AltWeeklies Wire
'Transference,' 'Songs for Chris Knox,' 'Contra'new
Spoon might just be the most reliable franchise in indie rock. Transference is just like the previous seven albums: clean-cut but ballsy, uptempo but not even a little bit aggro. Guitar, bass, drums, keys, singer Britt Daniel's fine rasp — everybody's on the same page, synched up, interlocking.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Patrick Rapa |
02-02-2010 |
Reviews
Tags: Transference, Spoon
'The Martyrdom of a Catastrophist' is Superbnew
The Boston metal band Junius, whose superb The Martyrdom of a Catastrophist has the frustrating distinction of arriving too late to qualify for any best-of-year lists, is indeed among the more precise and scientific of recent hard rock bands.
Philadelphia City Paper |
J. Edward Keyes |
01-05-2010 |
Reviews
The Chieftains' 'Bells of Dublin' is the Greatest Christmas Recording Evernew
There's something for everyone: For traditionalists there are wonderful, inspired versions of standards like God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, O Come All Ye Faithful and O Holy Night, as well as Marianne Faithfull, who sounds like she's been hitting the egg nog pretty hard.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Rodney Anonymous |
12-29-2009 |
Reviews
The Flaming Lips' 'Embryonic' is a Surprising, Giddy Rushnew
Small-w weird in the best possible sense, the record cranks back the clock hands a full two decades, reveling in the kind of "whatever the fuck we want" experimentalism it seemed the Lips long ago shucked.
Philadelphia City Paper |
J. Edward Keyes |
10-13-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: The Flaming Lips, Embryonic
Jewish Death Metalnew
While multi-instrumentalist/monotheist Saft is clearly talented and there are some very interesting musical motifs on Black Shabbis, the CD, taken in total, is just this side of unlistenable.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Rodney Anonymous |
03-24-2009 |
Reviews
Josh Wink: Stay Out All Nightnew
Josh Wink, who came up in the Philly rave scene in the 1990s, is still chewing the pacifiers on his new LP When a Banana Was Just a Banana.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Patrick Rapa |
02-10-2009 |
Reviews
Rodney Anonymous vs. The World: Georgianew
We're about to discuss the other Georgia -- the former Soviet republic that naive, reactionary Sarah Palin thinks she can see from the roof of her outhouse.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Rodney Anonymous |
09-29-2008 |
Reviews
The Gaslight Anthem Has a Sound You've Heard Before But Should Hear Againnew
The group wraps raw heartache in roaring riffs, writing songs that take off like motorcycles, with just as much isolated desperation and pure raw horsepower.
Philadelphia City Paper |
J. Edward Keyes |
09-09-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: The '59 Sound, The Gaslight Anthem
Nas Revels in Frictionnew
There are a multitude of obvious reasons why Nas would choose to christen a record about race relations in America with an unprintable epithet, but there are subtler implications, as well.
Philadelphia City Paper |
J. Edward Keyes |
08-12-2008 |
Reviews
Bach Setnew
It is not an exaggeration to call the Bach Cantata project of Nicholas Harnoncourt and Gustav Leonhardt a landmark in the history of recorded music.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Peter Burwasser |
02-12-2008 |
Reviews
Hail Sinead, the Lord is With Theenew
For all their enduring words, the prophets and psalmists were mad in every sense, raging one minute and appeasing the next. If Sinead O'Connor had been born 2,700 years earlier, she would have fit right in.
Philadelphia City Paper |
M.J. Fine |
10-30-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Sinead O'Connor, Theology
One Track Mind: Scout Niblett's 'Dinosaur Egg'new
The muted strings of an electric guitar lope gently behind Niblett's high, chandelier-rattling voice on this new song.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Patrick Rapa |
07-17-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Scout Niblett, Dinosaur Egg
Everybody Knows This is Warnew
Is Living With War any good, and does it even matter?
Philadelphia City Paper |
Michael Pelusi |
05-09-2006 |
Reviews
Tags: Neil Young, Living With War
