jp_spins

As I await their third album release in two weeks, I'm revisiting the incredible debut album by Darkside, a collaboration between Dave Harrington and Nicolas Jaar.

This has got to be one of the most blissed-out, psychedelic pieces of electronica to be released in the last twenty years. There's clean, grooving bass lines, spacey guitar solos, and heavy droning synths that pull you into an amorphous landscape where direction is only hinted at in scattered fragments of crystalline ... read more

With themes of illegal immigration, loneliness, suicide, relationships and the arts (to name a few), the sophomore album from California indie rockers Cold War Kids has a similar feel lyrically to their debut Robbers & Cowards, but musically it's more loose and improvisational. Their signature blues rock sound is still all over these songs, but with threads that spool slowly outward as well as inward depending on where they start or how they end. For me, this is part of the charm of ... read more

Following two EPs of earnest, yearning blues rock British band Palace unleashed this incredible debut album that's raw, emotional and filled to the brim with an almost unbridled passion for life in all its joys and woes. Leo Wyndham's lead vocals are keening, calling out for a resolution to grief rather than accepting it at face value, especially on the glorious ode to positivity and bravery "Have Faith", and the galloping title track that speeds forward to a future removed ... read more

With the release of their thirteenth studio album approaching next month, I wanted to revisit the self-titled debut by one of the most underrated bands ever. As their name highlights a call for purity, their songs typically always follow suit. Husband and wife Don and Karen Peris along with band mates Mike Bitts and Steve Brown take themes of family, romantic relationships and spirituality to transcendent heights with thoughtful, understanding lyrics and careful instrumentation. Karen Peris has ... read more