10 Y.N.X.716 – “DIE BROKE (Instrumental)” Buffalo’s Y.N.X.716 comes like a thief in the night this year, billed on Bandcamp as a”lyricist” but apparently beholden to some pretty substantial forays, this instrumentals EP spanning 22 minutes and sounding very much the work of a professional like Pete Rock or Jay Dee. .. 9 Andrew […]
10 divr – “As of Now” “As of Now” is a keen, austere adventure in minimalist jazz from Swiss unit divr. As is fitting with the trend these days, the instrumentation isn’t as “jazzy” as are the intervals, phrasings and general oblong approaches to song construction, many of which may be governed by rudiments as […]
As a music nerd of unconscionable proportions, I get up in an unwieldly tizzy when people are ignorant of music. Now, obviously, they’re probably just not as psychotic about it as me. Still, say, when the only Counting Crows song I have any chance of hearing is “Mr. Jones”; I find exception, as August and […]
10 Blue Ocean – “Ode” Oakland is certainly a cinematic place these days, in its own right — for all its economic disaster and mass sports-team-exodus, there seems to be a rash of individuals there taking music very seriously, down to the sophisticated details. Blue Ocean is twee pop with a drum machine and a […]
I did one of these posts for Wilco, too, and truthfully, they both probably stand no chance of creation on account of label restraints. But the mission statement is clear on both: showcase the band’s best material on clear, analog sound, and pare things down to a $20 piece of merchandise that can be stuffed […]
10 Blur – “Barbaric” On “Barbaric,” Britpop heavy-hitters Blur go in a pretty typical directions for rock bands nearing the ends of their careers, which would be electronic, or at least the drum machine territory. A beautifully resigned and catchy chorus then paints the perfect disaffected picture of this malady: “I have lost the feeling […]
25 “Sand” (Farmhouse) 24 “Horn” (Rift) 23 “Julius” (Hoist) 22 “Dogs Stole Things” (Hampton Comes Alive) 21 “Maze” (Rift) 20 “Billy Breathes” (Billy Breathes) 19 “Water in the Sky” (The Story of the Ghost) 18 “Wolfman’s Brother” (Hoist) 17 “Sparkle” (Rift) 16 “Bouncing around the Room” (A Live One) 15 “Cavern” (Hampton Comes Alive) 14 […]
I’m not sure what existential forces are at work here but we’ve now come to the age of the “Credit Union 1 Center,” an ampitheatre in the Chicago suburb of Tinley Park operating under the tenuous premise of providing meaningful experiences to anyone. It’s no big deal — it’s just the main venue I grew […]