March 10, 2009

Martin Rev Les Nymphes [3.5/5] Along with Alan Vega, Martin Rev of New York punks Suicide reinvented the definition of the genre every time he set foot onstage in the mid- to late ’70s. Armed only with Rev’s keyboard and Vega’s snarling vocals, Suicide would be put on when club owners wanted the room cleared...

Murs Murs For President [4.5/5] “Signed with the devil, brought the scene up a level, kill the beast from within, I’m a born-again rebel,” raps Murs on “Can It Be (Half A Million Dollars And 18 Months Later),” addressing his recent jump to a major label with his latest, Murs For President. In fact, the...

Roots Manuva Slime & Reason [3.5/5] Three years ago, South London’s Roots Manuva seemingly retreated from the U.K. hip-hop competition he’d paved the way for, recording a set of muted, muttered experimental productions dubbed Awfully Deep. But Manuva-aka Rodney Smith-has returned from those murky depths, applying his Jamaican roots to a handful of dancehall-inspired gems...

Look Daggers Suffer In Style [3/5] You might expect a hip-hop outfit under the musical direction of the always-challenging Mars Volta keyboardist Ikey Owens to deliver an album of bloated experimentation. And while there are plenty of jazzy excursions on Suffer In Style, like the herky-jerky keyboard brass bounce of "That Look," the surprise is...

Dr. Dooom Dr. Dooom 2 [2/5] Exactly twice to date, Kool Keith has come up with a really good album-length concept (Dr. Octagonecologyst, Sex Style); he’s fallen short of the mark several other times (Matthew, Black Elvis/Lost In Space). This dyspeptic new offering is another miss. Keith has beef with rappers who sell more records...

Astronautalis Pomegranate [3/5] Like his peers Cex and Why?, Astronautalis has been slowly expanding beyond the confines of hip-hop. On his first disc for Eyeball, the Florida native has almost abandoned rapping all together, carrying out an indie-folk vibe instead. However, the songs that stand out on Pomegranate aren’t the one’s that follow a new...

These Arms Are Snakes Tail Swallower And Dove [4.5/5] These Arms Are Snakes have mastered the often overlooked art of clever yet succinct songwriting, and Tail Swallower And Dove, the band’s latest (and greatest), plays like a graduate-level course in the discipline. Having already proven their mettle on stage and in the studio with 2006’s...

See You Next Tuesday Intervals [3.5/5] We’re still not down with their moniker, but we will back See You Next Tuesday’s über-menacing, technical, discordant sound. More far-reaching than the grind-heavy redundancy of 2007’s Parasite, Intervals shows the Michigan four-piece exploring the further regions of heavy music. They commence the 17-track affair with a clanging drone...