Stereolab return after 15 years with an album bursting with character. Instant Holograms On Metal Film is chock-fill with kraut-rock, avant-garde electro pop, and keeps the listener on their feet through the whole hour long playtime.

Lætitia Sadier's vocals are beautiful, with a chilling effortlessness. The band sound as sharp as ever, crafting tight grooves that keep the album motoring forward.

Although Stereolab keeps a constant sound across the record, the songs don't ... read more

AotW 1 15/15:

Dan's Boogie, Destroyer's latest album, is another interesting change in pace. Bejar brings a flashier sound than usual, full of spontaneity and grandeur. On first listen, I didn't want to enjoy the album. It is grand to the point of it being corny, Bejar doing everything and anything he wants musically, simply because he can. But despite this, the album brings an undeniable beauty. Destroyer simply cannot be written off.

Dan's Boogie is aptly named, being ... read more

AotW 1 14/15:

LABRYNTHITIS is an enigmatic masterpiece. Destroyer returns with another sonically stunning, mind baffling, ear feast of an album. This may be one of Destroyer's most perplexing albums, with no clear direction until the journey is complete.

LABYRYNTHITIS is an ear infection that can cause vertigo, dizziness, and hearing loss. And what a fitting album name it is. Throughout the album, Destroyer dizzies the listener with sharp musical changes song by song, leaving one unable ... read more

AotW 1 13/15:

Have We Met is the album that introduced me to Destroyer. I remember being taken aback by Crimson Tide and Cue Synthesizer, but didn't venture further into his music until a while after (big mistake). I loved the confidence with which Bejar seemed to demand the music to exist around him. It seemed lie he didn't feel the need to blow the listener away with stunning vocal performances; he knew that he could simply let the music carry him, let it speak for itself.

That ... read more

AotW 1 12/15:

Destroyer's ken is an intriguing album. Perhaps not as full of standout tracks as we've come to expect, the album reads like a complete story, far better as an album than when picking out individual tracks.

ken is more akin to Kaputt in style, trading the orchestral/jazz style of Poison Season for a heavily synth driven sound. Electronic minimalism permeates the album, with many arrangements being stripped back and precise. Bejar's vocal delivery is more ... read more

AotW 1 11/15:

Poison Season is a beautifully downplayed album in Destroyer's catalogue. It features significantly more jazz elements and strig arrangements than on any previous record, and is a sonic feast of warm bass, smooth saxophone, and stunning violin. With these, Bejar masterfully builds tension, while delivering some of his most honest sounding lyrics yet.

Poisson Season is a noir-tinted affair, rich and evocative and emotionally poised. Bejar employs restraint, carefully ... read more

AotW 1: 10/15

And reinvent themselves they did! Kaputt is another bold and sophisticated pivot away from expectations. Kaputt trades guitars for smooth bass, airy synths, and icy detachment, marking the most daring and best realized shift in Destroyer's restless catalogue yet. The sax and flute work are simply transcendent.

Guest vocalist (Sibel Thrasher I believe, correct me if I'm wrong) adds an amazing performance, complimenting the raspy, idiosyncratic vocals of Dan Bejar ... read more

Trouble in Dreams is another strong addition to Destroyer's catalouge, but feels strangely out of place. It feels like a regression, both sonically and structurally, to Destroyer's style and sound before This Night. Often seen as a continuation of Rubies, I feel it is more correct to say its a step back, with the band reigning its creativity ever so slightly.

While the songwriting remains sharp and Bejar's lyrics as dense and abstract as ever, the album feels less ambitious ... read more

Destroyer's Rubies trades the cold midi arrangements of Your Blues to deliver a warm, rock orientated album, ironically with more blues inspiration. With a full-band arrangement, and a heavier reliance on guitar, drums, and piano, Destroyer pivots back to the sound of This Night and Thief, while maintaining the surrealistic atmosphere he has learned to conjure on albums like Your Blues and Streethawk.

The music feels looser than before, and the songs all burst with confidence, more so ... read more

AotW 1: 7/15

With Your Blues, Destroyer once again pivots away from expectation. Replacing the guitars and band arrangements of his previous two albums are synthesizers and midi orchestrations. This marks Bejar's first real embrace of the synthetic textures that would become a key element of his sound going forward,

With digital compositions, Destroyer creates cold, synthetic soundscapes, backed by a sense of theatrical grandeur. Notorious Lightning opens the album with a bold ... read more

AotW 1: 6/15

On This Night, Destroyer takes a sharp left turn. After the clean, polished sound of Streethawks: A Seduction, Bejar lets loose, delivering a sprawling, textured record, bursting with tension. His experimental choices are back, and on This Night, Destroyer holds nothing back.

The record starts strong, and holds its weight throughout. Majority of the record feels distant, like reflections from a life once lived. Dan Bejar’s vocals are stronger than ever, as he carves out ... read more

AotW 1: 5/15:

Streethawk: A Seduction is regarded as the album where Destroyer truly comes into his own sound. With crisp mixing, beautiful instrumentation, and dense lyrics, it does feel as though Bejar has found his sound. This is his most melodic record yet, with less emphasis on creating atmosphere, and more on melodic excellence.

However, this crisp production and emphasis shift leave the album feeling a little sparse of character. Where on Thief and City of Daughters, Bejar kept ... read more

AotW 1: 4/15

On Thief, Destroyer is no longer hiding behind lo-fi fog or skeletal demos, but delivers a full, lush album that demands attention.

Thief feels the most full of his first four projects. Dan Bejar gives listeners full-band arrangements, with more concise lyrical matter.

Dan Bejar still brings his experimental edge on Thief, but now allows for this experimentalism to apply to his voice too. It results in melodic songs that are equally interesting as they are accessible. Right ... read more

AOTW 1: 3/15

On City of Daughters, Destroyer’s unique sound starts to seriously take form. Dan Bejar returns a man unafraid of his voice. City of Daughters exudes confidence.

Abandoning the chaotic lo-fi haze of his anti-folk beginnings, City of Daughters offers something far more refined: musical space. Where the first two records felt tangled and restless, this one breathes. Crisp guitars, elegant keys, and delicate arrangements replace the rough, chaotic sound. The result is baroque ... read more

Destroyer’s second album, Ideas For Songs, provides listeners with a notably more coherent experience than it’s predecessor. On Ideas For Songs, Dan Bejar has grown in confidence, but still comes across as fearful of his own voice. Whether this is intentional or not is for the listener to decide.

Aptly named, Ideas For Songs is a collection of songs that feel more like demos than actual songs. Destroyer’s ideas are either half-formed or overly formed without production to ... read more

My 1st “Artist of the Week”

Destroyer’s debut is innocent enough. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, which is to its benefit. We’ll Build Them a Golden Bridge feels like kids in the basement messing around with instruments, learning through trial and error.

Destroyer plays with Lo-Fi, Anti-Folk sounds, far removed from his later sound. Inspiration from artists like Elliot Smith and Silver Jews shines through, and this homage may be one of the albums strongest ... read more