Mojave 3 Out Of Tune Sire/4ad By: Eric G. When Creation Records dropped Slowdive in 1995 that pretty much signaled the end of the shoegazer era, which had, in all honesty, far outstayed its welcome. Almost no band lumped in that genre survived: Ride completely fell apart after Going Blank Again, Lush just got awful, […]

[Read more →]

Shakespeare In Love Directed By John Madden Miramax By: Eric G. For those of you well-versed in Elizabethan literature and culture, Shakespeare In Love will surely not disappoint, as there are countless inside jokes and high brow references at which only an educated elite will chuckle. I know this because a Shakespearean professor sat behind […]

[Read more →]

Smog Knock Knock Drag City By: Eric G. Smog a/k/a Bill Callahan is no stranger to self-indulgence or self-parody, but he would never admit it. He never even cracks a smile. Take the cover art of Knock Knock, for example. It looks like a bad metal band’s album cover complete with demonic calligraphy and bolts […]

[Read more →]

The Magnetic Fields The House Of Tomorrow Ep (reissue), Holiday (reissue) Merge By: Eric G. In 1993 Stephin Merritt, thankfully, decided to stop using Susan Anway as a mouthpiece for his Casio-driven, lovelorn ditties as he had on two previous albums, Distant Plastic Trees and The Wayward Bus. Merritt’s Frank Sinatra-meets-Ian Curtis baritone croon presents […]

[Read more →]

Seaweed Actions And Indications Merge By: Eric G. When Nevermind was breaking big almost eight years ago, Tacoma, Washington’s Seaweed was churning out grunge-tinged pop punk for Sub Pop that was emotional, energetic, and uncharacteristically melodic. Each album got better, and, with Four, Seaweed was poised for bigger and better things. The band signed with […]

[Read more →]

The Fantastic Plastic Machine S/T Emperor Norton By: Eric G. Tomoyuki Tanaka is the brains behind The Fantastic Plastic Machine, which is a familiar amalgam of kitsch-y 60’s pop, bossa nova disco, and Japanese humor. Tanaka keeps things brassy and bright with lots of swirling bass lines and retro-sounding horn arrangements. His sound is less […]

[Read more →]

God Is My Co-pilot Get Busy Atavistic By: Eric G. God Is My Co-Pilot has been churning out a semi-improvisational no wave racket for the better part of the decade. Led by Sharon Topper and Craig Flanagin, God Is My Co-Pilot is an ongoing experiment in music, sexual identification, and cultural dilettantism. Sometimes its gay […]

[Read more →]