| Pygmy Lush Old Friends | 4.0 |
| Pharoahe Monch W.A.R. | 3.5 |
| My Disco Little Joy | 4.0 |
| Black Milk Album Of The Year | 4.0 |
| Sun Kil Moon Admiral Fell Promises | 3.5 |
| Flying Lotus Cosmogramma | 5.0 |
| Extra Life Made Flesh | 4.5 |
| Dangers Messy, Isn't It? | 4.0 |
| Converge Axe to Fall | 2.5 |
| Lightning Bolt Earthly Delights | 3.5 |
| Tyondai Braxton Central Market | 4.0 |
| Polvo In Prism | 3.5 |
| Six Organs Of Admittance Luminous Night | 4.0 |
| Pissed Jeans King of Jeans | 4.0 |
| Royce da 5'9 The Revival EP | 3.0 |
| The Hope Conspiracy True Nihilist | 3.0 |
| Towers Full Circle | 4.5 |
| J Dilla Jay Stay Paid | 4.0 |
| Brainworms Brainworms II: Swear To Me | 4.0 |
| Cam'ron Crime Pays | 3.0 |
| UGK UGK 4 Life | 4.0 |
| Pulling Teeth Paranoid Delusions/Paradise Illusions | 4.0 |
| Cursive Mama, I'm Swollen | 3.0 |
| John Frusciante The Empyrean | 3.5 |
| Cynic Traced in Air | 4.0 |
| Aidan Baker At the Fountain of Thirst | 3.0 |
| Nadja Radiance of Shadows | 4.5 |
| Black Milk Tronic | 4.0 |
| The Drones Havilah | 4.5 |
| T.I. Paper Trail | 3.5 |
| Young Widows Old Wounds | 4.5 |
| ...Who Calls So Loud ...Who Calls So Loud | 4.0 |
| Malady Malady | 4.0 |
| Verse En Coma Rialto | 4.0 |
| Pygmy Lush Mount Hope | 4.0 |
| Flying Lotus Los Angeles | 4.0 |
| Red Sparowes Aphorism | 3.5 |
| Cold World Dedicated To Babies Who Came Feet First | 3.5 |
| Off Minor Some Blood | 5.0 |
| Sun Kil Moon April | 4.5 |
| Capillary Action So Embarrassing | 3.5 |
| Kayo Dot Blue Lambency Downward | 4.5 |
| Gospel The Moon Is a Dead World | 5.0 |
| Arghoslent Hornets of the Pogrom | 1.5 |
| Time of Orchids Namesake Caution | 4.0 |
| YMCK Family Genesis | 3.0 |
| Have a Nice Life Deathconsciousness | 4.5 |
| Pyramids (PA) Through the Hourglass | 3.5 |
| Wu-Tang Clan 8 Diagrams | 3.0 |
| Burton Wagner 21 | 4.0 |
| Shipwreck A.D. Abyss | 4.0 |
| Armchairpolitician Seven Segment Decoder | 4.0 |
| House of Brothers Deadman | 3.0 |
| EAQuartett Electroacoustiquarett | 4.0 |
| Meet Me in St. Louis Variations on Swing | 4.0 |
| Meet Me in St. Louis are the latest addition to the growing and highly dominant U.K. post-hardcore scene. Million Dead, The Murder of Rosa Luxemburg, and bands like them have been creating a lot of attention with their fast paced seemingly random blend of pop-punk, hardcore and math rock. Meet Me in St. Louis is the most successful band to attempt this sound so far in terms of sheer originality. Combining Million Dead’s pop sensibility with The Murder of Rosa Luxemburg’s technical backing, Meet Me in St. Louis’ sound is basically pop songs broken down into ten second burst of energy that are strung together into three minute explosions. Where the band merely flirted with their music’s pop backing on their debut EP, “Variations on Swing” their latest releases sees them branching out into realms of electronica and more concise post-hardcore to create a much more rewarding, eclectic and dynamic sound. |
| Ghastly City Sleep Ghastly City Sleep | 4.0 |
| Ghastly’s claim to fame is their transposition into standard post rock affair in the vein of Gregor Samsa. They aren’t really concentrating on crescendos but when they do they are beautiful (and feature beautiful people in the case of Ice Creaks guest from Mia Matsumiya) and they also aren’t really concentrating on huge waves of emotional catharsis. In a sense they’ve taken the sound Gregor Samsa orchestrated flawlessly on 55:12 and built upon it in vast ways. |
| Minus the Bear Planet of Ice | 4.0 |
| Boris With Michio Kurihara Rainbow | 4.0 |
| Boris is often known for their "drone" metal but with the help of Michio Kurihara they decided to invest themselves into a realm of beautiful psych rock. Kurihara's presence is hugely impactive on why I think this record is so great, considering he is probably my favorite guitarist. This is a great album and I'd suggest it for people looking for something that meshes the old of classic rock with the new stoner rock scene. |
| Yakuza Transmutations | 3.5 |
| Kidcrash Jokes | 4.5 |
| John Frusciante Smile from the Streets You Hold | 5.0 |
| Tiny Hawks Fingers Become Bridges | 3.5 |
| *shels Sea of the Dying Dhow | 4.0 |
| So, what is Shels exactly? In my opinion it is one of the finest attempts to incorporate metalcore aesthetics into a progressive rock setting. Basically, they succeed where other bands have failed. They are able to be progressive without being overtly cheesy (like, say, Between the Buried and Me's "Alaska"), and they are able to be progressive without entering realms of unnecessary pretension (like the middle of Pax Cecilia's "Blessed are the Bonds"). Sure, I could throw out a list of comparisons to groups like Kayo Dot or Isis in hopes that some of their fans might streamline through this review and check them out, but Shels really doesn't embrace the arty atmosphere of either band. Everything on this album is meticulously arranged, but is also grounded in a solid base genre of metalcore. Essentially, I guess it is the best of both worlds; complete originality and full blown clich? Whatever is the key to Shels successful formula, it works and "Sea of the Dying Dhow" effortlessly proves that. |
| Charlemagne Palestine Strumming Music | 4.0 |
| And The Furies Say And The Furies Say | 4.0 |
| Fugazi Red Medicine | 4.0 |
| Tartar Lamb Sixty Metonymies | 4.0 |
| Battles Mirrored | 4.0 |
| Off Minor The Heat Death of the Universe | 5.0 |
| Jeromes Dream Completed | 4.5 |
| Ghost (JPN) In Stormy Nights | 3.5 |
| Explosions in the Sky All of a Sudden, I Miss Everyone | 3.5 |
Exploding with a riff that sounds almost straight out of an Ennio Morricone composition, “All of A Sudden I Miss Everyone” certainly establishes itself as a record different from EiTS’s past work. While they aren’t building into layered soundscapes the same way they did previously, on the limited release, “The Rescue,” the combination of the ideas from that record and their past work is clearly shown on opener “The Birth and Death of the Day.” Other notable tracks are the brooding epic “It’s Natural To Be Afraid” and the depressing piano based “What Do You Go Home To?” Explosions in the Sky has clearly taken note of their flaws and with all of their effort tried to do something original with “All of A Sudden I Miss Everyone.” Adding touches of piano and improving on the stylings of their guitar playing has left the record feeling fresh. However, their search for stretching their sound does seem a little limited in the end; moments like the crescendo at 5:55 in “The Birth and Death Of The Day “ seem like they could easily be transferred back into songs found on their early releases. A sense of “I’ve already heard this” is certainly always present when listening to “All of A Sudden I Miss Everyone.”
|
| Wu-Tang Clan Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) | 4.5 |
| Hella There's No 666 In Outer Space | 3.0 |
| Fugazi In on the Kill Taker | 4.0 |
| Saccharine Trust Surviving You, Always | 3.5 |
| Nas Hip Hop Is Dead | 2.5 |
| Fugazi Steady Diet of Nothing | 3.5 |
| Frodus And We Washed Our Weapons In The Sea | 4.0 |
| Inade The Crackling of the Anonymous | 1.5 |
| Fugazi Repeater | 3.0 |
| Comus First Utterance | 4.0 |
| Fugazi 13 Songs | 3.5 |
| Isis and Aereogramme In The Fishtank 14 | 3.5 |
| Burton Wagner A Sentinel's Eyes | 4.5 |
| Upsilon Acrux Last Train Out | 2.0 |
| Flying Lotus 1983 | 4.5 |
| Callisto True Nature Unfolds | 4.0 |
| Rachel's The Sea and the Bells | 4.5 |
| Red Sparowes Every Red Heart Shines Toward The Red... | 3.5 |
| Converge No Heroes | 4.5 |
| The Mars Volta Amputechture | 4.0 |
| My Dying Bride The Angel and the Dark River | 4.5 |
| Cursive Happy Hollow | 4.0 |
| Can Tago Mago | 4.5 |
| maudlin of the Well Bath | 5.0 |
| Scott Walker The Drift | 4.5 |
| Ten Grand This Is The Way To Rule | 4.0 |
| Cursive Burst and Bloom | 4.0 |
| Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra Pretty Little Lightning Paw | 3.5 |
| Comets on Fire Blue Cathedral | 4.0 |
| Peeping Tom Peeping Tom | 3.0 |
| Jeff Buckley Grace | 3.5 |
| Tool Lateralus | 2.0 |
| Time of Orchids Sarcast While | 5.0 |
| Built to Spill Perfect from Now On | 5.0 |
| Nick Drake Pink Moon | 5.0 |
| Cyne Evolution Fight | 4.5 |
| The Murder of Rosa Luxemburg Everyone's in Love and Flowers Pick Them | 3.5 |
| The Postman Syndrome Terraforming | 3.5 |
| Minor Threat Complete Discography | 5.0 |
| Kayo Dot Dowsing Anemone With Copper Tongue | 5.0 |
| pg.99 Document #8 | 5.0 |
| At the Drive-In Acrobatic Tenement | 4.0 |
| Circle Takes the Square Circle Takes the Square | 4.5 |
| Arcade Fire Funeral | 3.5 |
| Cursive Domestica | 5.0 |
| The White Stripes Get Behind Me Satan | 0.5 |
| Avenged Sevenfold City of Evil | 1.0 |
| My Chemical Romance Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge | 1.5 |
| Alkaline Trio Crimson | 1.5 |
| The Postal Service Give Up | 1.5 |
| Dream It Was All a Dream | 1.5 |
| Mates of State Bring it Back | 1.5 |
| The Devil Wears Prada Dear Love: A Beautiful Discord | 1.5 |
| Britney Spears Blackout | 1.5 |
| Bright Eyes Digital Ash in a Digital Urn | 2.0 |
| Wormed Planisphaerium | 2.0 |
| The Mars Volta Scab Dates | 2.0 |
| ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead So Divided | 2.0 |
| Kodan Armada Ohio Killed the Grey Ghost | 2.0 |
| Rage Against the Machine The Battle of Los Angeles | 2.5 |
| Goo Goo Dolls Dizzy Up The Girl | 2.5 |
| Opeth Still Life | 2.5 |
| Foo Fighters The Colour and the Shape | 2.5 |
| Foo Fighters There Is Nothing Left to Lose | 2.5 |
| Smash Mouth Fush Yu Mang | 2.5 |
| At the Drive-In This Station Is Non-Operational | 2.5 |
| Switchfoot The Beautiful Letdown | 2.5 |
| Dashboard Confessional A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar | 2.5 |
| Architecture In Helsinki In Case We Die | 2.5 |
| Soundtrack (Film) Rent | 2.5 |
| The Devin Townsend Band Synchestra | 2.5 |
| The Flaming Lips Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell | 2.5 |
| Trophy Scars Alphabet Alphabets | 2.5 |
| Russian Circles Enter | 2.5 |
| Koenji Hyakkei Angherr Shisspa | 2.5 |
| I Would Set Myself On Fire For You Believes In Patterns | 2.5 |
| Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine | 3.0 |
| Bright Eyes Lifted or The Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground | 3.0 |
| Converge You Fail Me | 3.0 |
| At the Drive-In Relationship of Command | 3.0 |
| Gorillaz Demon Days | 3.0 |
| Dave Matthews Band Stand Up | 3.0 |
| M83 Before The Dawn Heals Us | 3.0 |
| Syd Barrett The Madcap Laughs | 3.0 |
| Sleep Sleep's Holy Mountain | 3.0 |
| Drive Like Jehu Yank Crime | 3.0 |
| At the Drive-In In/Casino/Out | 3.0 |
| Death Cab for Cutie Something About Airplanes | 3.0 |
| The Flaming Lips At War with the Mystics | 3.0 |
| The Walls You've Built The Definition of Friendship | 3.0 |
| MF DOOM Operation: Doomsday | 3.0 |
| Lightning Bolt Hypermagic Mountain | 3.0 |
| Sunny Day Real Estate Sunny Day Real Estate | 3.0 |
| The Good Life Black Out | 3.0 |
| Eden Maine To You The First Star | 3.0 |
| Gnarls Barkley St. Elsewhere | 3.0 |
| J Dilla Donuts | 3.0 |
| Devendra Banhart Nino Rojo | 3.0 |
| Pyramids (PA) Following the Tracks, Forcing Motion Thr | 3.0 |
| The Dillinger Escape Plan Plagiarism | 3.0 |
| Return to Forever Romantic Warrior | 3.0 |
| pg.99 Document #7 | 3.0 |
| Ratatat Classics | 3.0 |
| Emotionless, yet highly infectious dance music. Kind of like post-rock without all the dynamics and sadness. It's really upbeat and it's really catchy, and it's a pretty good background record. Not something for "heavy listening" but "Classics" makes a great listen when driving or just smoking a few blunts. |
| Brand New The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me | 3.0 |
| These Arms Are Snakes Easter | 3.0 |
| Hopesfall Magnetic North | 3.0 |
| Queens of the Stone Age Era Vulgaris | 3.0 |
| Nine Inch Nails Ghosts I-IV | 3.0 |
| Jimmy Eat World Bleed American | 3.5 |
| Coheed and Cambria In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 | 3.5 |
| Refused The Shape Of Punk To Come | 3.5 |
| The Blood Brothers ...Burn, Piano Island, Burn | 3.5 |
| The Dillinger Escape Plan Miss Machine | 3.5 |
| Fugazi End Hits | 3.5 |
| Elliott Smith From a Basement on the Hill | 3.5 |
| Ed Gein It's A Shame That A Family Can Be Torn Apart By... | 3.5 |
| A Day In Black And White My Heroes Have Always Killed Cowboys | 3.5 |
| Jaco Pastorius Jaco Pastorius | 3.5 |
| My Bloody Valentine Loveless | 3.5 |
| Bright Eyes I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning | 3.5 |
| At the Drive-In Vaya | 3.5 |
| Sonic Youth Sister | 3.5 |
| The Decemberists Picaresque | 3.5 |
| Stars Set Yourself On Fire | 3.5 |
| Unwritten Law Elva | 3.5 |
| Trophy Scars Goodnight Alchemy | 3.5 |
| Ampere All Our Tomorrows End Today | 3.5 |
| These Arms Are Snakes This Is Meant To Hurt You | 3.5 |
| Burton Wagner In the Realms of the Unreal | 3.5 |
| Omar Rodriguez-Lopez A Manual Dexterity: Soundtrack Vol. 1 | 3.5 |
| Tera Melos Untitled | 3.5 |
| Soundtrack (Film) Once More With Feeling | 3.5 |
| Aspects of Physics Marginalized Information Forms One: Ping | 3.5 |
| TV on the Radio Return to Cookie Mountain | 3.5 |
| Joanna Newsom Ys | 3.5 |
| Husker Du Everything Falls Apart | 3.5 |
| Gregor Samsa Rest | 3.5 |
| The Mars Volta De-Loused in the Comatorium | 4.0 |
| blink-182 Cheshire Cat | 4.0 |
| Third Eye Blind Third Eye Blind | 4.0 |
| Pixies Bossanova | 4.0 |
| Pink Floyd The Final Cut | 4.0 |
| Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra Horses in the Sky | 4.0 |
| Say Anything ...Is a Real Boy | 4.0 |
| Alkaline Trio Alkaline Trio | 4.0 |
| Sufjan Stevens Illinois | 4.0 |
| The National Alligator | 4.0 |
| Hot Cross Cryonics | 4.0 |
| High on Fire Blessed Black Wings | 4.0 |
| Botch We Are the Romans | 4.0 |
| The Snake The Cross The Crown Mander Salis | 4.0 |
| Thrice Vheissu | 4.0 |
| Yndi Halda Enjoy Eternal Bliss EP | 4.0 |
| John Frusciante Curtains | 4.0 |
| Ry Cooder Paradise And Lunch | 4.0 |
| Rites of Spring End on End | 4.0 |
| Black Dice Beaches and Canyons | 4.0 |
| Bright Eyes Fevers & Mirrors | 4.0 |
| Raekwon Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... | 4.0 |
| A excellent solo Wu-Tang gem that basically paved the way for "gangsta" rap. Ghostface and Raekwon put in some of their best performances and "Rainy Dayz" is just one of the most perfect rap songs I've ever heard. The only problem is the album feels a tad overstuffed in comparison to "Liquid Swords" and "Enter the Wu-Tang", still this is a fantastic rap album and few records reach this level of infamy and greatness. |
| M. Ward Post-War | 4.0 |
| Navio Forge As We Quietly Burn A Hole Into... | 4.0 |
| Battle Of Mice A Day of Nights | 4.0 |
| Post metal with a touch of doom that is extremely original and disturbing. Fronted by the female lead singer of noise rock band Made Out of Babies, and featuring members from Red Sparowes, Pere Ubu, and The Fugees this album is an excellent array of great influences and great talent. Highly recommended! |
| Pharoahe Monch Desire | 4.0 |
| Ocrilim Annwn | 4.0 |
| Singer Unhistories | 4.0 |
| Deftones White Pony | 4.5 |
| The Dillinger Escape Plan Calculating Infinity | 4.5 |
| Jimmy Eat World Clarity | 4.5 |
| Joy Division Closer | 4.5 |
| Trophy Scars Hospital Music for the Aesthetics of Language | 4.5 |
| Pink Floyd Meddle | 4.5 |
| Sonic Youth Daydream Nation | 4.5 |
| Eminem The Slim Shady LP | 4.5 |
| Miles Davis Sketches of Spain | 4.5 |
| Godspeed You! Black Emperor Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada | 4.5 |
| Godspeed You! Black Emperor Yanqui U.X.O. | 4.5 |
| City of Caterpillar City of Caterpillar | 4.5 |
| Dead Kennedys Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables | 4.5 |
| At the Drive-In El Gran Orgo | 4.5 |
| dredg Catch Without Arms | 4.5 |
| Jaga Jazzist What We Must | 4.5 |
| The Get Up Kids Something to Write Home About | 4.5 |
| John Frusciante To Record Only Water for Ten Days | 4.5 |
| Scott Walker Tilt | 4.5 |
| GZA Liquid Swords | 4.5 |
| Toby Driver In the L..L..Library Loft | 4.5 |
| Off Minor Problematic Courtship | 4.5 |
| Comets on Fire Avatar | 4.5 |
| Say Anything ...Is A Real Boy (re-release) | 4.5 |
| Chad VanGaalen Infiniheart | 4.5 |
| Ry Cooder Chávez Ravine | 4.5 |
| An excellent south western American album that is almost perfectly executed. Conceptually based around the Mexican-American barrio in L.A. that was destroyed in the 1950s in order to make room for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Ry Cooder lightly addresses the subject in stunning fashion. "Don't Call Me Red" and "3rd Base, Dodger Stadium" are both perfect examples of Cooder's ability to combine his heritage with America's own musical culture. Highly recommended and really can be appreciated by any fan of music. |
| Pink Floyd Animals | 5.0 |
| Kayo Dot Choirs of the Eye | 5.0 |
| Pixies Surfer Rosa | 5.0 |
| Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here | 5.0 |
| Bob Dylan Blood on the Tracks | 5.0 |
| Wire Pink Flag | 5.0 |
| Circle Takes the Square As the Roots Undo | 5.0 |
| Pavement Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain | 5.0 |
| Bruce Springsteen The Rising | 5.0 |
| Eric B and Rakim Paid in Full | 5.0 |
| Modern Life Is War Witness | 5.0 |
| Pavement Slanted and Enchanted | 5.0 |
| Rites of Spring Rites of Spring | 5.0 |
| Minor Threat and Rites of Spring will always be a footnote in comparison to the popularity that Fugazi conjured in their long history. But if we follow the steps that lead to one of post-hardcore's finest bands we see two great discographies full of honest, thoughtful hardcore. Rites of Spring are usually credited with creating the genre of emo and with Guy Piccotto's ridiculous shrieks on this album and the legends of their live shows it's easy to see why. If you are a hardcore fan you should own this album, and that's all there is to it. If you aren’t a hardcore fan and looking to get into the genre this along with Black Flag’s Damaged and Minor Threat’s Discography are great starting points. |
