Weirdly enough, Illinois is so damn awesome for the same reasons that so many albums released this decade were not. If the 90s were too lazy and apathetic to care, than the following decade was the total opposite. Too much music was concerned with soaring ambitions and pretensions and that sort of bullshit – and it was mostly all because of this album. Gleefully pretentious and zealous, Illinois is a simple singer/songwriter album dressed up in the fanciest and most ridiculous outfits available, all while thankfully being completely honest yet self-deprecating at the same time. Despite being presented as an embodiment of a state, Illinois succeeds and belongs on this list primarily because it exceeds those high-reaching standards, simply by never losing track of the hopes and feelings of its creator. And more than just that: it never loses the listener as well. Not even the record’s ostentatious nature could hamper Stevens’ gift for creating music that’s accessible and invitational, which is why Illinois truly deserves its following. All those ornate, elaborated singer/songwriter records that followed succeeded in copying Illinois‘s aesthetic, but if only they would have recognized the record’s scope. If only. – Cam
Sometimes I wish every band would be like Andrew W.K. (who is crazy in a good way) but more often than not bands end up having a Tim Kasher (who a lot of times seems crazy in a bad way). Still, you can’t argue with results. The Ugly Organ almost completely abandons what Cursive did on Domestica, which was a complex, multi-layered indie album rife with aggressive post-hardcore moments to mirror its relatively simple story perfectly – a man and his wife on the road to divorce. Instead, The Ugly Organ throws much more into the mix, including Pinocchio and lyrics where Kasher actually refers to himself as opposed to a doppelganger. There are strings and hopefulness aplenty, and I would say that the end of “A Gentlemen Caller” is the most inspiring thing ever if “Staying Alive” didn’t sit at the end of the album like the Incredible Hulk about to tie helicopters into pretzels with its message of holding on. Overall, while Domestica might be a better musical statement, The Ugly Organ offers more of everything and also it won’t depress the hell out of you. – Channing Freeman
Max Bemis released his craziest and most ambitious project only after he became decidedly less crazy. In Defense of the Genre turned a lot of preconceptions about Say Anything on their heads (the loner persona, the winding canyons of his earlier songs), but mostly the album proved that Bemis had plenty of ideas beyond how much he hated everyone and everything. While the songs were shorter and less complex, they were also devoid of bullshit, and the fact that In Defense of the Genre has less filler in twice the material than …Is a Real Boy speaks louder praise for the record than anything else. Some of Bemis’ best songs are contained within, including the triumphant, lick-heavy “Shiksa (Girlfriend)” and the longing “Plea.” – Channing Freeman
Panopticon’s opener “So Did We” contains seven lines of lyrics, and they are all sung only once throughout the track. The rest of the song is made up of some of the most hypnotizing metal put to tape, and while Isis could only seem to get it perfectly right for one album, Panopticon stands as a pinnacle of post-metal. The rest of the songs are all similar in their approach yet wholly different…
The Blood Brothers were one of the essential post-hardcore acts that this decade has seen. Their third full-length album, …Burn, Piano Island, Burn reciprocates such praise, as its off-kilter style combines vocalists Jordan Blilie and Johnny Whitney nasally wails with unrelenting and challenging songwriting created a mixture that was unorthodox, yet accepted. With a lack of any real musical constraint, The Blood Brothers vicariously lived through different climaxes and sounds unaccustomed to many. From the bass-synth gem in “Cecilia and the Silhouette Saloon” to the overflowing emotion in “The Shame,” …Burn, Piano Island, Burn wears its heart on its sleeve, and wears it damn well. – Ryan Flatley
Unwound always had a textural ear. Throughout the beginning of their career the group always managed to make excellent tone choices that put their records into a more sophisticated level of rock. Where many groups use noise and dissonance as transitional parts of their music Unwound seemed to thrive melodically in their more abrasive sections. Leaves Turn Inside You is the opus of that exploration. From the first few moments of “We Invent You” Unwound’s sound is in a different place than they have ever…
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of June 8, 2010. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff or contributors.
The Acorn – No Ghost (Bella Union) {EU} Against Me! – White Crosses(Sire/Wea) — John Hanson
Christina Aguilera – Bionic (RCA)
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffitti – Before Today (4AD Records)
Olafur Arnalds – …and They Have Escaped the Weight of Darkness (Erased Tapes)
Andy Bell [Erasure] – Non-Stop (Mute U.S.)
Blizten Trapper – Destroyer of the Voids (Sub Pop) Ceremony – Rohnert Park(Bridge Nine Records) — Adam Thomas
Chosen Few – New World Symphony (Hieroglyphics Imperium)
Darkness – Death Squad (BATTLE CRY)
Deer Tick – The Dirt Sessions (Partisan Records)
Delorean – Subiza (Fool House)
Delta Spirit – History From Below (Rounder/Umgd)
Edge of Dawn – Anything That Gets You Through The Night (Metropolis Records)
Eisbrecher – Eiszeit (Metropolis Records)
Enemies – We’ve Been Talking (Richter Collective)
Eyes Set to Kill – Broken Frames (Suburban Noize)
The Flashbulb – Arboreal (Alphabasic) The Ghost Inside – Returners(Mediaskare)
Grace Potter & The Nocturnals – Grace Potter & The Nocturnals (Hollywood Records)
Hanson – Shout It Out (3CG)
The Haunted – Roadkill/On The Road With The Haunted (Century Media)
Heaven Shall Burn – Invictus (Iconoclast III) (101 DISTRIBUTION)
Here We Go Magic – Pigeons (Secretly Canadian)
Hot Hot Heat – Future Beeds (Dangerbird)
Richard Ingram – Consolamentum (White Box)
Jewel – Sweet And Wild (VALORY)
Kaiser Cartel – Secret Transit (Daniel Records) Keep of Kalessin – Reptilian(Nuclear Blast America)
Kingdom of…
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of June 1, 2010. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff or contributors.
Anathema – We’re Here Because We’re Here(Kscope) — Trey Spencer
Clay Aiken – Tried & True (Decca)
Born Ruffians – Say It (Warp Records)
Cherryholmes – Cherryholmes IV Common Threads (Skaggs Family)
Taio Cruz – Rokstarr (Mercury)
Dixie Chicks – Playlist: The Very Best of Dixie Chicks [Remastered] (Sony Legacy) Four Year Strong – Enemy Of The World(I Surrender) {UK} The Futureheads – The Chaos(Dovecote)— Rudy Klapper Future Islands – In Evening Air(Thrill Jockey) — Kiran Soderqvist Good Old War – Good Old War (Sargent House) — Tyler Fisher Hawthorne Heights – Skeletons(Wind-Up)
India – Unica (Top Stop Music)
Jeff Lorber Fusion – Now is the Time (Telarc) Jack Johnson – To The Sea(Brushfire)
Lamb of God – Hourglass: The CD Anthology (Epic)
Melvins – The Bride Screamed Murder (Ipecac Recordings)
Tift Merritt – See You On The Moon (Fantasy)
Quitzow – Juice Water (+1 Records)
Setting Sun – Fantasurreal (+1 Records)
Steve Howe Trio – Travelling [Live] (HoweSound)
Uffie – Sex, Dreams and Denim Jeans (Ed Banger Records) {EU}
Paul Weller – Wake Up The Nation (Yep Roc Records)
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Album Streams (please inform us of any broken links/removed streams):
First, I’d like to say congratulations to our three newest contributors. Please welcome Jared Ponton (Observer), Eric (SeaAnemone) and Magnus Altkula (Metalstyles).
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of May 25, 2010. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff or contributors.
Aeon – Path of Fire (Metal Blade Records)
All Time Low – Straight To DVD [Live CD/DVD] (Hopeless Records)
Marc Anthony – Iconos (Sony U.S. Latin)
Beach Fossils – Beach Fossils (Captured Tracks) Black Tusk – Taste the Sin(Relapse) — Adam Thomas
Boom Boom Satellites – To The Loveless (Sony Japan)
The Cure – Disintegration [3-Disc Reissue] (Rhino/Elektra)
Current 93 – Baalstorm, Sing Omega (December 1971) (Coptic Cat)
Disbelief – Heal (Massacre Records)
Enemy of the Sun – Caedium (Massacre Records) Far- At Night We Live(Vagrant Records)— Ryan Flatley
Integrity – The Blackest Curse (Deathwish Inc)
Leela James – My Soul (Stax)
Bettye LaVette – Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook (ANTI-)
Mammutant – Atomizer (Massacre Records) Marina And The Diamonds – The Family Jewels(Atlantic) — Davey Boy
ReVamp – ReVamp (Feat. Ex-After Forever Vocalist) (Nuclear Blast) Rosetta – A Determinism of Morality(TRANSLATION LOSS) — Andrew Hartwig
Shad – TSOL (Black Box Recordings)
Shiv-r – Hold My Hand (Metropolis Records)
Smashing Pumpkins – Teargarden By Kaleidyscope Vol. 1: Songs For A Sailor [Box Set] (Rocket Science)
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of May 18, 2010. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff or contributors.
Annihilator – Annihilator (Indie Europe/Zoom) Bad Religion – 30 Years Live(Epitaph Records) — Trey Spencer
Band of Horses – Infinite Arms (Columbia)
Bo Bice – 3 (Saguaro Road Records)
The Black Keys – Brothers (Nonesuch)
Celeste – Morte(s) Nee(s) (Denovali)
Century Media Records – 20 Years of Century Media Volume One (’91-’95) (Century Media)
Club 8 – The People’s Record (Labrador Sweden)
Corruption – Bourbon River Bank (MYSTIC PRODUCTION)
Cynic – Re-Traced [EP] (Season of Mist)
The Depreciation Guild – Spirit Youth (Kanine Records)
The Dream – Love King (Def Jam)
Exodus – Exhibit B: The Human Condition (Nuclear Blast)
Mary Gauthier – The Foundling (Razor & Tie)
Glee Cast – Glee: The Music, Volume 3 Showstoppers (Columbia) God Is An Astronaut – Age of the Fifth Sun(Revive Records)
Guilty Simpson – OJ Simpson (Stones Throw) Harvey Milk – A Small Turn of Human Kindness(Hydra Head Records)— Cam Hammock – Chasing After Shadows… (+1 Records)
Heaven Shall Burn – Invictus {EU} (Century Media Records)
Hot Tuna – Live at the New Orleans House Berkeley Ca Sept 69 (Collector’s Choice Live)
Iced Earth – Box of the Wicked [5-Disc Box set] (Steamhammer)
Klone – Black Days (Season of Mist) LCD Soundsystem – This is Happening(DFA/Virgin)…
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of May 11, 2010. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff or contributors.
16Volt – AmericanPornoSongs // Remixed (Metropolis Records) As I Lay Dying – The Powerless Rise(Metal Blade) — Adam Thomas Brain Drill – Quantum Catastrophe(Metal Blade) — Adam Thomas
Combichrist – Scarred (Metropolis Records)
Crash Test Dummies – Oooh La La! (RED GENERAL CATALOG)
Dead Letter Circus – This Is The Warning (Warner Music)
The Dead Weather – Sea of Cowards (Warner Brothers)
Decoded Feedback – Aftermath (Metropolis Records) Foals – Total Life Forever(Warner Uk/Zoom) — Davey Boy
Sage Francis – Li(f)e (Anti-)
Gayngs – Relayted (Jagjaguwar)
Holy F**k – The Latin (XL Recordings)
IAMX – Dogmatic Infidel Comedown OK (Metropolis Records)
Indian Jewelry – Totaled (We Are Free)
John 5 – The Art of Malice (60 cycle hum records)
Just Surrender – Phoenix (Razor & Tie)
Keane – Night Train [EP] (Interscope Records)
Keep of Kalessin – Reptilian (Nuclear Blast Records) {EU}
Kivimetsan Druidi – Betrayal, Justice, Revenge (Phantom Sound & Vision)
Male Bonding – Nothing Hurts (Sub Pop)
Meat Loaf – Hang Cool Teddy Bear (Roadrunner Records)
Menschdefekt – The Human Parasite (Metropolis Records)
The Morning Pages – Rising Rain (Zealous Records) The National – High Violet(4AD) — Channing Freeman
Phosphorescent – Here’s To Taking It Easy (Dead Oceans)
Sing It Loud –…
Anacrusis were a technical thrash band that started around 1988. Over the course of four albums they continued to perfect their sound – a sound that based itself around multifaceted vocals, razor-sharp bass and guitar tones, introspective lyrics and an aggressive thrash foundation. Unfortunately they broke up in the early nineties, but they have started to show signs of life again. Hindsight: Vol.2 Reason Revisited is the complete re-recording of the band’s second album by the original members. Reason was their first album to really display the technical and progressive tendencies that they would eventually perfect on their subsequent album, Manic Impressions. For your listening pleasure, three tracks from Reason Revisited.
— Terrified
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— Misshapen Intent
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— Afraid to Feel
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Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of May 4, 2010. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff or contributors.
Asia – Omega (King Japan/Zoom)
Avantasia – The Wicked Symphony (Nuclear Blast)
Toni Braxton – Pulse (Atlantic)
Broken Social Scene – Forgiveness Rock Record (Arts & Crafts)
The Dead Weather – Sea of Cowards (Warner Bros.) Deftones – Diamond Eyes(Reprise Records)— Nick Greer
Extreme – Take Us Alive [CD/DVD] (Frontiers) Fall – Your Future Our Clutter (Domino) Flying Lotus – Cosmogramma (Warp Records)
Godsmack – The Oracle (Republic) The Hold Steady – Heaven is Whenever(Vagrant Records)— Kiran Soderqvist
Richard Ingram – Consolamentum {UK} (White Box)
Jogging – Minutes (Richter Collective) The Letter Black – Hanging On By A Thread (Tooth & Nail Records) Rene Lopez – People Are Just People (Liberation Label) Minus The Bear – Omni(Dangerbird Records)— Matt Wolfe
The Morning Of – The Way I Fell In (Tragic Hero Records) New Po*nographers – Together(Matador)— Rudy Klapper New Young Pony Club – The Optimist(America) — Davey Boy
Nonpoint – Miracle (Rocket Science)
Olafur Arnalds – …and They Have Escaped the Weight of Darkness {EU} (Erased Tapes Records)
Our Last Night – We Will All Evolve (Epitaph) Lisa Papineau – Red Trees (Sargent House) Mike Patton – Mondo Cane(Ipecac Recordings) — Tyler Munro
Josh Ritter – So Runs…
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of April 27, 2010. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff or contributors.
1349 – Demonoir (Prosthetic Records) 65daysofstatic – We Were Exploding Anyway(Hassle Records)— Tyler Fisher
The Abominable Iron Sloth – The Id Will Overcome (Metal Blade)
Acid Tiger – Acid Tiger (Deathwish Inc)
Arma Gathas – Dead to This World (Metal Blade) At the Soundawn – Shifting(LIFEFORCE RECORDS)— Trey Spencer
B.o.B. – B.o.B Presents: The Adventures Of Bobby Ray (Atlantic) Bullet For My Valentine – Fever(Zomba/RED) — Trey Spencer
Mary Chapin Carpenter – The Ages Of Miracles (Zoe Records)
Miranda Cosgrove – Sparks Fly [Deluxe] (Columbia)
Discovery America – Future Paths (LUJO RECORDS)
DJ Kormac – Word Play (Scribble Records)
Drowning Pool – Drowning Pool (Eleven Seven Music)
Escape The Fate – This War Is Ours [2CD Deluxe Edition] (Epitaph)
Eisregen – Schlangensonne (Massacre Records)
Melissa Etheridge – Fearless Love (Island)
Peter Frampton – Thank You Mr Churchill (New Door Records)
Gogol Bordello – Trans-Continental Hustle (Columbia/Dmz)
Hole – Nobody’s Daughter (Mercury Records) KMFDM – Krieg(Metropolis Records) — Trey Spencer
Lali Puna – Our Inventions (Morr Music/M.M.)
Lonestar – Party Heard Around the World (Saguaro Road Records)
Mono – Holy Ground: NYC Live with Wordless Music Orchestra [CD/DVD & 3xLP] (Temporary Residence)
Mouth of the Architect – The Violence Beneath (TRANSLATION LOSS)
My Education…
First of all, Happy Birthday to staff member John Hanson. In commemoration of this joyous event all of you should go post nice comments in his shoutbox.
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of April 20, 2010. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff or contributors.
Airbourne – No Guts. No Glory.(Roadrunner Records)— Davey Boy Anacrusis – Hindsight Vol. 1: Suffering Hour Revisited [Digital Only] (Self Released) Anacrusis – Hindsight Vol 2: Reason Revisited [Digital Only] (Self Released) — Trey Spencer
Anacrusis – Hindsight: Suffering Hour and Reason Revisited [2-Disc Physical/Digital Release] (Self Released)
Anarbos – Words You Don’t Swallow (Hopeless Records) The Apples In Stereo – Travellers In Space and Time(Yep Roc Records)— Rudy Klapper
Aqualung – Magnetic North (Verve Forecast)
At the Gates – The Flames of the End [3-DVD Set] (Earache Records)
Candlemass – Ashes To Ashes {EU} [DVD] (Nuclear Blast Records)
Caribou – Swim (Merge Records) Circa Survive – Blue Sky Noise(Atlantic)— Channing Freeman
Cornershop – Judy Sucks A Lemon For Breakfast (Ample Play Records)
Cypress Hill – Rise Up (Priority Records)
The Destiny Program – Gathas (Bastartized Recordings)
Dr. Acula – The Social Event Of The Century (Uprising Records)
Roky Erickson – True Love Cast Out All Evil (Anti-)
Everest – On Approach (Vapor Records)
Exodus – Exhibit B: The Human…
I’ve been a fan of most the music that Peter Steele has put out including Carnivore and Type O Negative. Based on that, I’m not going to jump to any conclusions based on all of the news that’s floating around right now – we’ll save that shit for a different day. I did want to take this time to highlight his band prior to Type O Negative, though, because they were always a bit underrated in my opinion. Their first album was kind of sloppy thrash but their second release, Retaliation, was straight up hardcore with a huge streak of sarcasm and a warped sense of humor. None of these songs were supposed to be taken seriously, they were just supposed to be so incredibly stupid that they were funny. Of course, when Peter became famous through Type O Negative critics returned to this album to accuse him of everything from racism to homophobia to just about everything else (prompting the song “We Hate Everyone” on Bloody Kisses). Anyway, hopefully Peter is somewhere sleeping in New York (it is only 11am)…
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– Jesus Hitler
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– Angry Neurotic Catholics
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I have to admit that I’m a bit worried by these song samples. Despite everything I’ve read, this album just sounds like it’s going to be very dull. With the exception of “The Termination Proclamation” and the title track, every song felt like something from Dead Heart in a Dead World (an album that I’m not a huge fan of). Worse, it sounded more tame and generic than that album did. You’d have to go all the way back to their debut to find something as lifeless. I hope I’m wrong because 30 second samples definitely aren’t the whole story, but this has definitely dampened my enthusiasm for this release.
