The British press’ one-note (!) hype machine has cried wolf so many times over the years that Americans rarely even bother to read the headlines anymore, which may explain how the Klaxons have infiltrated our music press so innocently without even a whiff of disdain. They’ve been daubed with praise by English pens repeatedly for […]

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Kristin Hersh’s appeal has always been that she’s a little bit crazy in the best possible way, and listening to her records is like standing over her shoulder as she frantically writes in her diary. The emotions are bare and explicit and connect through her raw and piercing voice. But her voice has changed subtlely […]

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Restoring the beats to her arsenal, Bjork returns to her quirky, dance-oriented roots on her sixth studio album, Volta. On the experimental, conceptual Medulla, Bjork was at her most extravagantly indulgent, eschewing any semblance of commerciality in favor of the blissful sound of her own voice. Bjork literally built that record around her voice, as […]

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This Australian trio sounds like it has just discovered post-punk, playing it with a quick fuse and an urgency lacking in so many of its peers. The jagged and angular guitar work speaks to the ubiquitous Gang of Four, but, as in is the case with most post-punk, it’s the bass that leads the way. […]

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If you can close your eyes and pretend that this album isn’t just some thinly veiled cash-cow by three people who would just as soon never look at each other as record music together, then you can almost believe it was created by a great noisy rock band in its underground heyday. So, putting all […]

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A complacent, general snobbery has shunned Trent Reznor’s brand of industrial angst for years now, having relegated the sound over to the black-clad fruitcakes that show up at Korn shows. It’s difficult to straddle fame and integrity for any length of time, and Reznor’s allowed too many people to have a say in his business […]

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It’s true that the moment Blonde Redhead signed with the legendary 4AD records, the band’s sound changed significantly. Sure, it could be argued that its last record for Touch and Go, 2000’s Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons, hinted at the process with a notable reliance on keyboards, but once 2004’s Misery is a Butterfly was […]

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