The tongue-in-cheek nature of both Franz Ferdinand and Sparks respective creative outputs has always been a core component of the bands image and critical reception. After teasing the FFS project over a decade ago, the album has finally come to fruition as a marriage of two sounds that, not so surprisingly for those familiar with either act, work perfectly. The bands as separate entities have made it clear this union isn’t a vanity project, but a new creative energy, and the recorded ... read more

Florence Welch, anecdotally in the press, has made it abundantly clear her creative process is filled with self-doubt. It’s strange to think of an artist as singular and unique as Welch (who produced one of the most headstrong and fully-formed debuts of this new century in “Lungs”), as unsure of herself, but “How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful”, like sophomore record “Ceremonials” before it, suffers from there being too many voices not only in ... read more

Sincerity isn’t always easy to convey, in life and in art. Too often, a message meant to be delivered with the best intentions gets muddled in the translation from presenter to listener. It’s an astounding feat that Sufjan Stevens, who is capable of delivering both confounding and accessible songwriting from one of the widest ranging palates in modern music, can deliver a record as personal as “Carrie & Lowell”, and never have the subject matter or presentation feel ... read more

Some albums as an experience, are engrossing and engaging musically, and don’t need any context to make their message clear. While “Multi-Love” is a full of dynamic textures, phenomenal musicianship, and “bedroom music” style production, the real story on this record exists in the personal discovery (and turmoil) that UMO’s mastermind Ruben Nielsen was experiencing during the album cycle. Happily married, father-of-two Ruben, long story short, entered in to a ... read more

Jamie xx, as both a driving force behind The xx and his own electronic music career, has an instantly distinguishable tone. His music has a calming fluidity, it’s smoky and liquid, often creating tracks that in the hands of other producers could be overdriven bangers. Instead, he carves out meditative moments, dancehall music that you could dream and rave to at a high volume. It felt like a forgone conclusion that his debut solo album would be at worst a consistent effort, but now? ... read more

Kendrick Lamar was practically peerless before “To Pimp A Butterfly”, but now this spiritual and soulful MC stands alone, with one of the boldest artistic statements in hip-hop’s entire history. Lamar has lived within the lowest levels of urban society, and earned a meteoric rise to the other side of the spectrum, but never forgetting where he came from. It’s his wide-eyed attitude of looking forward and seeking the artistic beauty in even the darkest places that has set ... read more

While Queens of the Stone Age were on hiatus, many of their members went on to make some of the most exciting music of each of their respective catalogs: frontman Josh Homme formed Them Crooked Vultures with Dave Grohl and Jon Paul Jones, keyboardist Dean Fertita threw himself into TWO stunning records with The Dead Weather, and bassist Michael Schuman quietly formed Mini Mansions, with LA session musicians Zach Dawes and Tyler Parkford. Their self-titled debut (released in 2010) went largely ... read more

The music scene in Las Vegas isn’t exactly a young persons game these days. Full of lengthy stands by artists of yesteryear, (and varying degrees of talent), the most prominent act to emerge from Sin City in the last decade is Imagine Dragons, and the less said about them, the better. That’s part of why it’s beyond refreshing to see a fully formed talent come out of the gate with such a headstrong debut as a solo act from any genre. Shamir Bailey’s album is bursting with ... read more

It’s not uncommon for a band to claim their new album is “the best they’ve ever done” when promoting a new record. It is uncommon, however, for most bands to deliver on their own claim, unless that band is Hot Chip, and the album in question is “Why Make Sense?”, because this might just be the best album they’ve ever made. In the process of attempting to capture, on record, the infectious energy and uncontrollable sense of “fun” found at a ... read more

Since the last My Morning Jacket record, 2011’s “Circuital”, a funny thing happened to Americana music: a group of thick-headed Brits came in, and appropriated pretty much anything they could from the “folk” community, and its offshoots, leaving a host of bands standing there, waiting for the dust to settle. It seems hardly a coincidence that those idiots have (hopefully) tanked their inexplicable career, releasing a dud of an album the same week that My Morning ... read more

Django Django are clearly talented. Their debut was a bright, unique take on well-known elements of math rock and indie pop. Even those who would classify their music as pretentious or inaccessible would find it difficult not to concede aspects of that. There were, however, some glaringly obvious issues on their self-titled debut, and unfortunately, they’re highlighted on this second outing, the lackluster “Born Under Saturn”. At 42 minutes, their debut already felt a little ... read more

What’s in the water in Baltimore? Last year, Future Islands exploded on late night TV after already recording and touring for six years, to quiet critical acclaim. Beach House ascended in a similar vein years before, and now see themselves with very famous fans (Bey and Jay, etc.) This late blooming phenomenon seems ready to happen again sooner than later, with Lower Dens. “Escape From Evil” is pure pop bliss, and while being a synth driven act from Baltimore is ground firmly ... read more

This is the sound of a young band working through their influences, new and old, often heading off in exciting directions, although not always cohesively. The band is tight; echoing latter day Pavement, but seem to be using this record to find their sound, balancing calculated 90's indie riffs with tracks featuring downtuned, sludgy guitars that Josh Homme’s projects have made their signature. “Puffer” and “Ginger”, instrumentally, sound like less-polished cuts off ... read more

California Nights contains the best things about Best Coast with serious major label sheen. The record expands on the sun soaked garage sound they’ve established for themselves from the beginning, with tracks like “Heaven Sent”, “Fine Without You”, and “Jealousy” taken right from the Green Day playbook in the very best way. A keen sense of melody, the steady but never dull rhythm section, but the guitars are less gain, and more reverb than Billie Joe ... read more

Oft compared to PJ Harvey, Mackenzie Scott aka. Torres, on her the sophomore album, feels more like Sharon Van Etten by way of Cobain. If you can’t hear the Nirvana influence in the delivery of the bone-breaking opening track “Strange Hellos”, then you’re trying too hard to not notice. Others compare this to Hole (you’d have to be a special kind of obtuse to find Hole worthwhile, but that's besides the point). The difference here is not only is ... read more