Some things are just beyond comprehension – no matter how open-minded or understanding you try to be. Are you skeptical? Here are some examples of questions that have no easy answer: “How is it that there are throwbacks in evolutionary...
Sometimes a band will start to generate excitement upon the very announcement of a forthcoming record; the stars will have aligned just right and, when the record in question does come out, it is to a legion of people that are literally standing and waiting with open...
At this point, there's no debating that some sounds are impossible to easily qualify. That, presumably, is why some clever critic coined the term 'Freak Folk' – it's a handy catch-all term that holds artists as far flung as Devandra Banhart,...
About twenty years ago (before Nirvana blew up), Sub Pop was a very different label from what it is now. Since grunge exploded, things have changed a lot – now, the label specializes in very clean-cut, polished and poppy mainstream indie rock typified by the...
"What would you do,” asks Wintersleep singer Paul Murphy wryly as “Experience The Jewel” peels open New Inheritors and simultaneously compels everyone within earshot to jump into the palm of his hand. “What would you do if desperation...
There's an old French proverb that reads, “It's all very well in practice, but it will never work in theory.” Of course, hearing that or reading it makes the rational mind recoil for a minute because it flies in the face of precautionary principles...
What is it about a record that makes a listener feel it? I don't mean “feel it” like it makes you want to move, I mean “feel it” like it moves you. You – a third party observer totally detached from the events that inspired the music,...
Now that the band has managed to keep a consistent schedule of releases and touring for a decade, made an international name for itself and almost singe-handedly reignited interest in Canadian rock outside of domestic borders, it's safe enough to look on Broken...
Having hit the road earlier this year in support of their latest slab of death metal epic-ness, Evisceration Plague, Cannibal Corpse grinded into San Francisco last week and, along with 1349, Skeletonwitch, and Lecherous Nocturne, turned Slim's into a sold out,...
Those that have followed Sage Francis since the emcee first appeared on ANTI– Records with A Healthy Distrust in 2005 will recognize what they're hearing from the moment “Little Houdini” opens LI(F)E – it is the end of a thematic arc. Upon...