For those of you who’ve never heard of Alexisonfire, Rush, Our Lady Peace or Big Wreck, I apologize now if your first exposure to Canadian rock bands was Nickelback. Here’s the basic difference between Chad Kroeger and Ian Thornley — Ian is a musician with something to say and he’s surrounded himself with true musicians in the band Big Wreck. Another trademark that is oft-compared is Thornley’s voice. He will inevitably be compared to ‘that guy out of Seattle,’ who’s set […]
Album Reviews
Spin Cycle: Every Time I Die’s “Ex Lives”
An arm is pinned under the hood of a pink Cadillac—it comes free, flops into the desert dirt and kicks a dust cloud into the air. He drops the gun and walks back to the vehicle. There are pink fluorescent lights taped inside the trunk, shining on a book of gnostic gospels with seaweed rot, a riot shield with the initials “H.L.” written into a strip of duct tape, a fire-axe with a broken neck and a grocery bag […]
Spin Cycle: Bruce Springsteen’s “Wrecking Ball”
The Boss is back with his first new album in three years. How does it hold up to his lengthy list of classics?
Spin Cycle: The Magnetic Fields’ “Love at the Bottom of the Sea”
Digestible and lean, The Magnetic Fields’ latest record, Love at the Bottom of the Sea, attempts to have it both ways: while each Fields album after their massive, masterful magnum opus 69 Love Songs has been more laser-focused than that thrillingly kitchen-sink record, Love at the Bottom packs 15 swift tracks into its sinewy 34-minute runtime. For this we can thank Stephin Merritt, Magnetic Fields maestro and patron saint of indie kids who scrawl their lyrical sketches on cocktail napkins and dog-eared […]
Spin Cycle: Ja Rule’s “Pain Is Love 2”
Remember this dude? He has a new album. And we were brave enough to review it!
Spin Cycle: The Cranberries’ “Roses”
Chugging bass notes and rhythmically-scrubbed acoustic guitars scamper across a vaguely martial 4/4 drumbeat; Dolores O’Riordan’s distinctive Irish lilt, alternately forceful and airy, flits over the whole enterprise, dreamy harmonies and counter-melodies rising from the ether to join O’Riordan in a chanting, cyclical chorale of Dolores O’Riordans, all cooing in one accord the wistful dissolution of a relationship that simply wasn’t meant to be. Worried that you accidentally gunned the Delorean up to 88mph last night and have found yourself […]
Spin Cycle: The Robert Glasper Experiment’s “Black Radio”
Want an excellent album of jazz-inflected soul with some left-field stuff thrown in? Look no further. Robert Glasper’s “Black Radio” is your album and we’ve got the review.
Spin Cycle: Estelle’s “All Of Me”
Sometimes simply being refreshing is enough. Take Estelle: she’s a good singer, but not a vocal powerhouse. She’s a fine emcee, but not a magnetic one. And yet, 2008’s Kanye duet “American Boy” was such a shot in the arm; the London vocalist’s flirtatious interplay with Ye was engaging, the hook burrowed deep into the brain, and the splashy electro-funk production sounded like both a fresh diversion and a remarkably spot-on prediction of the direction pop music would take in […]
Spin Cycle: Sinead O’Connor’s “How About I Be Me (And You Be You)?”
There’s a quip that’s been fluttering around music circles for the past year. The wording varies, but it boils down to this: “So, when Adele’s happy, does she just stop writing songs, or what’s the deal with that?” The witticism is a bit played-out in the wake of the singer’s Grammy sweep, but it poses an interesting question: can a singer known for spinning their depressive notions into musical gold excel when they’ve arrived at a place of relative contentment? […]
Spin Cycle: Sleigh Bells’ “Reign of Terror”
I was a huge fan of Sleigh Bells’ debut album Treats when it dropped two summers ago: a heavy, low-fi party album steeped in 80s guitar crunch and the double threat of Alexis Krauss’ delicate melodies and crazed cheerleader screams, assembled over electric drum machine back beats. The album excelled at many things, but outside “Rill, Rill”, subtlety wasn’t one of them. Then again, when your aim is 32 minutes of catchy, feel good, danceable noise pop, you don’t really […]
Metal Monday Volume 59 (2.27.12)
This week’s Metal Monday column takes you to San Diego, where metal band Medius is getting set to release their debut album!
Spin Cycle: Antlered Man “Giftes 1&2”
Imagine a Desert Sessions album with Josh Homme and King Buzzo on guitar, Nick Oliveri on bass, Dave Grohl on drums and John Lydon (In PIL mode) singing his ass off behind the mic. That, my friends, is Antlered Man in a nutshell and Giftes 1&2 is what that Sessions disc would sound like, only better. Now I bet a bunch of you are saying “Who the hell are Antlered Man?”. Have no fear, Popblerd is here to sort you out. Didn’t […]