CATEGORY: Music Reviews

Viva Voce
Get Yr Blood Sucked Out
Barsuk Records

Viva Voce are Anita and Kevin Robinson, a dynamic husband and wife duo from Portland, Oregon. With a truly tight-knit sound indicative of the relationship behind the music, Viva Voce’s latest album is a well-balanced combination of pensive and smoothly flowing ballads and lively independent rock.

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CATEGORY: Music Reviews

Thunderbirds Are Now!
Make History
Frenchkiss Records 

Is it just me, or does the title of this record sound a little pretentious? Make History, hmmmm… Are Detroit’s Thunderbirds Are Now! telling us to make history, or are they claiming that they do? Well, I don’t know, and it’s not important anyway.

What is important is that this, the band’s third full length release, second for French Kiss Records, is their best yet. I guess that doesn’t really say much right now, as I didn’t like the previous two albums. But, I will admit, Make History is better. I’ll even go as far as to say that it is a pretty good record in general.

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CATEGORY: Music Reviews

Jim Noir
Tower of Love
Barsuk Records

Since his first EP came out in June 2006, Alan Roberts, aka Jim Noir, has enjoyed the buzz created by his cheerfully vintage music. When Tower of Love, his debut full-length album, was released only two months later, interest only continued to grow.

Many indie rock bands have adopted vintage nuances as a part of their sound. Jim Noir, however, has taken this to a new level. Throughout Tower of Love, Noir does not waver from his middle-60s pop/rock sound. From melodies, to instrumentation, to background vocals, Jim Noir has me convinced of his mission to bring back the carefree music of the 60s era. With guitar and backup vocals very similar to those found in The Beatles’ “Tax Man,” “Tell Me What To Do” is a song that would fit in exceptionally well on the influential band’s Revolver album.

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CATEGORY: Music Reviews

Yo La Tengo
I’m Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass
Matador Records

For the last 10 years or so, Yo La Tengo has been releasing albums that are the textbook definition of a ‘mixed bag’. On the one hand, you get instant classics like “Sugarcube” from I Can Feel The Heart Beating As One or their smart take on “You Can Have It All” from 2000’s And Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out right next to extended jam songs, drone-y meanderings with no apparent point or end in sight, and experiments in incorporating the instrumentation and atmosphere of some of their influences that fall quickly flat.

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CATEGORY: Editor's Pick - Music Reviews

Tommy Guerrero
From the Soil to the Soul 
Quannum Records

Tommy Guerrero spent the better part of his youth riding a skateboard as a member of the much-vaunted Bones Brigade (where Tony Hawk got his start), but a little known fact about him during those years was that he was a musician as well. Sure, he played in the hilarious punk band, Free Beer, but it still seemed to come out of nowhere a few years back when he came out with his first album of instrumental funk and soul.

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CATEGORY: Music Reviews

If you are one of the 7 people who visit this website (you probably are) then you already know about the sweet Birdman Records contest we are running right now.  Seriously, I know this is my own website and it’s easy to lie to you and pretend the stuff we do is cool, but I am actually telling the truth here- this giveaway is killer.

The contest ends October 15th, which is, like, soon, so fill out the form below and enter now.

CATEGORY: Music Reviews

The Meeting Places
Numbered Days
Words-On-Music

It is pretty much a given that any music a band puts together is really the sum total of their influences. Yet, what separates the carbon copy groups from those that are trying to expand and further a sound is something quite hard to understand and even harder to quantify. Usually, we just accept that we know it when we hear it. In that regard, the young men of The Meeting Places unfortunately fall in to the former category of a band that sounds essentially like a mirror image of those groups that they know and love. It’s hard to fault The Meeting Places for drawing on the gorgeous work of groups like Ride, Chapterhouse and My Bloody Valentine, but it is harder to listen to a group try with all of their might to sound just like those bands and falling well short of the mark.

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CATEGORY: Music Reviews

Cale Parks
Illuminated Manuscript
Polyvinyl Records

Solo albums, or even side projects, are a dime a dozen these days, and here is yet another one. What sets this apart from the rest? It is the debut solo offering of Aloha drummer extraordinaire Cale Parks, and drummers just don’t tend to do solo albums. And, as much as I hate to say it, maybe this is a good example of why they don’t.

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CATEGORY: Editor's Pick - Music Reviews

Jennifer O’Connor
Over the Mountain, Across the Valley and Back to the Stars
Matador Records

After releasing two full-length records on a variety of miniscule independent labels, Jennifer O’Connor is finally getting her due. Having signed to Matador Records early this year, she was able to afford to put together the record we all knew she had in her. Her plaintive, country-tinged songs have always carried with them a stark immediacy that the small-time recording budget helped amplify, but even with a few extra dollars in the coffers, O’Connor’s songs are as affecting as ever.

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CATEGORY: Music Reviews

The Big Sleep
Son of the Tiger
(French Kiss Records)

One of New York City’s most prized independent music possessions, The Big Sleep is a rock band that combines the driving and defined beats of today’s rock music with the mind-expanding influences of their predecessors. New York media rave about them, and things are sure to continue heating up as more and more fans pre-order their copy of Son of the Tiger, which is due out on September 19.

Touted as one of New York’s best rock bands, The Big Sleep’s latest is sure to hit the streets with a bang. Psychedelic sounds combined with well-articulated drums allow listeners to let their minds wander without getting lost. “You Can’t Touch The Untouchable” is one of the defining tracks on Son of the Tiger. The bass and drums tightly hold everything together while the guitar and synthesizer take the listener to another place with drones and melodic nuances. “New Strings” is hopeful, expansive, carefree, and an excellent conclusion to the album. Melodically simple, the song gradually builds around a basic but beautiful three-cord guitar line.

Catch The Big Sleep’s exciting and energetic wave early–their music will carry you for miles.

MP3
Murder
You Can’t Touch the Untouchable

Websites
http://www.thebigsleep.net/
http://www.myspace.com/sonofthetiger
http://www.frenchkissrecords.com/