AltWeeklies Wire
Yahzarah Reintroduces Herself as Purple St. Jamesnew
With the Purple St. James of The Prelude, you get the feeling she could care less if there was music behind her or not: All at once, her voice confabulates, celebrates, massages, cries.
The Whistlestop Celebrates Faithnew
Several songs--most notably "The Money's Tight," which could have been written in the Great Depression's shadow--are the aural equivalents of the sepia-toned packaging and the vintage postcard included with the record.
Tags: The Whistlestop
Daylight Dies Creates Sweeping Melancholynew
The band follows the template of Swedish melodic metal bands like Opeth and In Flames, reining in Opeth's jarring bipolarities and stamping out In Flames' triumphant flourishes.
KAZE Could Certainly Teach a Course in Agitpropnew
Block 2The Basement -- part of Rawkus Records' plan to release 50 albums by 50 relative unknowns -- perpetuates the image of KAZE as hip hop's selfless lensman, directing the attention away from any personal woes by focusing on the broader malaises of this hip-hop generation.
Des Ark Create a Modern Folk Masterpiecenew
You can debate the use of the f-word, but the nine songs of this handmade, spraypaint-and-magic marker EP are irrefutable folk gems -- authentic, real, and so of a time and place that they often sound like 2008 companion pieces to Harry Smith's old-time anthologies.
Annuals Make Major-Label Debut on Split EP with Sunfoldnew
Where Annuals takes cues from the kitchen-sink, simmer-and-swell indie crowd, Sunfold refocuses '90s alternative rock with the familiar tools: "Between the Worlds" has the guitar harmonies Rivers Cuomo has been searching for since Pinkerton.
The Port Huron Statement's Straight-Up Indie Rocknew
It's fitting that Man of the Match opens with a brief instrumental that recalls "Auld Lang Syne." To these straying ears, the invocation is a welcome to genre: "Hello, indie rock, my old friend. It's been awhile."
The Strugglers Last Album?new
Whether The Latest Rights proves a terminus or simply the start of a slow cessation for The Strugglers -- a band that's always treated the trials of melancholy like a reason to continue -- it's a brilliant climax.
Cantwell, Gomez & Jordan Do What They Do Bestnew
Opener "Mama Says I'm Crazy" is one of the band's biggest feats yet, essentially cycling through its whole discography in five minutes.
Oso Optimo Understands the Weight of its Influencesnew
The Raleigh trio spends much of this debut working through its earliest identity crisis, vacillating between crunchy power-pop and gritty alt-rock.
Violet Vector is More Than its Lovely Loveliesnew
EP I proclaims one thing that suggests another: Violet Vector is more than its lovely lovelies or sartorial gentlepeople. The songs pass muster, and the performances -- an appropriate blend of simple melodies and Spector sound -- are admirable.
Brett Harris' Debut Crisply Deliverednew
In a better world, we'd know more about Brett Harris than we do, and it'd be because he writes fine classic pop and plays all the instruments and not because he's got a funny haircut or an effete manner.
Tags: Brett Harris, Yesterday's News EP
James Dunns Steps into Americana Shoesnew
On his second album, the Raleigh singer/songwriter CMT described as "one of America's top unsigned artists" finds himself aiming for heartland rock and mostly landing.
Tags: James Dunn, The Long Ride Home
Birds of Avalon Get Over Proving Themselvesnew
On Outer Upper Inner, feels relaxed but not content, confident but not overly so.
Tags: Birds of Avalon, Outer Upper Inner
Fresh Edutainmentnew
With this debut, Kooley High sounds less like a hip-hop contrivance with a stately objective and more like a few hip-hop fans who decided to get together one night, goof-off and rap to some beats. Thing is, they can actually make good songs.
Tags: Kooley High, Summer Session
