March 1, 2007

Subtle For Hero : For Fool [4/5] “A Tale Of Apes I,” the opening track to Subtle’s latest release, For Hero : For Fool, sounds like an odd melding of the Flaming Lips and Afrika Bambaataa. That fact alone guarantees that whether or not you like this album, it’s definitely going to be an interesting...

Cale Parks Illuminated Manuscript [4/5] Sometimes, a lack of words speaks much more loudly. Taking some time off from playing and recording with Aloha, multi-instrumentalist Cale Parks has decided to try his hand at a solo effort, and Illuminated Manuscript, in all its understated glory, is a perfect first step to a successful-and remarkably diverse-solo...

Jandek Glasgow Monday [4/5] For those not keeping tabs, there are two Jandeks: The reclusive Texan who’s released close to 50 positively unclassifiable albums since 1978; and the reclusive Texan who, after 26 years of anonymity, made his concert debut in October 2004. The two-CD Glasgow Monday, like 2005’s Glasgow Sunday, is a live set...

DJ Logic Zen Of Logic [4/5] People outside of turntablism often find albums from the genre to be hard to listen to. With DJ Logic, that’s rarely the case. Since 1990, the Bronx-based DJ has been on a mission to educate people on the use of the turntable as an instrument, as well as trying...

Cities Variations EP [3/5] What happens when the tight-wound post-rock of Chapel Hill hipsters Cities becomes the aural plaything of some of the most inventive laptop jockeys and knob twiddlers this side of DJ Krush? Well, lets just say for those of you familiar with Cities’ recently released anthemic, dirgy Coldplay-meets-Muse self-titled effort, Variations is...

Twelve Tribes Midwest Pandemic [4/5] Twelve Tribes tend to overstate their hardcore status and undervalue the metal content of Midwest Pandemic, which weighs in around 87 percent, with your basic hesher signifiers including 1) an obligatory anti-TV preacher rant (“Televangelist,” the best song Every Time I Die forgot to put on Hot Damn!), 2) a...

Totimoshi [4/5] That’s because this decidedly non-Japanese Bay Area power trio is heavy and swelling with sludge (much like Godzilla’s theoretical issue). On Totimoshi’s fourth full-length, they continue down the unlikely sonic path that has them scratching the edges of metal, punk and classic rock, yet never step far enough into any genre ghettos to...

Scars Of Tomorrow The Failure In Drowning [4/5] On the surface, Scars Of Tomorrow’s The Failure In Drowning has all the makings of your standard grunt-sing, breakdown-a-minute modern metalcore record; at times, Scars sound like a slew of similar groups (labelmates and buds Atreyu come to mind). What makes Scars’ fifth record so punishingly delightful,...

Righteous Jams Business As Usual [2/5] Boston hardcore is seemingly on the decline this year. Not only have Mental and Think I Care broken up, but the newest effort from Righteous Jams, Business As Usual, is lacking at best. And while the group’s sound was never a groundbreaking one, Business As Usual, more than anything...