November 29, 2005

Weerd Science Friends And Nervous Breakdowns [3]That howling sound you hear is closed-minded fans discovering that Coheed And Cambria drummer Josh Eppard’s secret career is actually in hip-hop. But, like it or not, Eppard/Weerd Science makes a completely credible producer and MC. He has a refreshing disinterest in the lo-fi abstractions that dominate rap’s underground,...

odd nosdam Burner [4] Continuing the obsessive project started by his old outfit, cLOUDDEAD, odd nosdam further smudges the line between shoegazer rock and hip-hop with Burner, the follow-up to his 2003 debut disc, no more wig for ohio. Nosdam submerges his introverted, head-nodding beats beneath oscillating blankets of warped keyboards and guitars, forging a...

Four Tet Everything Ecstatic [2] A running joke among music reviewers is that “interesting” is really code for “I’ll never listen to it again.” Textbook example: the fourth release from Fridge guitarist Kieran Hebden’s electronic-holiday project, Four Tet. The clattery, cut-and-paste jazz-funk is suitably complex-impressive, even-on the rumbling breakbeat swing of “Sun Drums And Soil.”...

C-Rayz Walz Year Of The Beast [3] Before making his second album, C-Rayz Walz allegedly burned his old notebooks. We can wish he’d instead given them to G-Unit or Ja Rule, but the Big Apple veteran evidently has plenty of material left for himself. “I walk through the ghetto/holding my dic… tionary," he pointedly puns,...

Gorillaz Demon Days [3] The world’s finest animated band, Gorillaz, shocked many in 2001 with their self-titled debut album and smash single, “Clint Eastwood.” After two remix discs, Demon Days is the proper follow-up to Gorillaz, and it adheres to its predecessor’s casually clever mish-mashing of styles (hip hop, dub, reggae, orchestral pop) while casting...

Six Feet Under 13 [3] Six Feet Under’s popularity in the death-metal underground is still partially due to vocalist Chris Barnes’ time in Cannibal Corpse-but mostly because his new band play to the lowest common denominator of metal enthusiast. Their metal is the ultimate complement to a night of double-fisting Schlitz while your IQ melts...

Extol The Blueprint Dives [2] Norway’s Extol have gone through black/death, prog and thrash themed albums, and with The Blueprint Dives, they attempt to tackle the crooning vocals and über-melodic alt-metal of Deftones-with limited success. The first two tracks, “Gloriana” and “Soul Deprived,” will have you thinking Extol can do no wrong-of course, that’s before...

Bloodlined Calligraphy They Want You Silent [3] The press kit accompanying They Want You Silent bulges with accolades pertaining to how Bloodlined Calligraphy frontwoman Ally French’s voice belies her petite feminine frame while supposedly also laying waste to most of her male peers. However, we’re more interested in figuring out how, in this day of...

Discover America Psychology [5] Chris Staples, the one-man band known as Discover America, possesses one of the most casually compelling voices heard in recent memory. Devoid of self-conscious cool, snotty aggression and ostentatious distress, his voice maintains its uncanny charm while his song structures shift from romantic ballads to blues struts to dance-pop. His fully...