Music Reviews

MGMT - Oracular Spectacular

By Simon Howell - The Listening Ear - 01/22/2008

"I'm feeling rough, I'm feeling raw / I'm in the prime of my life." Beginnings don't get much more confident than "Time to Pretend," the ebullient opener to Brooklyn synth-pop duo MGMT's (pronounced "management") debut album. The track explodes with Technicolor synths, Dave Fridmann's typically commanding production work and an infectious sense of purpose -- even as it tosses out inanities about getting "models for wives." It's a sign either of brilliant things to come, or a band a little too eager to grab your attention.


SAM SHALABI - Eid

By Simon Howell - A Listening Ear - 01/22/2008

About four years ago, when I was still ecstatic to have moved to a city in which great music was in abundance at a seemingly endless variety of used record stores, I picked up the Shalabi Effect's self-titled debut. Why? Principally because it had a shiny cover with a nebula on it, and it was a two-disc record for eight bucks, which seemed like an unbeatable bargain. Needless to say that seventeen-year-old me was inadequately prepared to process the two hours of drone-based recordings contained inside that inviting slipcase.


THE PACK A.D. - Tintype

By Simon Howell - The Listening Ear - 01/22/2008

Too many bands get the particulars right but offer little in the grand scheme of things. They dazzle you with colorful cover art, witty liner notes, slick production, or a clever name. So it was refreshing to discover B.C. duo The Pack A.D.'s Tintype, which eschews all of these superficialities to deliver a surprisingly multifaceted blend of blues-rock, undercut by a compelling moody streak and aided by its bare-bones production (courtesy of drummer Maya Miller). 


SALLY SHAPIRO - Disco Romance

By Simon Howell - A Listening Ear - 10/30/2006


KATE NASH - Made of Bricks

By Simon Howell - A Listening Ear - 01/08/2008


ALOHA - Light Works

By Simon Howell - A Listening Ear - 12/04/2007


RADAR BROS. - Auditorium

By Simon Howell - A Listening Ear - 01/28/2008


JAY-Z - Kingdome Come

By Döc Holidæ - Phantastiq Cypha - 11/21/2006

Jay-Z once said "I'm far from being God, but I work goddamn hard" and though there will be some who disagree, this album proves them wrong.

Releasing his 9th solo album definitely shows us some staying power. However this album wasn't supposed to be, after announcing The Black Album would be his last in 2004, many were happy to see Jay go out on top of his game. This new album is good, but it can't top The Black Album.


KATAKLYSM - In the Arms of Devastation

By Korgüll the Destroyer - Metal for Supper - The Afternoon Edition - 02/21/2006


CANNIBAL CORPSE - Kill

By Korgüll The Destroyer - Metal for Supper - The Afternoon Edition - 03/21/2006

The cover for this album was disappointingly tame. I mean, if it's not a picture of a maggot colony bursting out of a corpse performing cunnilingus on a dead pregnant body that has demon/mutant/alien thing tearing itself free from the womb, is it really a Cannibal Corpse album cover?


THE SWORD - Age Of Winters

By Johnny Suck - Turn Down the Suck - 02/14/2006


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