Dir En Gray
Dir En Gray Withering To Death [3/5] Now five albums old, Dir en grey have been one of Japan’s bigger rock bands for nearly a decade, with a glam sense of style and a postmodern tendency to jump giddily between genres. Frontman Kyo sings like he has an iPod full of HIM and Cradle Of...
Boy Sets Fire - The Misery Index: Notes From The Plague Years
Boy Sets Fire The Misery Index: Notes From The Plague Years Boy Sets Fire have been forced to sit on The Misery Index: Notes From The Plague Years for more than a year, thanks to their (now former) label sitting on it, reportedly because they “didn’t hear a single.” Apparently, the label didn’t actually listen...
The Autumn Offering
The Autumn Offering Revelations Of The Unsung [2/5] An old-school hesher acquaintance of mine once pointed out that metal’s originality level would never be the same once tab books from Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth started hitting stores. Ol’ Knuckles (no, really, that was his nickname) may have had a point, as it would be...
Prefuse 73
Prefuse 73 Security Screenings [3/5] After 2005’s guest-star-loaded Surrounded By Silence, underground hip-hop wunderkind Prefuse 73 (a.k.a. Scott Herren) has retreated to diminished-expectations mode. He claims Security Screenings isn’t a follow-up to Silence, and it carries all the warning signs of those dreaded albums artists make just for themselves. The jagged instrumentals, flecked with street...
P.O.S.
P.O.S. Audition [5/5] The Minneapolis-based Rhymesayers label definitely knows its hip-hop; and from Eyedea & Abilities to Atmosphere, it’s launched the careers of some of the best in the genre. The latest is P.O.S., an MC whose diverse sound comes from an equal love of punk rock and rap. The production on Audition is like...
The Ladies
The Ladies They Mean Us [3/5] Has Pinback singer Rob Crow tamed Hella drummer Zach Hill? Or has Hill’s noise rock corrupted Crow’s sweet-but-skewed indie pop? Judging from their new collaboration as the Ladies, Hill has the edge: How much you’ll enjoy They Mean Us depends largely on your patience with his fractured drumming. It’s...
His Name Is Alive
His Name Is Alive Detrola [3/5] Over 13 years, His Name Is Alive carved out a niche of lush, flowery recordings within the storied 4AD label. Now working under the new Sony imprint Silver Mountain, HNIA leader Warn Defever’s artful collective are bounding into stranger territory while retaining the dreamily sensuous female vocals (using three...
Various Artists
Various Artists Take Action! Volume 5 [4/5] Although in most cases the art of the compilation has turned into the art of smart marketing, there was a time when comps were more than just label samplers–which is to say, they stood for something, as well as sold it. And while it’d be silly to think...
Fifth Hour Hero
Fifth Hour Hero Not Revenge… Just A Vicious Crush [4/5] Prior to this release, Fifth Hour Hero’s music reeked of potential like a motorcycle that’d been shipped in parts. The individual pieces were flashy enough when unassembled, but the whole wasn’t ready to take off and roar on its own. Well, on Not Revenge… Just...