Gary Numan And Tubeway Army Replicas Beggars Banquet By: Eric Greenwood Taking the stilted, jerky structure of the first Tubeway Army album to the next logical level, Gary Numan created his own streamlined, space-age world, where synthesizers replaced guitars as the driving force behind the icy music. This was the defining moment of the synth-pop […]

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A Camp S/t Stockholm By: Eric Greenwood The first solo album from The Cardigans" frontwoman, Nina Persson, is a darkly melodic affair. With Sparklehorse’s Mark Linkous adding his gothic American touch to the proceedings as producer and guitarist, Persson glides through this batch of hypnotic balladry almost effortlessly. Well, it only seems so effortless because […]

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Baleen Soundtrack To A Normal Life Liquilab By: Eric Greenwood This Charlotte, North Carolina quintet fuses eerie electronics with ambient, dub textures, African polyrhythms, and a standard rock set up, creating a woozy, somewhat indulgent atmosphere akin to the sample-heavy output on the Mute Records roster, circa 1995. Baleen isn"t necessarily interested in melody, but […]

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Various Artists- A Tribute To Weezer Rock Music Deaddroid Records By: Eric Greenwood In a preemptive strike against the inevitable balking at a Weezer tribute this early in the game, the biography accompanying Deaddroid Records" wholly unnecessary Weezer tribute claims that "if you name your current favorite indie rock/punk/emo band, you"ll probably also be naming […]

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Mates Of State Our Constant Concern Polyvinyl By: Japanese Correspondent, Patrick Doherty The latest release from San Francisco"s Mates Of State evokes many of the same aspects of its debut from two years ago: slightly bizarre vocal harmonies, poppy organ melodies, and somewhat obscure lyrics about the advantages of long-term relationships. Reviewers of the band […]

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Sorry About Dresden The Convenience Of Indecision Saddle Creek By: Eric Greenwood There"s no real shame in being an average band. The members of Sorry About Dresden must just be interested in other things besides becoming a good band, and that"s cool. Bands aren"t for everyone. I just hope they pick out their new careers […]

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Printed Circuit Reprints Catmobile By: Eric Greenwood Printed Circuit"s retro-electro pop is memorable simply because of the dichotomy of unsophisticated melodies and complicated beats. She marries her Kraftwerkian melodies to computer-generated stutters and pulses with a childlike sense of awe and innocence. Such groundwork creates quite a playground for disparate remixers, and Reprints showcases such […]

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