Typhoon — A New Kind of House

Astounding acoustic/folk/indie/Arcade Fire, etc. music

Indie
Stephen Carradini
I love music with depth. Give me a complicated arrangement with lots of instruments and a gnarly lyric to be parsed, and I’m happy as a clam.

 

Thursday, February 24, 2011

The Caribbean — Discontinued Perfume

Bizarre, experimental, sort-of indie-pop for adults

Indie
Stephen Carradini
Any album that starts off with a song called “Thank You for Talking to Me About Israel” is not going to be your average disc.

 

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Jonquil — One Hundred Suns

Do you like Vampire Weekend?

Indie
Stephen Carradini
Vampire Weekend may not have pioneered African rhythms and melodies in Western music, but they’ve certainly made it hip in the post-“Graceland” years.

 

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Chikita Violenta — Tre3s

Incredibly cohesive, uniquely fulfilling experience

Indie
Stephen Carradini
Chikita Violenta’s “Tre3s” is the sort of album that makes me wonder what type of band the members label themselves as. 

 

Monday, February 21, 2011

Ruby Coast — Whatever This Is

Do you like Tokyo Police Club?

Indie
Stephen Carradini
So, there’s a band. It has a particular sound that’s unique. People love that sound and love that band. Then another band comes along, sounding exactly the same as the first band, but writing just as good, if not better, songs than the first band.

 

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Destroyer — Kaputt

Manages to feel both dated and hip

Indie
Joshua Boydston
The vaguely defined universe of indie music has had every sort of entry, from rock and pop to hip-hop and dance. It’s about time adult contemporary got its representation.

 

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Cloud Nothings — Cloud Nothings

Fuzzy, sunny, distorted, colorful and wholesome

Indie
Joshua Boydston
Punk music doesn’t have to be political, violent, sexy or cool. Sometimes it’s just good, clean fun. Enter Cleveland, Ohio upstart Cloud Nothings.

 

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Esben and the Witch — Violet Cries

Artsy, detailed, Björk-esque

Indie
Stephen Carradini
A quiz is in order.

 

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Steven Drozd — The Heart Is a Drum Machine

A Flaming Lip goes solo for soundtrack work

Indie
Stephen Carradini
The Flaming Lips are incredibly self-contained; the members rarely do side projects. So it’s with great interest that multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd’s score for the music documentary “The Heart Is a Drum Machine” appears.

 

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

The Radio Dept. - Passive Agressive: Singles 2002-2010

Trendy sounds from before the curve

Wye Oak — Civilian

Indie-rock mood pieces that don't bore

Broken Records — Let Me Come Home

More emotional Scottish rock!

Colin Stetson — New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges

Vastly unusual in an incredibly good way

Foxes in Fiction — Alberto

Good tunes hiding in reverb

Candi & the Strangers — 10th of Always