Tuesday 21 May
 
 
CD reviews

Various artists — Never Give Up: Celebrating 10 Years of The Postal Service

Few indie bands have had the impact on current music that The Postal Service has. Even fewer have done so with only one album.
05/15/2013 | Comments 0

Big Worm — Bench All-Stars

Fans of the comedy classic Friday may recognize the name Big Worm, but the Big Worm behind Bench All-Stars is rooted not in South Central L.A., but on the streets of Oklahoma City.
05/08/2013 | Comments 0

Code 22 — Going Soft: The Acoustic Album!

The guys of Oklahoma City’s Code 22 seem like a likable group of fellas. Their latest release, Going Soft: The Acoustic Album!, is likable enough as well — so likable that on first listen, I took its clean, acoustic sound and clear, unstressed vocals as an alternative praise-and-worship band.
05/08/2013 | Comments 0

Eureeka — Polysynthetic Fields

It’s always refreshing to hear music that embraces its own eccentricity, yet presents it in an accessible and meek fashion. Eureeka — the Norman-based duo of Jordan Vargas and Devin Wahl — has tapped into this rarified air on its self-released EP, Polysynthetic Fields.
05/08/2013 | Comments 0

Tom Skinner — Tom Skinner

Sincerity is nearly dead in songwriting. The image of the earnest singer with eyes tightly shut and a crack in his voice as he plunges to emotional depths has become a joke.
05/08/2013 | Comments 0

Do you do you do you do you wan-na dance?


With free, new tracks from The Rapture and M83, you oughta be set

By Matt Carney July 21st, 2011

While this speculation remains unconfirmed, the New York dance band’s sure to sell a bunch of albums this fall. Their fourth LP, “In the Grace of Your Love,” hits stores in September, courtesy of DFA Records.

The nearly 7-minute melodramatic disco banger “How Deep Is Your Love” is the album’s first single, and if it’s any indicator, “Grace” is going to absolutely slay the competition for album of the year.

Here’s why: The Rapture previously operated as a pretty stripped-down, manic, dance-punk band (see: 2003’s excellent “Echoes”) but “Deep” exhibits some aggressive sonic expansion. Included is a more earnest and theatrical lyrical arrangement as well as more nuanced use of keys and synths, where those were mostly used as solo instruments on previous Rapture records.

Somewhere, Justin Vernon’s beard trembles.

Anywho, M83 is another electro band slated for an ambitious fall release (a double-LP, in fact) that just so happens to have put out a terrific single to hype it.

Midnight City” starts off sounding the way MGMT did on their first record — dancey and psychedelic on an epic scale. I’ve got a feeling that the French electro-poppers will be highly sought-after on next summer’s festival schedule.—Matt Carney


 
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