Spins
Tift Merritt reviewed
Tift Merritt Another Country (Fantasy/Concord) As a country artist, Tift Merritt is unremarkable. That’s not an insult; it’s her career. You can go end-to-end on her third album and not once roll your eyes.
The Death Set reviewed
The Death Set Worldwide (Counter) If the Violent Femmes, Buzzcocks, and Faith No More have to meet somewhere, might as well be on Worldwide. Appearing: Friday, April 18th at Empty Bottle in Chicago.
American Music Club reviewed
American Music Club The Golden Age (Merge) The second American Music Club album since their 2004 revival shows what happens when someone wakes too early from their nap. Appearing: Saturday, April 12th at Schubas in Chicago.
The Grouch reviewed
The Grouch Show You The World (Legendary) If Murs is the star storyteller of California’s Living Legends hip-hop collective and Luckyiam the resident eccentric, then The Grouch is the crew’s laid-back everyman. With his umpteenth solo effort, this L.A.-based MC/producer is in his most meditative state and at times, most experimental.
Lo Fine reviewed
Lo Fine Not For Us Two (House In The Hills) Kevin O’Rourke, aka Lo Fine, sounds uncannily like Matthew Sweet, which does more for Not For Us Two than it should.
Dismember reviewed
Dismember untitled (Regain) They don’t get as much credit as Entombed — rightfully so — for shaping Swedish death metal, and in turn “death ‘n’ roll,” but Dismember were side-by-side in the trenches during the early days. It’s only fitting the band make a full return to the early days on their new album.
Outlaws Rise Again?
Various Artists Outlaw Country (Legacy) Amazingly, “outlaw country” has failed to be legitimately co-opted. Rap has proven you can buy your way in and out of being gangsta, but country fans have always separated white-trash chic from legit white trash. Crossing the fence can rack you: No one considers Hank Williams Jr. to be anymore […]
Avantasia reviewed
Avantasia The Scarecrow (Nuclear Blast) Give it to Tobias Sammet – Edguy frontman and Avantasia mastermind – for being ballsy: On a record of mostly four-to-six minute songs, he puts the only epic, the 11-minute title track, second in the sequence.
Be Your Own Pet reviewed
Be Your Own Pet Get Awkward (Ecstatic Peace/Universal) How do you defend against a band who pop off “I don’t wanna grow up” in their second album’s second verse — especially when they aren’t Toys R Us kids? Appearing: Thursday, June 12th at House Of Blues in Chicago.
Cryptacize reviewed
Cryptacize Dig That Treasure (Asthmatic Kitty) Dig That Treasure, among a zillion other impulses, encourages the reconsideration of duets, lullabies, and musicals. Appearing: Saturday, March 29th at Hideout in Chicago.
Janet Jackson reviewed
Janet Jackson Discipline (Island) Developed by the right people, Discipline could have altered the course of Janet Jackson as we know her. Nipplegate should have been a reinvention, a chance for a Jackson, any Jackson, to actually taste success in this millennium. For whatever reason she and her handlers are too scared to try.
Jaymay, Cahoone, & Gemini reviewed
Jaymay Autumn Fallin’ (Blue Note) Sera Cahoone Only As The Day Is Long (Sub Pop) Miwa Gemini This Is How I Found You (Addictive) A trio of March releases give a peak at the American singer-songwriter from an exclusively feminine perspective — at many of the same crossroads as men.
Brain Drill & Brainstorm reviewed
Brain Drill Apocalyptic Feasting (Metal Blade) Brainstorm Downburst (Metal Blade) A few write-ups have knocked Metal Blade for releasing CDs by Brain Drill and Brainstorm within a few weeks of each other, inferring the label wasn’t using its brain (nice, I know). Fans will be confused! They’ll go to the record store – yeah, right […]
Bottomless Pit reviewed
Bottomless Pit Hammer Of The Gods (Comedy Minus One) Bottomless Pit comprises former Silkworm mates Tim Midgett and Andy Cohen, who are still working past the death of drummer Michael Dahlquist in 2005. Hammer Of The Gods, fittingly, moves on as well. Appearing: March 28th at Empty Bottle in Chicago.
Grief Of War reviewed
Grief Of War A Mounting Crisis . . . As Their Fury Got Released (Prosthetic) If global distance covered really validates a musical trend’s worth, or at least strength, this whole thrash revival thing must be the real deal, ’cause Japanese kids are all over it.
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