Matt Mehlan, leader of the self-described Skeletons b(r)and, has carved an underground career out of loose-limbed but densely constructed polyrhythmic rock-art that in its best moments of abandon feel like the musicians composing it are coming completely unmoored. For Skeletons’ first record in four years, a brooding, faux-winter departure in tone and construction called If the…
Review: Twisted Pine – “Right Now”
On Twisted Pine’s self-titled debut, from 2017, the Boston trio unfurled master classes in Appalachian balladry with folk gems like “Lose My Love.” On that track, frontwoman Kathleen Parks offered heart-aching laments like “I never said I loved you first … At least the days are getting longer, keeping nights at bay/ I’m just trying…
Review: Sam Prekop – “Comma”
Sam Prekop, he of post-rock acolytes the Sea and Cake and formerly of the esoteric Shrimp Boat, can write a mean, mean song with fluid guitar lines that will knock off your socks. On his masterful solo debut – a self-titled LP released via Thrill Jockey in 1999, some 20 years ago, if you can believe it…
Review: Tangents – “Timeslips”
While the Australian band Tangents most definitely unfurls its life-story with the heartbeat of a collective, drummer Evan Dorrian remains the group’s frontman, if one were to be had. Dorrian’s fluttery, extroverted style flirts with jazz, IDM, and post-rock, among other idioms, to fabulous, elastic effect. On Timeslips, the band’s fourth LP, Dorrian’s rhythms, resolutions and, yes, tangential…
Review: Bill Callahan – “Gold Record”
Whether or not you’ll like Bill Callahan‘s new record – his second in two years – depends, in good part, on your opinion of his voice. Callahan’s bassy growl always has tipped its hand at the timbre of late Leonard Cohen, but over the past few years, the tonal separation between that voice and the overly…
Review: Matmos – “The Consuming Flame: Open Exercises In Group Form”
Back in October 1939, storied British Prime Minister Winston Churchill offered comments on a BBC radio broadcast, in which he attempted to unwrap the Russian political motivations in the face of Germany’s bluster and war machinery. “It is riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma,” Churchill said. “But perhaps there is a key.” In Churchill’s case,…
Review: H.C. McEntire – “Eno Axis”
The new H.C. McEntire record, Eno Axis, starts not with the country-fried guitars of her debut, 2018’s excellent Lionheart, but with the gentle pulses of a pipe organ. And here, the organ is accompanied not by an acoustic guitar (too obvious a choice) but by McEntire’s lament-filled croon and that croon alone. It’s a devastating and devastatingly to-the-gut…
Review: Less Bells – “Mourning Jewelry”
There is a visible, conscious process of decision-making, maybe even a brand of self-reflection, behind the constructions on Mourning Jewelry, the sophomore outing by post-classical artist Julie Carpenter, aka Kranky Records act Less Bells. Take “Fiery Wings”, the LP’s second track. Here, Carpenter unfurls pitch-perfect swarms of cello, occasional punctuation marks from breathy laments, and a resolute…
Review: June of 44: “Revisionist …”
Revisionist: Adaptations & Future Histories in the Time of Love and Survival, June of 44’s first release in 21 years, might be the most bipolar document you encounter in 2020. The record features at least two or three BRILLIANT re-workings of Anahata-era offerings; these tracks are some of the best stuff we have heard from June…
Review: IE – “Aune”
A good drone knows you, as you know a good drone. Swelling with tides of undulating sound over a persistent tonal hum, it brings you in closer time, maybe even chromatic lockstep, with your breath cycles, your heartbeat, the world around you. A good drone offers its own narratives by tying its rhythms and clusters…