Depicted by the band’s house emcee, Black Thought, Redford Stephens is the narrating character, a composition of many of BT’s family members and people he and fellow Roots founder ?uestlove knew from their hometown of Philadelphia. Listening to “undun” you hear Redford’s hopes, dreams, mistakes and struggles, all told in uncompromising, uncontrived lyricism from Black […]
Matt Carney
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Drake — Take Care
My feelings about this are complicated, although I found the record to be a languorous epic that rewarded dividends upon repeat listens. It’s certainly a winsome, good album — probably even a great one — but for reasons ascribed to Aubrey Drake Graham’s sense as a producer more so than his voice or rapping. The […]
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Riley Jantzen and the Spirits — Feathers
Anybody who knows Jantzen knows that couldn’t be further from the reality, and “Feathers,” his first effort as Riley Jantzen and the Spirits, should dispel his scary-guy image for those who don’t. It’s a wonderfully intimate album lyrically, and musically enriched by his absurd skill as a player. He’s credited as playing all the instruments, […]
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Musical entity
Amid Gentle Ghost’s signature jarring, distorted, three-guitar assault, singer Seth McCarroll has to work extra hard to keep from getting drowned out. His close attention to storytelling detail and occasional bouts of shouting creates an aggressive tension with the Norman post-rock band’s especially loud style, which mimics some of the destructive domestic themes explored in […]
Posted inMusic
Musical entity
Amid Gentle Ghost’s signature jarring, distorted, three-guitar assault, singer Seth McCarroll has to work extra hard to keep from getting drowned out. His close attention to storytelling detail and occasional bouts of shouting creates an aggressive tension with the Norman post-rock band’s especially loud style, which mimics some of the destructive domestic themes explored in […]
Posted inMusic
Los Campesinos! — Hello Sadness
Their neckbreak rock style that somehow straddles post-rock and post-punk — as best exemplified on the explosive “Youngster …” opener “Death to Los Campesinos!” — no longer catches listeners unaware, but singer and songwriter Gareth Campesinos!’ vocal improvements and knack for darkly comical, hyperdetailed storytelling really focuses this disc’s stories about messy relationships and death. […]
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Depth & Current — Depth & Current
I like to think of him as a kindred, younger spirit to Shellac’s Steve Albini: well-thought and often intentionally shocking, not for the enjoyment of shocking people, but because shock is often a useful tool in creating provocative art. Prior to listening to “Depth & Current,” the first LP from the eponymous band comprised by […]
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Zombie Vs. Shark — Wunderkind/Dogs & Guns
The group does just that with this 7-inch release, recorded back in the spring at Bell Labs in Norman, mastered by Garrett Haines at Pittsburgh’s Treelady Studios and distributed in old-school fashion by Seattle’s Modern Peasant Records. “Wunderkind” and “Dogs and Guns” are the two tracks, each a piston-pumping blast of up-tempo, hooky guitar rock […]
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Paul Simon — One Trick Pony / Hearts and Bones / Graceland / The Rhythm of the Saints
I’ve got a huge respect for anybody who, at 70 (or more) years old, still gets around and plays shows, and I approached these four albums — his fifth through eighth solo records, all released on Warner Bros. — with due reverence. They’re newly available in remastered editions, each with a bonus disc of rarities. […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Inni
That’s only partially due to the Icelandic post-rockers’ otherworldly approach to music. Shot during a two-night stand in 2008 at London’s historic Alexandra Palace, French-Canadian director Vincent Morisset transferred digital footage to 16mm film, then again, through prisms and “found objects,” according to the “Inní” website. Combined with the abstract and always beautiful cinematography, the […]