AltWeeklies Wire
Reviewed: 'The State vs. Radric Davis' by Atlanta MC Gucci Manenew
Many have tried, but no other rapper quite matches Gucci’s reckless bravado and goofy charm. He’s got an uncanny ability to make light of the dazzling, chaotic storm that is his life.
Washington City Paper |
Ben Westhoff |
12-10-2009 |
Reviews
Vivian Girls' Struggle With Celebrity Makes for Irresistible Musicnew
The most recent Vivian Girls release is considerably more aggressive than the band's self-titled debut. Not that the Phil Spector-by-way-of-Psychocandy vibe has totally disappeared, but this time out, the very obvious pop influence is tinged with a fair amount of urgency.
Washington City Paper |
Mike Kanin |
09-17-2009 |
Reviews
Singer Gretchen Parlato Makes Every Gasp and Exhale Count on 'In a Dream'new
The foremost qualities of jazz vocalist Gretchen Parlato's artistry are her breathy gentleness and sensuality -- she doesn't sing so much as insinuate. Throughout her latest, she exhibits a supple, nuanced airiness that puts the disc leagues ahead of the year’s other vocal jazz recordings.
Washington City Paper |
Michael J. West |
09-10-2009 |
Reviews
John Surman's Jazz Quartet Shakes Things Up on 'Brewster's Rooster'new
Brewster's Rooster is more of an outlier than it might seem. Granted, aside from the occasional skronk, the album is rather tuneful and approachable. But, in a genre that is contracting rather than expanding, what could be more radical than a musician who sees the entirety of jazz as part of a single lovely continuum?
Washington City Paper |
Brent Burton |
08-27-2009 |
Reviews
Dirty Projectors is as Obscure as Ever on 'Bitte Orca'new
Dirty Projectors auteur David Longstreth has made a career out of working on the far-right edge of pop music's pretension continuum -- toiling in that special place reserved for musicians who slave over the placement of every note and seed their stuff with enough clever obscurities to almost warrant an annotated guide.
Washington City Paper |
Mike Kanin |
06-18-2009 |
Reviews
Dinosaur Jr. Refines the Sound of its Heydaynew
The lackadaisical manner that characterized the band during the '80s hasn’t carried over to Farm. The songs are more expertly orchestrated, and to some extent, the tighter, more mature Dinosaur Jr. sounds strongly reminiscent of another lumbering grunge band of yore: Pearl Jam.
Washington City Paper |
Aaron Leitko |
06-18-2009 |
Reviews
Crystal Antlers Twig Out on 'Tentacles'new
Tentacles, the first full-length from Crystal Antlers, is the rare psych-punk record that tempers raucousness with rue. Both traits are apt, given the circumstances surrounding the album's release.
Washington City Paper |
Brent Burton |
04-02-2009 |
Reviews
Repetitive Strain: Vetiver's 'Tight Knit'new
If any band benefits from Robert Christgau’s rule that an album should always get a minimum of three listens, it’s the San Francisco–based folk band Vetiver.
Washington City Paper |
David Dunlap Jr. |
02-12-2009 |
Reviews
Loose Control: Matthew Shipp's 'Harmonic Disorder'new
Harmonic Disorder is something of a flip through the jazz yearbook for connoisseurs, and for initiates it’s a glimpse of the piano’s range within the genre. For both parties, though, it serves notice of the lies behind both the title and the name above it: Shipp is a musician of scholarship and precision, harmonic and otherwise.
Washington City Paper |
Michael J. West |
01-29-2009 |
Reviews
'GhostDeini' Offers an Uneven Ride Through Ghostface Killah's Catalognew
If anyone deserves a greatest hits album, it's Ghostface Killah. Although he has gone from lesser-heralded Wu-Tang Clan member to platinum solo artist to, most recently, a commercially stagnant artist who has broken with Wu leadership, the Staten Island rapper's catalog is remarkably consistent.
Washington City Paper |
Ben Westhoff |
01-15-2009 |
Reviews
Fennesz's Latest is a Hair's Breadth from Ambient Territorynew
Ostensibly an avant-gardist, guitarist and laptop musician Christian Fennesz has become a traditionalist of sorts in recent years -- his music now has much in common with Brian Eno's ambient recordings of the late '70s and early '80s.
Washington City Paper |
Brent Burton |
12-11-2008 |
Reviews
The Fall of Troy's Melancholy is Coated in Enthusiastic Prognew
Phantom on the Horizon is a worthwhile listen for anyone looking to dip a toe a into contemporary mainstream prog scene led by Coheed and Cambria, blending screamo vocals and mathcore rhythms with punk antics and an art-school sensibility.
Washington City Paper |
Mike Riggs |
12-04-2008 |
Reviews
A Dresden Doll Goes Solo on 'Who Killed Amanda Palmer'new
Deviance is also a key topic on Amanda Palmer's debut solo album, but she examines it in a somewhat more personalized -- and occasionally even tender -- manner.
Washington City Paper |
Casey Rae-Hunter |
11-13-2008 |
Reviews
Grayceon Lets its Prog Rev Up Organically on 'This Grand Show'new
Though San Francisco's Grayceon sounds nothing like Dream Theater or Mastodon, it wouldn't sound too out of place on a bill with either band: The trio combines prog's obsession with long-form composition and unconventional orchestration with metal's crunchy guitars and hyperactive drumming.
Washington City Paper |
Brandon Wu |
11-06-2008 |
Reviews
Gang Gang Dance Decimates Every Jam-Rock Cliche on 'Saint Dymphna'new
In short, it's an album of such bizarre ambition that even Bjork will have to remove her headdress of human hair, have a long look at the mirror, and worry about what to do next.
Washington City Paper |
Aaron Leitko |
10-31-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Gang Gang Dance, Saint Dymphna
