This is, without question, a phenomenal and important album. It is urgent, it is present, and it is layers and layers deep. Though the title hints at the current state of societal upheaval in the US, this album seems to instead speak directly to the state of upheaval and personal change that LCDS frontman James Murphy has experienced in the last several years (it has been 7 years since the last LCDS album). At times celebratory in tone while at others deeply moving, this album runs the full ... read more

See my full review at :

https://grewupongrunge.blogspot.com/2017/08/august-album-review-qotsa-villains.html

Peace,
Br.

Public Service Broadcasting are as unique to music as is believably possible; they have essentially taken technology and fused it with history as a means of telling powerful narratives in the most original of ways. If you're new to the band, they are a duo (that recently became a trio) from London who use live drums and guitars, looping pedals, a laptop, and most uniquely, samples taken from specifically themed historical subjects (in place of lyrics) as a means of telling a story...

Read my ... read more

Read my full review at:

https://grewupongrunge.blogspot.com/2017/08/august-album-review-war-on-drugs-deeper.html

Peace,
Br.

Here's the link to my blogpost @grewupongrunge...

https://grewupongrunge.blogspot.ca/2017/08/august-album-review-grizzly-bear.html

Not really what I'm into but there are still some strong songs here, especially 'The Moth'

The build-up to an album release by the six-piece band Arcade Fire is always filled with incredible excitement and anticipation, similar to that of other giants of the "alternative" or "indie" genre like Radiohead, such is the quality of their previous releases. Truly, were they to retire today, there is still little question that they would go down as one of the most important bands of this and likely many generations. The hallmarks of this band are what many bands would ... read more

There's little that can be said that's different than what I've thought before...
- strong instrumentation, especially percussion
- lots of creative energy
- average vocals that stray towards below-average too often and never keep up with the music

This album started so well but then it all fell off the rails by the fifth song and I don't think it ever came close to recovering...

I don't know that any album in recent memory has haunted me like this album has. Evocative of Marvin Gaye's 1971 classic "What's Goin' On", the second album by Atlanta-based Algiers is very much rooted in the shifting political and cultural sands of present-day America and openly questions throughout the record just what the hell has happened to the country they thought they knew. The uncertainty the band feel about their nation's current reality and its troubled past comes storming ... read more

This band, though I can appreciate their ability, does nothing for me

Beyond the incredible use of amps and pedals, there isn't enough here to keep me captivated

I love the spirit of invention of this band almost as much as I appreciate their incredible ability to craft a unique sound in so many unconventional ways

it would also seem that the primary complaint of critics lies in their inability to place the band in a specific genre, which is so very interesting a topic of discussion...

At least as far as "Subtemple" is concerned, did Burial forget that he is a musician and thus should at least attempt to create "music"? "Beachfires" was a lot closer at least...

An album that does a lot musically, but not much vocally...

The first half of this album is startlingly bold and beautiful but it really falls off in quality after the song "Wreath", with the majority of the second half meandering too slowly, the pacing of which does nothing to help songs in which Hadreas' voice is already too delicate

"No great genius has ever existed without some touch of madness"
- Aristotle

Bonobo, aka British DJ Simon Green, is exceptionally talented at creating music that invokes a feeling of expansion and space, both of which are created gently and sometimes subtly as opposed to the percussive bass drops and drum beats that many associate with this style of music. He also never shies away from injecting new instruments or cultural connections into his music that exist within the sound that he has already mastered as opposed to being a jarring addition or an obvious ... read more

I don't really care for lead singer Hannah Joy's vocals, though I can appreciate the ridiculous variety in her vocal effects, ranging from Lera Lynn to Angel Olsen to Stevie Nicks. Then there's the music, which chugs along without doing much of note aside from some real quality moments of bass propelling the song forward...

see more at:
http://grewupongrunge.blogspot.com/2017/02/br-reviews-middle-kids-middle-kids-ep.html

I am not a big fan of synthesizers, especially as the primary form of instrumentation, so that aspect of this album definitely threw up some challenges. At times reminiscent of LCD Soundsystem and (sadly) at others of late 1980s pop songs (especially 'Lazerbeams', the album's weakest individual track), the synth-driven melodies never over-powered any of the songs...

see more at:
http://grewupongrunge.blogspot.com/2017/03/brs-review-david-bazan-care.html