These days, the only time you ever hear the word 'grunge' in and around music is as part of the sentence 'grunge is dead.' That's not exactly true, but or is it a large-scale exaggeration. It's now more than twenty-five years since Nirvana's Kurt Cobain took his own...

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Full Body – Always There

Full Body – Always There

Waste not, want not. If one uses their provisions wisely they will never be in need. Rochester-based band Full Body apply those wise words to their musical prowess, and it resulted for them in a wide ranging new album, Always There. Following their much applauded...

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Ever Onward Debuts New EP

Ever Onward Debuts New EP

It’s not very often you hear post rock coming out of Western New York, let alone some serious musical landscapes that can take you on a journey from start to finish. Ever Onward,  the brainchild of Colin Berardini, readies for a big 2020 with the release of his three...

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The Flaming Lips –  King’s Mouth

The Flaming Lips – King’s Mouth

Two years have passed since Oklahoma's Flaming Lips last graced us with an album, with the last arriving in the shape of ‘Oczy Moldy.' Calling anything the Flaming Lips do ‘offbeat' at this point is a complete redundancy, but some of the criticism they received for...

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Hate Club –  A Clear Mistake

Hate Club – A Clear Mistake

Albany's Hate Club are keeping their torches lit. Their latest effort, A Clear Mistake, marks their fourth release in only two years. Besides highlighting their admirable work ethic, A Clear Mistake presents a conceptual recording of a difficult aspect of the human...

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SLUGS –  Cool World

SLUGS – Cool World

Los Angeles-based band SLUGS have released their second EP titled Cool World, and it may just be the perfect summer album. A refreshing take on the classic rock sound our parents taught us to love, Cool World demonstrates an appreciation for the origins of the genre,...

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Mammoth Grinder – Cosmic Crypt

Mammoth Grinder – Cosmic Crypt

It’s been five long, painfully quiet years, but Austin death metal trio, Mammoth Grinder, is back via Relapse Records with a new album, Cosmic Crypt, that will haunt your dreams. Since coalescing in 2006, Chris Ulsh (Power Trip, Impalers), Mark Bronzino (Iron Reagan)...

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Brat’ya –Desire

Brat’ya –Desire

2017 is almost history (thankfully) but former Buffalo-based electronica artist/producer Aleksander Ogadzhanov (aka Brat'ya) isn't done with us yet, with a sophomore album Desire that's beguilingly one of the most outstanding albums from an expat this year. A...

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Tart Vandelay –  Flow

Tart Vandelay – Flow

Rochester indie pop rock act Tart Vandelay have released their second EP. Aptly titled Flow, it is a jazzy and tranquil four song trip. Originally a duo, the now four-piece group is building off of their 2016 debut, which featured more of a loop-based pop inflection....

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Malarchuk – s/t

Malarchuk – s/t

Emerging from a dark cavern somewhere beneath the earth, one of the top groups in Buffalo's metal scene, Malarchuk have unleashed their new self titled EP. It's a winding journey that carries you through heavy riffs, some 70s prog rock goodness, and doom rock passages...

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Huns – Vom Fruhling

Huns – Vom Fruhling

The Buffalo trio Huns give you what you need and none of the filler with their eclectic brand of instrumental rock/metal. Finding your fix for instrumental music that strikes a balance between interesting and listenable can be a challenge. Sometimes, that sonic...

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Dirt War – Loss

Dirt War – Loss

Cascading down from some place on high comes falling to earth, hardcore doom rockers Dirt War with  their newly released EP, Loss. Formed from the missing and severed limbs of various Buffalo groups, it's possible you haven't heard Dirt War yet. Their last recording...

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Zan Strumfeld – Book of Belonging

Zan Strumfeld – Book of Belonging

It has been a bit a journey for singer-songwriter Zan Strumfeld to get to her latest release. The new effort, Book of Belonging, was written after the dissolving of a long term relationship this past winter. The Troy-based artist had been on a hiatus from music since...

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Pink Elephant – Around Your Neck

Pink Elephant – Around Your Neck

Rochester garage/noise-rock outfit, Pink Elephant are hot off their recently released single, and have dropped a new LP, Around Your Neck on 20 Blood Records. The four piece consists of Eric Witkowski on vocals and guitar, Greg Wilcox rocking the bass, Jeff Thompson...

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Iron & Wine – Beast Epic

Iron & Wine – Beast Epic

On his sixth studio album, Sam Beam feels like he’s come full circle. When he first started out, Iron & Wine was a solo acoustic vehicle, defined by his DIY lo-fi home recordings. With each subsequent release, his sound evolved and his band expanded, all the while...

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Bare Mattress – Some Great Magnet Pulls

Bare Mattress – Some Great Magnet Pulls

Albany bedroom electronica act Bare Mattress dropped a tasteful EP of low key jams at the end of last month by the name of Some Great Magnet Pulls, and it's irresistible vaguely vaporwave sonic textures and pulsating basslines will be ideal for your late night and or...

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Slow Dancer – In A Mood

Slow Dancer – In A Mood

"Less is more.” It may be one of those little things you've heard flutter by you, said on a commercial or by a wise elderly neighbor. So, in trying to be on the lookout for new and exciting music, the idea of “less is more” is sometimes not a criteria that's really...

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Amber Arcades – Cannonball EP

Amber Arcades – Cannonball EP

Two days may not seem like a lot of time to cut an EP, but Dutch artist Amber Arcades (aka Annelotte de Graaf) finished the Cannonball EP during her time off in New York from touring supporting Nada Surf. The EP follows the release of de Graaf’s debut album Fading...

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Hate Club – No, seriously

Hate Club – No, seriously

Hate Club is an Albany based band that exhibits all of the raucous and raw energy you'd want to find in an indie pop/slacker group. On April 19, Hate Club released their debut EP titled, No, seriously. It's a refreshing 4 track outing that packs a punch. The 4 piece,...

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The Otherme – Blacksheep

The Otherme – Blacksheep

When The Otherme's (aka solo artist Aidan Licker) new album came floating into the buffaBLOG inbox, it brought us back to a simpler time... Namely, the mid to late aughts where emo acts were blossoming from basement show staples to full-blown rock stars. Blacksheep is...

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Conor Oberst –  Salutations

Conor Oberst – Salutations

Apparently, last year’s Ruminations was just an appetizer, as Conor Oberst is back with a new, fuller record (both in sound and length). The over-an-hour-long Salutations sees him shift from solo acoustic guitar/piano sparseness to rounded out, full band arrangements....

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Morbs – s/t

Morbs – s/t

Eric Ellman is a pretty busy guy in the current local scene. In the past six months he's pumped out two Green Slime releases and now with the help of his cohorts Emily Churco, Mike Herman and Rona Eliyahu, Ellman has revealed the self-titled debut for Morbs. The 10...

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Hurray for the Riff Raff – The Navigator

Hurray for the Riff Raff – The Navigator

For Americana singer-songwriter Alynda Lee Segarra, her career has been a ten-year cross-country journey. Now on her sixth studio album with her indie folk group Hurray for the Riff Raff, that journey has taken her to the upper tier of modern roots music. Titled The...

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Slowshine – s/t

Slowshine – s/t

Based out of Albany, shoegaze rockers Slowshine offer up a slick blend of new-wave elements and somber vocals, all with just the right amount of shoegaze haze on their recent self-titled release. Put out independently by the band on March 7th, the band is made up of...

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Jesca Hoop –  Memories Are Now

Jesca Hoop – Memories Are Now

Less than a year after the release of her duets album with Sam Beam, Jesca Hoop is back with an album of her own. Memories Are Now is the singer-songwriter’s fourth overall solo studio album, and solo debut for Sub Pop records. The new release is arguably her most...

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Henry’s Rifle –  Arkansas

Henry’s Rifle – Arkansas

Recording under the alter ego Henry’s Rifle, John Alfred’s music is rooted in backroom Americana and weathered country-blues. The Albany native singer-songwriter’s latest EP, titled Arkansas, is raw and completely stripped down, both in tone and subject matter. With...

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Sleater Kinney –  Live in Paris

Sleater Kinney – Live in Paris

With a career spanning over 20 years, Sleater-Kinney has left an indelible mark on modern alternative music. As pioneers of the riot grrrl movement, they helped usher in a new era of female powered rock that is edgy, raw and empowering. However, even after a long...

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Lambchop –  FLOTUS

Lambchop – FLOTUS

Lampchop is a unique band with a path like none other. They've taken on genre after genre throughout their journey - first traditional country, then post-rock, soul, lounge and so on. FLOTUS (For Love Often Turns Us Still) is their latest effort, and the only one that...

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Julie Byrne – Not Even Happiness

Julie Byrne – Not Even Happiness

There’s something about the songcraft of downstate-based singer-songwriter Julie Byrne that appeals to more than just the ears. Her music, at once spectral and tangible, whisks the listener to Byrne’s weightless place of soft melodies and personal experience. And it...

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Various Artists –  The Hamilton Mixtape

Various Artists – The Hamilton Mixtape

There’s no doubt that Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning Hamilton: An American Musical has been one of the biggest cultural events in recent memory. The musical and its songs have been able to permeate almost every corner of pop culture, both...

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Taking Meds –  My Life as a Bro

Taking Meds – My Life as a Bro

Pieces of punk, a pinch of indie, a bit of math rock, and bitter pathos get thrown together to form the sonic base for Rochester, NY four-piece, Taking Meds. Released November 4th via Broken World Media, the band's full-length debut record, My Life as a Bro is a sonic...

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Izzy True –  Nope

Izzy True – Nope

Ithaca, NY based indie-punk quartet, Izzy True blends an intoxicating cocktail of catchy, sweet melodies and emotive lyrics to form their debut full length record, Nope. Released in August on New Jersey punk label, Don Giovanni Records, Izzy True don't strain...

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Dave Monks –  All Signs Point to Yes

Dave Monks – All Signs Point to Yes

Dave Monks, better known as the long-haired frontman of Canada's own Tokyo Police Club, split from the others to record six really solid acoustic songs under the title All Signs Point to Yes. Each track is as touching as the next: Whether the tunes are about the...

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Jim James –  Eternally Even

Jim James – Eternally Even

The mystical lead-singer and principal songwriter of My Morning Jacket, Jim James, has released a new solo album. Titled Eternally Even, it follows his 2013 solo debut Regions of Light and Sound of God and comes just a year after MMJ’s latest The Waterfall. The new...

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Connor Oberst –  Ruminations

Connor Oberst – Ruminations

Conor Oberst has been around the indie scene for some time now. Most famously, he’s been the lead man of Bright Eyes since the late ‘90s, in addition to a handful of other collaborations and bands under his belt. But he’s been releasing his own solo material since the...

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Warpaint –  Heads Up

Warpaint – Heads Up

Warpaint is a sly quartet of women whose coolness seems unparalleled at times. Their style runs it's course on you - it's all-consuming, relaxed, sexy, slithery... Heads Up marks the band's fourth release, with "New Song" as their debut single. "New Song" is...

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Leonard Cohen –  You Want It Darker

Leonard Cohen – You Want It Darker

Beloved Canadian poet and singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen has had a long and illustrious career. The 82-year-old returns with his 14th full-length study album, and possibly a hint at retirement. You Want It Darker is bleak and grim in tone, and exquisite in its...

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Shovels & Rope –  Little Seeds

Shovels & Rope – Little Seeds

Charleston-based Shovels & Rope are back with their fifth LP. The husband and wife tandem of Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst specialize in an energetic brand of Americana and alt-country. Their new record, Little Seeds, comes just over a year after the birth of...

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