Author: Bill Adams
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LIGHT // SOUND – s/t LP
Since childhood, we’re taught to never judge a book by its cover or be so superficial as to make inferences about a person’s character based solely upon their exterior persona. It’s good advice – not making snap judgements about the contents of an article or individual by the first sight one sees – but that…
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Hamell On Trial – The Night Guy at The Apocalypse, Profiles of Rushing Midnight (LP)
In the spirit of full disclosure, yes – am a fan of Hamell On Trial. I was totally won over by Ed Hamell when the singer’s eighth album, Tough Love, came out in 2003 and have excitedly checked and given consistently positive coverage to each album that has come along since then. I can say truthfully…
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Urge Overkill – Saturation LP (reissue)
Quick history lesson: By 1992, Urge Overkill had already established itself both in the fairly unforgiving Chicago music scene and on the North American college radio circuit with the help of albums like Americruiser and The Supersonic Storybook. Not only that, the band has cut a fairly striking and peerless image; unlike so many other…
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Wild Moccasins – Look Together LP
In the context of New West Records’ stable of artists, Wild Moccasins stand out as a truly unique entity. Most of the other artists signed to the label have their roots in musical forms and structures linked clearly to rock instrumentation and styling, but Wild Moccasins don’t so much rebel against that paradigm as simply…
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Aaron Lee Tasjan – Karma For Cheap LP
The single greatest problem from which Karma For Cheap (and its auteur, Aaron Lee Tasjan, by extension) suffers is that it’s just too polished and the seams on it are too air-tight. For that reason, it’s difficult for listeners to not meet the music with more than a little bit of suspicion. This is precisely…
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The Nude Party – s/t LP
As one listens to The Nude Party‘s self-titled album, it’s instantly easy to pick out some sounds and ideas which may have inspired the music, but not so easy to figure out how all the pieces might have aligned to produce this result. For example, the haunting keyboards which color the songs on The Nude…
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American Aquarium – Things Change LP
Usually when I’m reviewing vinyl records, I try to present my thoughts in a linear manner – from front to back, A-side through B-. In my mind, it just makes sense; unlike on CDs (where it’s really easy to jump around from song to song as a listener likes), records play best song-by-song and bands…
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Arthur Buck s/t
Full honesty and disclosure: I’ve been a really big fan of R.E.M. for a really long time and approached Arthur Buck’s self-titled debut album with no small amount of trepidation. I didn’t want to risk sullying my memory of Peter Buck – but it turns out I needn’t have worried. In fact, by crossing Buck’s…
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Bass Drum of Death – “Just Business” LP
Even upon one’s first play through Bass Drum of Death‘s fourth album, listeners will quickly be able to note that its title is a complete fucking misnomer. Nothing about this album is “Just Business”; it’s impossible to not take this music personally because it IS THAT GOOD and DOES mark a spectacular potential turning point…
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Family Of The Year – Goodbye Sunshine Hello Nighttime LP
It’s funny how, as similar to one another as every Family Of The Year release has been to date, Goodbye Sunshine Hello Nighttime feels like a significant departure and/or move forward for the band. That Goodbye Sunshine Hello Nighttime is the group’s first album for Reprise after enjoying a celebrated 2LP+1EP stretch at Nettwerk is irrelevant…