MetroPulse Stories: Music Reviews

Newly Discovered Music by Folk Icon Karen Dalton Does Little to Dispel Her Mystery

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:33:00 -0000

Reportedly recorded in 1966 in a Colorado cabin (with electricity but no running water), the recordings were warm-ups for a gig, and thus never intended to be released as an official album. As such, they have a charming lo-fi quality to them, Dalton playing for friends who pass around a bottle—which was, reportedly, her favorite way to play music.

Rocket From the Tombs: 'The Day the Earth Met the Rocket From the Tombs'

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 16:47:00 -0000

By the usual pop-music standards, Cleveland’s Rocket From the Tombs barely even counted as a band during its first incarnation, from 1974 to 1975. The group never officially released any music at all, never recorded anything beyond a handful of demos and scrappy live performances, and never played outside its hometown.

Best of 2011: Music

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:00:00 -0000

Our critics pick the best albums of the year.

Kate Bush: '50 Words for Snow'

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 15:42:00 -0000

It may be true, as one British critic sniffed, that Bush no longer knows how to write pop songs. More to the point, I’d say that the 53-year-old singer no longer cares.

The Beach Boys: 'The Smile Sessions'

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 16:14:00 -0000

Capitol’s new restoration of Smile finally offers what rock geeks had only dared dream: a flatly definitive version of what should have ended up being the American Sgt. Pepper.

Thee Oh Sees: 'Carrion Crawler/The Dream'

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 16:12:00 -0000

Even when Thee Oh Sees pretend to expand their sound, they’re still shit-kicking the same old garage-bound rock they were banging out on their first LP.

Dumb Lunch: 'Everywhere We Go It Sounds Like...'

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:46:00 -0000

Local weirdo hip-hop trio Dumb Lunch’s second album is just as woozy and psychedelic as its predecessor, Royal Blunts, released earlier this year.

Korallreven: 'An Album by Korallreven'

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:42:00 -0000

An Album by Korallreven kicks off with the glorious “As Young as Yesterday,” an epic voyage of synth-pads and electro-sprinkles and beats that skitter across the stereo spectrum like 3D snowflakes.

Justice: 'Audio, Video, Disco'

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:39:00 -0000

For a duo of French beatmakers trying by default to escape Daft Punk’s shadow, Justice spends much of its sophomore album following up on the promise of that group’s Alive 2007, which blurred forever the line between rave and live rock show.

Atlas Sound: 'Parallax'

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:08:00 -0000

Parallax is vintage Cox—a potent mix of throbbing psychedelia, experimentation, and razor-sharp pop hooks.

Miranda Lambert: 'Four the Record'

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:01:00 -0000

The cover of Miranda Lambert’s fourth album shows the singer walking away from a vintage car on fire. It’s an update of her arrival on the country music scene back in 2005 with the incendiary honky-tonk firebug revenge fantasy “Kerosene.” But there’s little else on Four the Record that connects back with that hick shitkicker in the “Mama Tried” tank top.

Kathrn Calder: 'Bright and Vivid'

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 15:23:00 -0000

For a singer with a voice this gorgeous, for a songwriter with melodies this striking, Kathryn Calder sure does like noise.

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats: 'Blood Lust'

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 15:21:00 -0000

Uncle Acid traffics in occult classic rock, drawing its inspiration from Hammer horror films, the Stooges, the first four Black Sabbath albums, and The Satanic Bible.

The Dex Romweber Duo: 'Is That You in the Blue?'

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:21:00 -0000

The second album from former Flat Duo Jets frontman Dexter Romweber and his sister, Sara, is a tour through Romweber’s career, from the unhinged punkabilly and psychotic country of his earliest lo-fi recordings to the swinging lounge- and surf-inflected jazz-rock he’s refined over the last decade or so.

Deer Tick: 'Divine Providence'

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:19:00 -0000

This Rhode Island quintet’s fourth full-length is jam-packed with bouts of chronic stupidity.

My Brightest Diamond: 'All Things Will Unwind'

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 14:06:00 -0000

Shara Worden’s classically rubbed art-rock is so precious, it could crumble if you listened to it too hard.

Darius Jones Trio: 'Big Gurl (Smell My Dream)'

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 14:03:00 -0000

There’s a cry at the heart of alto saxophonist Darius Jones’ sound.

The Jayhawks: 'Mockingbird Time'

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:31:00 -0000

There are a lot of nice tunes here, and a lot of lyrics that bear the imprint of mid-life reckoning with love, death, failure, and the small joys of life.

Casiokids: 'Aabenbaringen over aaskammen'

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:12:00 -0000

The third full-length from this Norwegian synth-pop quartet might be an exotic mouthful as far as pronunciation goes, but the slick grooves found within speak a universal tongue.

Matthew Herbert: 'One Pig'

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 14:34:00 -0000

A disquieting electronic album built around the life and death of a single animal.