10.Nov.2011 “So Far Away” by A Place to Bury Strangers
Short, sweet, loud and to the point, “So Far Away,” the first song released from A Place to Bury Strangers’ forthcoming EP for Dead Oceans isn’t revealing and doesn’t necessarily expand upon what we already know about the New York noisemakers. Rather, it reenforces the trio’s strengths — Working measurable volume and obscure textures into [...]
07.Nov.2011 Moving Pictures: Two Different Ways by Factory Floor
Are Factory Floor a rock band with the groove of a dance act or an electronic act with a nose for noise? Are they goth or post-punk or trance? Should we wait for NME or Pitchfork to chime in with a new sub-genre, or should we dig in? During the Londoner’s late night, attention-grabbing set [...]
13.Oct.2011 “No Nostalgia” by Parts and Labor
NYC’s Parts and Labor are one of the few rock bands on the scene today to successfully and convincingly integrate electronics into their sound (Way haywire electronics, I should add), and have always been a favorite of both I Rock Cleveland and the Cleveland concert audience in general. Now, after ten years, they’re placing themselves [...]
28.Jun.2011 The Rockometer: Black Up by Shabazz Palaces
Shabazz Palaces Black Up Sub Pop Be honest. If I told you there was this great, forward-thinking rap album released on the venerable, American indie label, Sub Pop and that album was by a former member of Diggable Planets, “Cool Like Dat,” Diggable Planets, what would you think? Has Sub Pop lost its mind? Has [...]
06.Jun.2011 Moving Pictures: “I Gotta Rokk” by DJ Shadow
Music videos these days just don’t get much better than the one for DJ Shadow’s latest single, “I Gotta Rokk.” Much like his music, which is decidedly sample-based, the video itself, is a collection of obscure footage recovered from god knows where. And my what footage we have collected here — Cheesy metal men doing [...]
20.May.2011 Top Jam: “Song for Reinier Lucassen’s Sphinx” by Trouble Books and Mark McGuire
Long considered by those in the know as the best band in Northeast, Ohio that no one outside of Northeast, Ohio has ever heard of, the husband and wife duo of Keith Freund and wife Linda Lejsovka are back with a new Trouble Books record and this time they invited a friend to the studio [...]
25.Apr.2011 Moving Pictures: “I Hate the Beach (Live Version)” by Psychedelic Horseshit
You are on notice, Panda Bear and Animal Collective, Neon Indian, Com Truise, Ducktails, Small Black and all the rest of you Chillwavers. Columbus’ Psychedelic Horseshit have heard your loopy, homespun electronics and your sunshiny, cutesy, easy-livin’ fantasies, and are none too pleased. Any day now I expect to an interview like this one, the [...]
24.Apr.2011 The Rockometer: Nine Types of Light by TV on the Radio
TV on the Radio Nine Types of Light Interscope Records Depending on your point of view, Nine Types of Light is either the album where the innovative electronic/post punk band, TV On the Radio put it all together in one masterful pop statement, or the album where the Brooklynites have foregone the types of ground-breaking [...]
18.Apr.2011 Moving Pictures: “Faces in the Crowd” by Cat’s Eyes
To this day, whenever I’m out and playing records and throw down something off of The Horrors 2009 release, Primary Colours, the reaction is the same. It’s a “Who was that?” Followed by, “It’s the Horrors,” and a “But I thought they were that goth punk band who played dress up…” Yes, The Horrors and [...]
22.Mar.2011 “French Countryside” by Psychedelic Horseshit
When Columbus, Ohio’s Psychedelic Horseshit first came to prominence (Or infamy, or depending on your point of view) with Magic Flowers Droned in 2007, they wrecked and recreated lo-fi music in such a rebellious manner, they inadvertently created the new genre in the process. The critics called it shitgaze. Now, four years later, Matt Horseshit [...]
