Latest Posts

BØRNS – Dopamine

October 21, 2015

Hey, did you like Foster The People’s Torches? …No? Well boy oh boy, do I not have the album for you. This time around, it’s from Garrett Borns. Birthed in Michigan, and better known as his stage name BØRNS, Mr. Borns has released his full first length album, Dopamine, that has somehow garnered a huge amount of anticipation, thanks to two things. firstly, illuminati recruiter Taylor Swift (she instagrammed a picture of the upcoming album giving it high praise), and secondly, his single “Electric Love,” which has received a ton of play on alt radio stations. So, here’s the reason for the Foster the People comparison. Lead singer’s last name “creatively” shoved into the band name. Oddly huge amount of fame from a catchy single, and only an EP to support, preceding an overly promoted album release. Falsetto vocals. Huge anticipation for an album that’s hailed as “different” in the[...]

Neon Indian – VEGA INTL. Night School

October 13, 2015

After what seemed like a relatively boring end of summer in terms of new releases, we’ve got a bunch of goodies coming out from indie icons. Seasoned veterans (Wavves) and 22 year future bedroom stars (Alex G) have both put out new stuff this month, but we’re going to talk about something in between: Neon Indian’s VEGA INTL. Night School. Okay, this album is just good. Neon Indian has always sounded like a classic arcade video game turned sentient and shoved into a studio. VEGA INTL. Night School follows suit in this regard, just in a more hi-fi, more dance oriented way. It’s like Tron: Legacy. Sorry, let me clear that up. Not everyone liked that movie. Actually, most people hated it. I liked it, because it sucked. It’s gonna be a cult classic in a few years just because it was so bad. That’s not even remotely close to the[...]

City and Colour – If I Should Go Before You

October 12, 2015

City and Colour strikes gold again with its fifth album titled If I Should Go Before You. The band preserves its deep and solemn lyrics accompanying its melodious sounds, but definitely has changed from previous album The Hurry and the Harm, opting for a newer mixture of southern blues, and rock. This album is the most consistent in its sound throughout as compared to the bands previous EPs. Dallas Green continues to grow as an artist, electing for a more southern, soulful, and dark entrance to the album with “Woman,” an interesting and eerie introduction, which is drawn out at over nine minutes. He displays his mesmerizing and iconic falsetto throughout the album once more, which I personally find to be one of the most captivating features of his work. It is also interesting to see this track in contrast to “The Girl” from his 2008 release Bring Me Your Love. Green is[...]

The World is a Beautiful Place & I am No Longer Afraid to Die – Harmlessness

October 7, 2015

I want you to say it with me! The World is a Beautiful Place and I am no Longer Afraid to Die is not just another emo revival band! The World is a Beautiful Place and I am no Longer Afraid to Die is not just another emo band!  Sure, you’re probably going to look at their name and think to yourself, “Wow, that is definitely just another emo revival band,” and before the release of Harmlessness, I may have let that slide, but no longer. If you are going to only read the first paragraph of this review, this should be your takeaway. If you are into indie music, and I mean in any manner, LISTEN TO THIS RECORD. On Harmlessness, The World is a Beautiful Place comes through with their most undeniably thought out, well put together, concise release to date. The band does not leave their past behind them though,[...]

Avicii – Stories

October 6, 2015

The scene starts out black. Forceful, bright MIDI grand piano chords play. The scene fades in. A tattered pair of old sneakers are walking down a sidewalk “Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” the lyrics tell you as the MIDI instruments break into a full MIDI arrangement. The camera pedestals upward from the ankles of your tan work pants (Levis, of course) as you walk hurriedly towards your destination. From your Levi pocket, that your right hand is stuffed into, runs a white chord (your Samsung Galaxy S3 stock headphones, of course) that droops across the baggy green work polo you’re wearing. The small red logo on the shirt reads the same as your destination that lay ahead– Budwey’s. As you get closer to work on an overcast and cool fall day, you begin to dread your first task– clocking in and taking off your headphones. You remember that[...]

The Front Bottoms – Back On Top

September 25, 2015

I’m not sure if it was the choice of the Front Bottoms or their new label, Fueled By Ramen, but in an exceedingly strange move, prior to the release of their new record, Back On Top, SIX of the record’s eleven songs were made available to the public. Why they did this, I’m not too sure, but what I do know is that coming from someone who had this record as one of their most anticipated of the year, it almost totally killed all of the hype behind it.  That’s not to say that the tracks they released were bad or anything, but knowing what half of the record sounded prior to the release really was a buzz kill. The release of the first track, “West Virginia,” actually came as a pleasant surprise. The band had taken a somewhat more advanced approach to song construction, and vocalist Brian Sella’s lyrics seemed as on point[...]

Kurt Vile – b’lieve i’m goin down…

September 24, 2015

For the past year or so, Kurt Vile’s last full length, Wakin on a Pretty Daze, has been my go to road trip album. The sound was so expansive, warm, and spacious, it almost seemed perfect compliment for a long drive in the sunshine. I guess that this might partially due the fact that the majority of the record was written by Vile while on the road, and I guess to me, that really showed. While Wakin on a Pretty Daze was far from his most depressing sounding release, the idea that every track was lyrically rooted in something dark was hard to escape, as is the case with most of Vile’s releases. His newest record, b’lieve i’m goin down…, might work on a road trip, but only the part of the road trip where night falls and your friend fell asleep in the passenger seat, and you are left[...]

Ryan Adams – 1989

September 22, 2015

When Taylor Swift finally dropped 1989 last year, it’s success was hardly a surprise. The singer’s new album had felt like the final chapter in her carefully cultivated image as pop’s biggest underdog. Going back to her debut as a teenage country star who’s lyrics read with the vulnerability of a livejournal entry, she was pop music’s ultimate good-girl. But the moment Kanye stepped up on that stage, both were cast in roles in the public eye that would define them for years: Kanye the asshole and Taylor the victim. With every successive album since then, using her every girl persona her private life as the base of her lyrics, Swift increasingly drew a portrait of her life as someone constantly downtrodden, defiantly picking themselves up. In the process, her music became increasingly poppy and her songwriting grew sharper. This finally culminated in 1989, the triumphant pop album that with the[...]

Mac Miller – GO:OD AM

September 22, 2015

Finally. You log onto Spotify. You click the search bar. You frantically type in “mac.” You realize you could have probably just typed in “M” because what bigger “M” artist is there than Mac Miller? Your hand starts to shake as you click on the name, which may as well have been inscribed in #ffd700. After a quick scroll, you’re in. You try and double click on the intro track, “Doors,” but you miss the second click and have to repeat the process all over again. You miss the second attempt.“Fuck,” you utter to the empty room. You take a sip of the Miller Light classic logo aluminum bottle-can that you’ve fetched from the mini-fridge. It was originally intended for the most serene listening experience, however, now it’s become a tool to calm your nervous hands, just as it did at Alfred a couple years ago before that huge exam.[...]

Travis Scott – Rodeo

September 10, 2015

I have decided that I am going to create an award for the album that I am happiest that I didn’t overlook this year, just so I can preemptively give it to Travis Scott’s new album, Rodeo. Up until this point, I have been wildly unimpressed by the “new Atlanta” style of hip hop, as popularized by artists such as Migos, ILoveMakonnen, Young Thug, and Future, to name a few, and despite Scott hailing from Houston, the sound used on Rodeo is unmistakably similar. While there is no doubt that these artists do have massive potential on singles, their full length efforts have left too much to be desired in artistry and lyrical content. Surprisingly, this is far from the case on Rodeo.   Without even listening to the record, if you take a look at the list of producers on the record, it is stacked with production talent like[...]

The Weeknd – Beauty Behind the Madness

August 25, 2015

At the age of 25, Canadian R&B singer The Weeknd is set to drop his second studio album, Beauty Behind the Madness, on Friday, and while the record is still pending an official release, nearly half of its tracks have already had success as chart-topping singles. Abdel Tesfaye, the man behind The Weeknd, possesses a uniquely contemporary sound that acts as a soundtrack for the restless and experimental youth of today, leading critics to categorize Tesfaye’s sound as PBR&B, a genre alternative to R&B. As a whole, Beauty Behind the Madness gives you what you’d expect from The Weeknd: sex, drugs, partying, more sex, and lots of falsetto. Despite Tesfaye’s frequent recycling of these themes, he manages to spin them in an irresistible way that will have you humming along, whether you want to or not. Following 2013’s Kiss Land, which was, in my opinion, a considerably mundane album, Beauty[...]

Beach House – Depression Cherry

August 25, 2015

At this point, you really have to hand it to Beach House. With a decade under their belts, the duo of Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally have managed to constantly put out well received material, drawing clear shoegaze influence and crafting it into their own dreamy, synth soaked sound, all while managing to create something special on each release. As my listen counter of the band’s newest release, Depression Cherry, began to rack up, I noticed something: this band has done an absolutely incredible job with recycling the same sound for their past four albums. No one has seemed to bat an eye as Beach House reuses their instrumental style of dream pop release after release, droning backing organ chord by droning backing organ chord, programmed drum beat by programmed drum beat. That being said, while their instrumentals have remained stagnant for the most part, the duo seems to have[...]

Mac DeMarco – Another One

August 11, 2015

So the Pepperoni Playboy has done it again. Who is the Pepperoni Playboy, you ask? And what exactly has he done? He is none other than the slacker king of “jizz jazz” (self-proclaimed), Mac DeMarco, and he’s just put out his first release since 2014’s Salad Days. DeMarco brings back his inner goofball on his newest mini-LP Another One, and lays it on thick this time. The new album is polished and tight, and doesn’t stray too far from the jangly wryness of its predecessor. Though it does stray a little. I remember first listening to Salad Days and thinking to myself how brilliant and engaging each of the album’s eleven tracks were, how each song told a different story and how I just wanted to lay in a dirty field somewhere and listen to the album on repeat. It’s an excellent album. Another One falls a bit short of[...]

Chelsea Wolfe – Abyss

August 9, 2015

About a week after listening to Chelsea Wolfe’s new album, Abyss, out on Sargent House Records, I had a lucid dream of what it was like to suffer from sleep paralysis. In the dream, I woke up, but my body was still, unmoving. A shadowy, demonic figure attempted to attack me, as I screamed obscenities and chants to make it go away. I woke up, finally, only to realize it had been an illusion. Upon waking up, again, in my bedroom in Buffalo, I felt disturbed and a little violated. This is a condition that Ms. Wolfe deals with frequently. Sleep studies say these figures, aka “hypnagogic hallucinations,” are a combination of the fact that we are still dreaming and the ability to access collective realms beyond the mind. While someone is experiencing sleep paralysis, their amygdala (what controls our fear systems) gets jacked up, and if we’re still dreaming, this projects[...]

Adult Mom – Momentary Lapse of Happily

August 7, 2015

I remember a couple months ago, sitting on the floor of a living room on the West Side, hearing Stephanie Knipe’s music live for the first time. Armed with just an electric guitar, Knipe, front woman of Purchase, NY’s Adult Mom, proceeded to perform one of the best solo sets I have ever seen: simple guitar chords matched with some undisguised, brutally honest lyrical content, delivered in just the right way. It really gave me a whole new appreciation for her music as a whole, and I was delighted to hear she had a new full length on the way. Titled Momentary Lapse of Happily, the new Adult Mom record is just what I expected in a way. Its an album about breakups, abusive relationships,  gender, and emotional turmoil, which comes off as one of the most brutally personal releases I have heard this year. And after having listened to[...]