Tag: vlog

  • Volores – Ages LP

    Volores – Ages LP

    Volores Ages LP (Broken Stag Records) It may come as a surprise, but there’s a reason that I elected to review Ace Of Wands’ newest LP and Ages by Volores back-to-back: the albums feel like the work of two bands who could easily share a stage or a tour together. Both bands’ sounds feature a…

  • SLIP-ons – Heavy Machinery EP

    SLIP-ons – Heavy Machinery EP

    SLIP-ons Heavy Machinery EP (Scamindy Records) There aren’t many ways for a band to write songs which sound unmistakably similar to the work of another group without sounding derivative. The only way that it’s possible to walk such a narrow and treacherous line is to be completely ignorant of it; the band in question just…

  • Psychic Temple – Plays Music For Airports LP

    Psychic Temple – Plays Music For Airports LP

    Psychic Temple Plays Music For Airports LP (Big Ego Records) Whatever you think you should expect from the Plays Music For Airports LP – Psychic Temple’s third album, chronologically – you’re going to discover that you’re wrong. First, the recently released vinyl record is a limited-press reissue; Plays Music For Airports originally came out on…

  • Kirkby Kiss – Ouroboros EP

    Kirkby Kiss – Ouroboros EP

    Kirkby Kiss Ouroboros EP (Council Records) It might sound unlikely, but working in the music press can be surprisingly frustrating. The reason for that is simple, really – most bands believe that what they’re doing is unique enough that they couldn’t possibly be forgettable or mistaken for any other band. The problem is that, at…

  • Urban Junior – Urban et Orbi LP

    Urban Junior – Urban et Orbi LP

    Urban Junior Urban et Orbi LP (Voodoo Rhythm Records) It doesn’t seem like this should be true on paper but, in the fourteen cuts which comprise Urban et Orbi, Urban Junior shows those listeners who come upon the album the future of pop. That might seem like a bold statement, but it’s true; throughout this…

  • The Modernettes – View From The Bottom EP reissue

    The Modernettes – View From The Bottom EP reissue

    The Modernettes View From The Bottom EP (Porterhouse Records) What Porterhouse Records has been doing over the last couple of years has proven to be pretty thought-provoking. The label had already established a name for itself – releasing deluxe edition vinyl reissues from bands like Circle Jerks, Urge Overkill and All – but keeping a…

  • Bruce Springsteen – Covers Volume 1 – Only The Strong Survive 2LP

    Bruce Springsteen – Covers Volume 1 – Only The Strong Survive 2LP

    Bruce Springsteen Covers Volume 1 – Only The Strong Survive 2LP (Columbia/Sony Music) As open as Bruce Springsteen’s fans have become to the singer’s experimentations and his desire to push boundaries as the tape rolls in the studio, that doesn’t mean the singer’s fans are incapable of being apprehensive when they hear how far from…

  • The White Stripes – Elephant 2LP Reissue

    The White Stripes – Elephant 2LP Reissue

    The White Stripes Elephant 2LP (20th Anniversary reissue) (Legacy/Columbia/Sony Music) I’m not so proud that I cannot admit I didn’t like The White Stripes when the band first appeared on the great, big, popular radar with “Fell In Love With A Girl” in 2001. I didn’t like White Blood Cells at all, in fact; crammed…

  • The Dirty Nil – Free Rein To Passions LP

    The Dirty Nil – Free Rein To Passions LP

    The Dirty Nil Free Rein To Passions LP (Dine Alone Records) How fantastic is it that, in some instances, a band doesn’t have to change themselves or their sound very much (if at all), they just have to write a new batch of songs and be brave enough to just be themselves with the understanding…

  • Spitting Image – Full Sun LP

    Spitting Image – Full Sun LP

    Spitting Image Full Sun LP (Slovenly Recordings) While such things might seem like the definition of logic to those on the outside looking in, some bands feel compelled to lay up when they make their first introduction to audiences rather than making an orgiastic statement the first time a needle drops on their album. For…