Kill the Reflection — Together ... Apart ...

Rock
Matt Carney
Somewhere between Depth & Current’s thematic explorations of living in a broken world and Broncho’s uptempo pop-punk resides Oklahoma City trio Kill the Reflection, minus the two previous bands’ shoegaze and pop.

 

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Sleigh Bells — Reign of Terror

2010’s hot indie innovators return without any new bells or whistles. Thank goodness.

Pop
Matt Carney
Two albums in, I’m certain that Sleigh Bells’ distinct brand of girly noise-pop was assembled in some covert lab so as to make me look as ridiculous as possible when commuting to work.

 

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Cloud Nothings — Attack on Memory

Don’t be fooled by the title. This punk gem harkens back to days of plenty.

Rock
Matt Carney
It’s pretty tempting to call “Attack on Memory,” the latest album by Cleveland punks Cloud Nothings the work of a punkist, that being its obviously talented front man Dylan Baldi. That’s a compliment, I promise.

 

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Royal Baths — Better Luck Next Life

Mix the dirty blues, paranoia and ugly guitars, and you’ve got a winner of a sophomore album.

Rock
Matt Carney
It sounds Jeremy Cox and Jigmae Baer got the best of both coasts.

 

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Various Artists — Chronicle: Music from the Motion Picture

For a bunch of unknowns, this one’s really quite super.

Soundtrack
Rod Lott
I’m uncertain about the hit found-footage film, but the soundtrack for “Chronicle” pops with energy from the start, courtesy of Blonde Acid Cult.

 

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Poliça — Give You the Ghost

Nah, thanks — you can keep it.

Indie
Matt Carney
You’ve got to admire what they’re up to in the north Midwest these days. That Bon Iver/Gayngs/Megafaun collective is probably the best non-Aaron Rodgers thing to happen to Wisconsin in forever.

 

Monday, February 13, 2012

Steve Aoki — Wonderland

Stick to running your label, Stevie.

Pop
Matt Carney
Were it not for Steve Aoki, we would have no Dim Mak Records (founded in L.A. in 1996), and, therefore, possibly none of some of the most important electro dance music of the mid-2000s, including but not limited to Canadian house duo MSTRKRFT, rockers Bloc Party or possibly even New York avantists Battles, whose 2004 “B EP” was distributed by said record label.

 

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Carter Sampson — Mockingbird Sing

This displaced Okie can belt.

Country
Matt Carney
Carter Sampson’s voice and subject matter are too sweet to get lumped in with those rough ’n’ tumble Red Dirt boys, but instrumentally, her “Mockingbird Sing” isn’t far off.

 

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Laura Gibson — La Grande

The cure for the common Lana Del Rey.

Folk
Matt Carney
I’ve come up with a great cure to having to read Lana Del Rey’s name every 45 seconds I spend on the Internet, you guys!

 

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Two Suns — Dream Familiar

Indie
Matt Carney

Norman’s Jake Davidson beautifully reconciles his love for tradition-rich acoustic music with old-school English drum ’n’ bass electronica on his full-length debut, “Dream Familiar,” as recording project Two Suns.

 

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Snow Patrol — Fallen Empires

Techno-fueled nostalgia trip starts strong, but loses momentum after a run-in with oversentimentality.

Indie
Jonathan Davis
Its first record in two years, "Fallen Empires" blends Snow Patrol's specific brand of thoughtful pop-rock with some electronic influences.

 

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Craig Finn — Clear Heart Full Eyes

The Hold Steady’s songwriter steps out on his own to write some songs about loneliness.

Indie
Matt Carney
I think the best way to compare the songwriting material in 40-year-old Craig Finn’s first-ever solo album with the excellent stuff that constitutes his catalogue with Brooklyn-by-Minneapolis rockers The Hold Steady is to just embrace the truth that you can’t have fun all the time.

 

Monday, January 30, 2012

Raekwon — Unexpected Victory

Here’s the best from a new year’s bumper crop of hip-hop mixtapes.

Hip Hop/Rap
Matt Carney
My favorite hip-hop moment from 2011 was when the speed-rap once-superstar Busta Rhymes, now almost 40, resurfaced from the 1990s on Chris Brown’s excellent “Look at Me Now” single, as confident as if he’d been around all this time.

 

Friday, January 20, 2012

Methotrexate — Camelpacks & Battlerapz

Hip Hop/Rap
Joshua Boydston
Just in his early 20s, Oklahoma City’s Methotrexate is an original in a genre inundated with anyone having access to a mic and a MacBook.

 

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Seeker Lover Keeper — Seeker Lover Keeper

Classic folk tunes from some young Aussie gals.

Folk
Matt Carney
Just when I was about to write off the debut LP from Australian lady-singer collective Seeker Lover Keeper as a collection of overly subdued, wannabe Feist mishy-mash, a shocking and attention-grabbing drum machine hooked me back in on the sixth track, “Rely on Me,” midway through the album.

 

Tuesday, January 17, 2012