artist stringlengths 1 82 ⌀ | album stringlengths 1 216 ⌀ | genre stringlengths 3 41 ⌀ | author stringlengths 7 59 | score float64 0 10 | review stringlengths 8 6.61k | augmented_review stringlengths 106 6.88k |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gold Chains | Young Miss America | Electronic,Rap | Dominique Leone | 6.7 | Topher Lafata, perhaps informed by an adolescence of Black Flag shows and slamdancing in his suburban Pennsylvania bedroom, is coming at this whole "authenticity" thing from a strange angle. Rather than play up his "hardships" or overcompensate for a lack of ghetto wisdom, he gets by on sheer geekiness and neon indie f... |
Artist: Gold Chains,
Album: Young Miss America,
Genre: Electronic,Rap,
Score (1-10): 6.7
Album review:
"Topher Lafata, perhaps informed by an adolescence of Black Flag shows and slamdancing in his suburban Pennsylvania bedroom, is coming at this whole "authenticity" thing from a strange angle. Rather than pla... |
Sunn O))) & Boris | Altar | null | Grayson Currin | 6.6 | Longtime Southern Lord labelmates, tourmates, and metal bands Sunn 0))) and Boris seem like natural collaborators, though they approach their music with disparate intentions: Sunn 0)))'s blood-covered drone subsumes everything around it, while Boris' blend of patiently unraveling noise and fractious thrash entices and ... |
Artist: Sunn O))) & Boris,
Album: Altar,
Genre: None,
Score (1-10): 6.6
Album review:
"Longtime Southern Lord labelmates, tourmates, and metal bands Sunn 0))) and Boris seem like natural collaborators, though they approach their music with disparate intentions: Sunn 0)))'s blood-covered drone subsumes everyth... |
Sloan | A Sides Win: Singles 1992-2005 | Rock | Marc Hogan | 7.9 | It may be hard to believe in these days of Arcade Fires, Broken Social Scenes, New Pornographers, Constantines, Black Mountains, and, yes, Avrils, but in the mid-1990s, being Canadian and not named Alanis or Shania was enough to get you dropped from your label. Playing quintessential power-pop while signed to grunge-or... |
Artist: Sloan,
Album: A Sides Win: Singles 1992-2005,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 7.9
Album review:
"It may be hard to believe in these days of Arcade Fires, Broken Social Scenes, New Pornographers, Constantines, Black Mountains, and, yes, Avrils, but in the mid-1990s, being Canadian and not named Alanis or Sh... |
The Antlers | Hospice | Experimental,Rock | Brian Howe | 8.5 | Who could've guessed that SNMNMNM were ahead of the curve? In 2009, you kind of need to know some C++ just to talk about bands. The trend began in dreamy California, which gave us the skuzzy-sweet Nodzzz and Wavves, and then migrated as far as Nebraska (UUVVWWZ) and Glasgow (Dananananaykroyd). Meanwhile, in serious Bro... |
Artist: The Antlers,
Album: Hospice,
Genre: Experimental,Rock,
Score (1-10): 8.5
Album review:
"Who could've guessed that SNMNMNM were ahead of the curve? In 2009, you kind of need to know some C++ just to talk about bands. The trend began in dreamy California, which gave us the skuzzy-sweet Nodzzz and Wavves... |
Krieg | Transient | null | Grayson Haver Currin | 8 | Neill Jameson ranks among the great defenders of and disciples for United States Black Metal. He’s been making and refining his own antagonistic strain since the mid-1990s, leading Krieg through some of the most important, compelling and twisted stateside versions of the form. He’s run a label and become a crucial dist... |
Artist: Krieg,
Album: Transient,
Genre: None,
Score (1-10): 8.0
Album review:
"Neill Jameson ranks among the great defenders of and disciples for United States Black Metal. He’s been making and refining his own antagonistic strain since the mid-1990s, leading Krieg through some of the most important, compelli... |
Mndsgn | Body Wash | Electronic | Nate Patrin | 7.7 | Ringgo Ancheta’s come-up story is an increasingly familiar type—the independently educated bedroom producer, influenced by friends and family, whose DIY approach led him towards Los Angeles’ beat scene. What might make that story a bit more curious than others’ is that Ancheta’s path began on a rural New Jersey commune... |
Artist: Mndsgn,
Album: Body Wash,
Genre: Electronic,
Score (1-10): 7.7
Album review:
"Ringgo Ancheta’s come-up story is an increasingly familiar type—the independently educated bedroom producer, influenced by friends and family, whose DIY approach led him towards Los Angeles’ beat scene. What might make that ... |
The Strokes | Future Present Past EP | Rock | Jeremy Gordon | 6 | Although the Strokes are of the same era as once-flashpoint NYC guitar bands like Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Interpol, the National, and the Walkmen, they’ve become something their peers haven’t: classic rock. Tumble down enough comment threads, or check out the audience demographics at their infrequent shows—there are many list... |
Artist: The Strokes,
Album: Future Present Past EP,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 6.0
Album review:
"Although the Strokes are of the same era as once-flashpoint NYC guitar bands like Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Interpol, the National, and the Walkmen, they’ve become something their peers haven’t: classic rock. Tumble down ... |
Eminem | Recovery | Rap | Jayson Greene | 2.8 | Watching Eminem attempt to re-situate himself in the pop landscape the past year or so has been a bizarre spectacle. He roared out of his post-Encore slumber in early 2009 seeming almost puppyishly eager to rap again, spitting verses for anyone who put him in front of a mic with a desperation that suggested he was maki... |
Artist: Eminem,
Album: Recovery,
Genre: Rap,
Score (1-10): 2.8
Album review:
"Watching Eminem attempt to re-situate himself in the pop landscape the past year or so has been a bizarre spectacle. He roared out of his post-Encore slumber in early 2009 seeming almost puppyishly eager to rap again, spitting verse... |
UNKLE | Never Never Land | Electronic,Jazz | Scott Plagenhoef | 5 | Six years on from its release, Psyence Fiction-- the long-simmering pet project of Mo'Wax founder James Lavelle and his then-UNKLE co-conspirator/meal ticket DJ Shadow-- still ranks as one of the most anti-climactic and jaw-dropping disappointments of recent years. Seemingly powered by Lavelle's own sense of self-satis... |
Artist: UNKLE,
Album: Never Never Land,
Genre: Electronic,Jazz,
Score (1-10): 5.0
Album review:
"Six years on from its release, Psyence Fiction-- the long-simmering pet project of Mo'Wax founder James Lavelle and his then-UNKLE co-conspirator/meal ticket DJ Shadow-- still ranks as one of the most anti-climact... |
Chuck Johnson | Balsams | Experimental | Marc Masters | 8.1 | Pedal steel guitar is such an evocative instrument that just one chord emanating from its strings can suggest entire worlds. Often that’s exactly how it is used: one chord at a time, doled out sparingly to enhance moods already established by other instruments. But what if you give pedal steel guitar the starring role?... |
Artist: Chuck Johnson,
Album: Balsams,
Genre: Experimental,
Score (1-10): 8.1
Album review:
"Pedal steel guitar is such an evocative instrument that just one chord emanating from its strings can suggest entire worlds. Often that’s exactly how it is used: one chord at a time, doled out sparingly to enhance moo... |
Sunburned Hand of the Man | The Mylar Tantrum | Experimental,Rock | Matthew Murphy | 7.4 | The arrival of a new release from Sunburned Hand of the Man is hardly an uncommon event, but seldom is it an unwelcome one. Consisting of one uninterrupted performance, The Mylar Tantrum is far from the collective's bulkiest document, yet it still appears as a noteworthy addition to their sprawling catalog. The piece w... |
Artist: Sunburned Hand of the Man,
Album: The Mylar Tantrum,
Genre: Experimental,Rock,
Score (1-10): 7.4
Album review:
"The arrival of a new release from Sunburned Hand of the Man is hardly an uncommon event, but seldom is it an unwelcome one. Consisting of one uninterrupted performance, The Mylar Tantrum is ... |
Channels | Waiting for the Next End of the World | Metal | Jason Crock | 6.6 | If only J. Robbins could find a band that works as hard as he does. After Jawbox called it quits, Burning Airlines made one incredible record-- a near-perfect balance between musicianship and satisfying hooks-- and one confused one, a sophomore slump from a shifting lineup that may have eventually found its footing. In... |
Artist: Channels,
Album: Waiting for the Next End of the World,
Genre: Metal,
Score (1-10): 6.6
Album review:
"If only J. Robbins could find a band that works as hard as he does. After Jawbox called it quits, Burning Airlines made one incredible record-- a near-perfect balance between musicianship and satisfy... |
Lightning Dust | Lightning Dust | Folk/Country | Adam Moerder | 7.2 | Bummer alert! For those half-to-fully-baked music fans who gloriously tripped on Mr. Stephen McBean's wild retro-rock ride, Black Mountain, don't go expecting a similar buzz from sobering side project Lightning Dust. Sure, they sound like they're named after a volatile drug combination (PCP and pop rocks?), but as Ligh... |
Artist: Lightning Dust,
Album: Lightning Dust,
Genre: Folk/Country,
Score (1-10): 7.2
Album review:
"Bummer alert! For those half-to-fully-baked music fans who gloriously tripped on Mr. Stephen McBean's wild retro-rock ride, Black Mountain, don't go expecting a similar buzz from sobering side project Lightnin... |
Concentrik | Lucid Dreaming | null | Brad Haywood | 7.9 | Tim Green started off the part of his life relevant to this review playing guitar for the now-legendary Dischord outfit Nation of Ulysses. After having his fill of D.C. hardcore, Green moved his skinny ass to San Francisco, met a couple of dyed-in-the-wool metalheads (one with actual long hair), and formed the Champs, ... |
Artist: Concentrik,
Album: Lucid Dreaming,
Genre: None,
Score (1-10): 7.9
Album review:
"Tim Green started off the part of his life relevant to this review playing guitar for the now-legendary Dischord outfit Nation of Ulysses. After having his fill of D.C. hardcore, Green moved his skinny ass to San Francisc... |
The Chills | Heavenly Pop Hits: The Best of the Chills | Rock | Joshua Klein | 8.6 | For a while there, nearly the entire Flying Nun stable made it all look so easy. Album after album of perfect antipodean indie-pop, the product of fertile imaginations and far too much free time in a country that hadn't really shown up on the Western radar since tiny New Zealand lost more fighter pilots per capita duri... |
Artist: The Chills,
Album: Heavenly Pop Hits: The Best of the Chills,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 8.6
Album review:
"For a while there, nearly the entire Flying Nun stable made it all look so easy. Album after album of perfect antipodean indie-pop, the product of fertile imaginations and far too much free time... |
Masami Akita, Russell Haswell | Satanstornade | Experimental | Kim Fing Shannon | 5.9 | Despite a deluge of recordings that might suggest otherwise, Merzbow did not invent noise. What he is responsible for is an incredible insight, a leveling glare into our perceptions of musical functionality: Merzbow's music intrinsically refutes academic hierarchies, self-important artistry, mindless fluff, fame, and c... |
Artist: Masami Akita, Russell Haswell,
Album: Satanstornade,
Genre: Experimental,
Score (1-10): 5.9
Album review:
"Despite a deluge of recordings that might suggest otherwise, Merzbow did not invent noise. What he is responsible for is an incredible insight, a leveling glare into our perceptions of musical fu... |
The Gris Gris | For the Season | Electronic,Rock | Adam Moerder | 7.4 | When will folks stop scouring Gris Gris albums, feverishly looking for some ace in the hole, some nuanced twist to psychedelic rock? Seriously, is a no-frills psych band from San Francisco such an oddity just because they don't associate themselves with the Dead or sing about drugs? Sorry, dude in the Warlocks shirt, G... |
Artist: The Gris Gris,
Album: For the Season,
Genre: Electronic,Rock,
Score (1-10): 7.4
Album review:
"When will folks stop scouring Gris Gris albums, feverishly looking for some ace in the hole, some nuanced twist to psychedelic rock? Seriously, is a no-frills psych band from San Francisco such an oddity jus... |
Anti-Pop Consortium | Fluorescent Black | Electronic,Rap | Jess Harvell | 7 | Even with the 10th anniversary of their debut album around the corner, it seems silly to ponder Anti-Pop Consortium's place in hip hop. Name, sound, rhyme style, lyrical content, release sleeve iconography: Anti-Pop were stylized (by the press as much as by themselves) as a fuck-you, a caustic riposte to a genre that h... |
Artist: Anti-Pop Consortium,
Album: Fluorescent Black,
Genre: Electronic,Rap,
Score (1-10): 7.0
Album review:
"Even with the 10th anniversary of their debut album around the corner, it seems silly to ponder Anti-Pop Consortium's place in hip hop. Name, sound, rhyme style, lyrical content, release sleeve icono... |
Ty Dolla $ign, Jeremih | MihTy | Rap,Pop/R&B | Austin Brown | 7.7 | Jeremih and Ty Dolla $ign are unquestionably the natural successors to the figure of the of “R&B thug” that defined the R&B charts for most of the aughts. This seems self-evident and unproblematic—until you remember that the progenitor of the term is R. Kelly, whose legacy is now permanently marred by his misdeeds. But... |
Artist: Ty Dolla $ign, Jeremih,
Album: MihTy,
Genre: Rap,Pop/R&B,
Score (1-10): 7.7
Album review:
"Jeremih and Ty Dolla $ign are unquestionably the natural successors to the figure of the of “R&B thug” that defined the R&B charts for most of the aughts. This seems self-evident and unproblematic—until you reme... |
Horseback | Half Blood | Metal,Rock | Jess Harvell | 7.6 | Here's a record that should not work. Its two main influences-- frostbitten Scandinavian black metal and rustic U.S. roots music-- should not combine, let alone gracefully. One is theatrical and expressionistic in its expression of nihilistic rage, almost claustrophobic in its pure form. The other is stripped-down and ... |
Artist: Horseback,
Album: Half Blood,
Genre: Metal,Rock,
Score (1-10): 7.6
Album review:
"Here's a record that should not work. Its two main influences-- frostbitten Scandinavian black metal and rustic U.S. roots music-- should not combine, let alone gracefully. One is theatrical and expressionistic in its ex... |
Lonesome Organist | Forms and Follies | null | Bill Morris | 5.2 | Writing up an original review for any Lonesome Organist release might be best described as playing a solitary game of critical Taboo: it's instantly apparent that there exists a specific set of unavoidable descriptive clichés and overly pitched idiosyncrasies chaperoning all previous and current press for this band-- ... |
Artist: Lonesome Organist,
Album: Forms and Follies,
Genre: None,
Score (1-10): 5.2
Album review:
"Writing up an original review for any Lonesome Organist release might be best described as playing a solitary game of critical Taboo: it's instantly apparent that there exists a specific set of unavoidable descr... |
Herman Dune | I Wish That I Could See You Soon EP | null | Stephen M. Deusner | 7.3 | Herman Düne's clip for "I Wish That I Could See You Soon", a perfect little puff pastry of a song, was one of the best and most criminally under-viewed videos of 2007. Featuring some green-screen shots that were all the more charming for being unfinished, it was the perfect mesh of visuals and music: puppets and moppet... |
Artist: Herman Dune,
Album: I Wish That I Could See You Soon EP,
Genre: None,
Score (1-10): 7.3
Album review:
"Herman Düne's clip for "I Wish That I Could See You Soon", a perfect little puff pastry of a song, was one of the best and most criminally under-viewed videos of 2007. Featuring some green-screen sho... |
Metric | Old World Underground, Where Are You Now | Rock | Rollie Pemberton | 7.3 | When your band is best known for sharing an apartment with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, there's clearly a lot of room for the development of a slightly more personal hype. Such is the case with Metric. Reportedly starting their band based on a mutual distaste for white Toronto funk bands, Metric melds together the usual suspec... |
Artist: Metric,
Album: Old World Underground, Where Are You Now,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 7.3
Album review:
"When your band is best known for sharing an apartment with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, there's clearly a lot of room for the development of a slightly more personal hype. Such is the case with Metric. Repor... |
Robert Pollard | Blazing Gentlemen | Rock | Paul Thompson | 5.7 | If there's anything like a normal year for Bob Pollard fans, 2013 wasn't it. These past 12 months did offer a fine new EP and an okay-enough album—their fourth since early 2012—from the reunited Guided by Voices. But it's become increasingly clear that a classic on par with the lo-fi legends' peak-era material might've... |
Artist: Robert Pollard,
Album: Blazing Gentlemen,
Genre: Rock,
Score (1-10): 5.7
Album review:
"If there's anything like a normal year for Bob Pollard fans, 2013 wasn't it. These past 12 months did offer a fine new EP and an okay-enough album—their fourth since early 2012—from the reunited Guided by Voices. B... |
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