Arling All-in Emperor Norton By: Kerry Lately it seems like everyone wants to cover more ground than the next guy, always using the most bizarre samples and sounds, referencing the most underated musicians and creating the most eclectic sound possible. I suppose we could call it the “Beck” effect, but he just brought genre hopping […]

[Read more →]

Silkworm Blueblood Touch And Go By: Eric G. Blueblood is the sixth LP for Silkworm on almost as many labels. This one keeps the self-effacing lyrics and vocals that teeter on the brink of collapse, but tones down some of the abrasion of past releases. You can still tell that they use huge amps by […]

[Read more →]

Barcelona Simon Basic March By: Eric G. I had long thought indie-pop been dead and a relic of the early nineties, but this record proved me wrong. Barcelona plays unabashedly happy guitar pop with deliberately nerdish boy-meets-girl vocals, catchy moog lines, and hook-infested choruses. This could have come out on K Records in 1991 and […]

[Read more →]

Barry Adamson The Murky World Of Barry Adamson Mute By: Eric G. Barry Adamson has some heavy-duty props under his belt. He played bass for Manchester’s influential Magazine for four years before a brief stint with The Birthday Party, which led to his being a founding member of Nick Cave’s Bad Seeds. He left the […]

[Read more →]

Beth Orton Central Reservation Arista By: Eric G. Beth Orton’s third album, Central Reservation, steers away from the electronic bleats and beats of her breakthrough Trailerpark, bringing her hazy, gray folkiness to the forefront. Orton’s voice is nothing short of angelic. It posesses an inherent meloncholy in its sullen cadence that could take even the […]

[Read more →]

The Blair Witch Project Directed By Dan Myrick Artisan By: Eric G. I tried so hard to be scared by this movie, but I just couldn’t do it. I don’t know if it’s because I knew too much from all the hype or if my expectations were too high. Whatever the case I wasn’t scared. […]

[Read more →]

Blur 13 Virgin/food By: Eric G. “What’s fifty feet long and has no pubes? Front row of a Blur gig.” This joke by Blur bassist Alex James can surely no longer be true. Perhaps, back in 1995 when Blur reached cartoon-size proportions with singles like “Country House” and “Charmless Man” hot on the heals of […]

[Read more →]