Another Breath - The God Complex
The God Complex If you're a fan of the late-'90s Trustkill Records roster, which included Harvest and Endeavor, then you'll love the supercharged sound of the upstate New York act Another Breath. However, if you think those bands sound dated today, then you'll probably think the same thing about The God Complex–an album that has more...
Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career
My Maudlin Career Going by the Belle & Sebastian career calendar-and why not, when that's where Camera Obscura got everything from their bookish aesthetic to their guitar tones–Glasgow's second most popular retro-brass sock-hop mopes should be well into their experimental phase by now. Instead, their brilliant orchestral-pop blueprint remains, thankfully, untouched. From the sound of...
Little Brazil - Son
Son The members of Little Brazil can’t possibly be old enough to make this record, a heartbreaking portrait of midlife despair and dysfunction as seen through the eyes of a dad who only wants his family back. With a church organ setting the tone, the disc starts in a state of wedded bliss with the...
Jason Lytle - Yours Truly, The Commuter
Yours Truly, The Commuter On Jason Lytle's solo debut, the artist better known as the voice and driving force behind defunct indie darlings Grandaddy delivers a richly textured work that is lovingly crafted and affectingly poignant. With spacey synthesizers, Elliott Smith-meets-Neil Young vocal melodies and the occasional rock-out moment, there's a strong sonic similarity to...
Tara Jane O'Neil - A Ways Away
A Ways Away Tara Jane ONeil doesn't so much write songs as she paints moods with music. A Ways Away is ONeil's sixth full-length as a solo artist (she's played with so many bands it's impractical to list them all, but start with Rodan, Retsin, Papa M and Ida). The album continues the sultry, sticky pattern she's...
John Vanderslice - Romanian Names
Romanian Names Analog purist John Vanderslice pares down the electro-folk brilliance of his previous releases to embrace a more modest ingenuity on Romanian Names. The LP begins restlessly with the thickly layered tempest "Tremble And Tear," a subtle introduction to a collection shivering with clingy, new-wave left turns. The moodiness doesn't stop there; the short line...
Viva Voce - Rose City
Rose City “Mawwiage,” said the Impressive Clergyman from The Princess Bride, “is what bwings us together today.” Husband-and-wife duo Kevin and Anita Robinson, aka Viva Voce, have never sounded more together than on Rose City, despite whipping together the album in just a few weeks. Hints of a less-distorted Jesus And Mary Chain (“Devotion”) and a ballsier...
The Wooden Birds - Magnolia
Magnolia As the Wooden Birds, singer/songwriter Andrew Kenny continues the minimal, repetition-heavy moves he pursued in American Analog Set. Eschewing his former coterie's angular guitar sound, his Birds give flight to sparse, mostly acoustic material. Minimal percussion provides a firm backing to the sometimes-folk, sometimes-pop songs, all coated in Kenny's ethereal vocals. He sings fragile...
Crippled Black Phoenix - 200 Tons of Bad Luck
200 Tons Of Bad Luck If there's anything disappointing about Crippled Black Phoenix's follow-up to their superb 2006 debut, A Love Of Shared Disasters, it's that the U.K. post-rock sorcerers rely too much on the sounds of others. Led by multi-instrumentalist Justin Greaves (ex-Iron Monkey) and Mogwai bassist Dominic Aitchison, CBP aptly describe their melancholy melodies...