Windows Media
new kexp album reviews
| Browse by one of the following: | ||
 | ||
| ALLABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ1234567890 | ||
| ||
New Album Reviews:
Sigur Ros: Kveikur
- (XL)
This Icelandic band’s seventh studio album – and first recorded as a trio after the departure of keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson – finds them dramatically shifting to a notably darker, more aggressive take on the band’s ambient post-rock sound by way of an ominous blend of rumbling electric guitars, atmospheric synths, mournful strings, fuzzy bass and clattering drums accompanying Jonsi’s ethereal vocals.
6/14/2013 - Don Yates
Other Sigur Ros album reviews:
Valtari - 5/24/2012Inni - 11/11/2011
Hvarf/Heim - 10/25/2007
Takk - 9/12/2005
( ) - 10/15/2002
Austra: Olympia
- (Domino)
The second album from this Toronto-based band led by classically trained pianist/vocalist Katie Stelmanis features a fuller, more dance-oriented sound than their 2011 debut full-length, combining pulsing house and techno rhythms with icy synths, lush orchestration, a variety of percussion, choral backing vocals and Stelmanis’ soaring, dramatic lead vocals and intimate lyrics.
6/14/2013 - Don Yates
Other Austra album reviews:
Feel It Break - 5/3/2011Weed: Deserve
- (Couple Skate)
This Vancouver, BC band’s debut album is an impressive set of noisy, psych-tinged garage pop with squalling guitars, pummeling rhythms, croon-to-a-scream vocals and lots of potent song hooks.
6/14/2013 - Don Yates
Case Studies: This Is Another Life
- (Sacred Bones)
The second album from this Seattle project spearheaded by Jesse Lortz (formerly of The Duchess and The Duke) is a fine set of brooding chamber-pop steeped in the music of Lee Hazlewood and Leonard Cohen, with a warm, mostly low-key sound combining guitars, piano, organ, violin and cello with Lortz’s gloomy vocals, dark, literate lyrics and wistful melodies.
6/14/2013 - Don Yates
Other Case Studies album reviews:
The World Is Just a Shape to Fill the Night - 8/19/2011Disclosure: Settle
- (Cherrytree/Interscope)
The debut full-length from this young British production duo comprised of brothers Howard and Guy Lawrence is a masterful set blending elements of UK Garage, 2-step, house and other electronic dance styles into sparkling, hook-filled dance-pop with help from a variety of guest vocalists both familiar (Jamie Woon, Jessie Ware, Friendly Fires’ Ed Macfarlane, AlunaGeorge) and obscure.
6/6/2013 - Don Yates
Oblivians: Desperation
- (In The Red)
This legendary Memphis garage band fronted by Greg Cartwright of Reigning Sound reunites for their first album in 16 years, and it’s an impressively fierce set of primal garage-punk inflected with R&B, soul, blues, vintage rock ‘n’ roll and other styles, combining a raw, lo-fi sound with scuzzy guitars, energetic rhythms and infectious song hooks.
6/6/2013 - Don Yates
Other Oblivians album reviews:
9 Songs With Mr. Quintron - 8/15/1997Boards of Canada: Tomorrow's Harvest
- (Warp)
This Scottish brother duo’s first album in eight years is a dark, densely layered and sonically impressive set of ambient electronic grooves fleshed out with chilly synths, hip hop and dubstep-influenced beats, mysterious vocal fragments and eerie dream-world melodies.
6/6/2013 - Don Yates
Other Boards of Canada album reviews:
The Campfire Headphase - 10/13/2005Twoism - 11/15/2002
Geogaddi - 2/15/2002
Sean Nelson: Make Good Choices
- (Really)
The first solo album from the former front man for Seattle’s Harvey Danger is a well-crafted set of catchy pop-rock tinged with some occasional elements of vaudeville/music hall, combining a rich, often piano-based sound with clever lyrics ranging from snarky and acerbic to heartfelt and poignant. Many special guests contribute, including Chris Walla, Peter Buck and members of Centro-Matic, but the focus rightfully remains on Nelson.
6/6/2013 - Don Yates
Quadron: Avalanche
- (Vested in Culture/Epic)
The second album from this now LA-based Danish duo is a brighter, more polished and richly detailed take on their slinky electro-soul sound, combining synths, strings, horns and other instrumentation with mostly midtempo funk and R&B dance rhythms and Coco’s warm, soulful vocals.
6/6/2013 - Don Yates
Future Bible Heroes: Partygoing
- (Merge)
The first album in 11 years from this project featuring the Magnetic Fields’ Stephin Merritt and Claudia Gonson along with ex-Figures on a Beach keyboardist Christopher Ewen is a fine set of bubbly synth-pop leavened with often-acidic lyrics spiked with dark humor.
6/6/2013 - Don Yates
Other Future Bible Heroes album reviews:
I'm Lonely (And I Love It) - 7/15/2000Gold Panda: Half Of Where You Live
- (Ghostly)
The second album from this British producer is a transportive set of diverse electronic grooves reflecting his travels around the world with a warm, sample-driven sound combining exotic samples, glitchy textures, skittering beats and hypnotic melodies.
6/6/2013 - Don Yates
Other Gold Panda album reviews:
Lucky Shiner - 10/22/2010Camera Obscura: Desire Lines
- (4AD)
This Scottish band’s fifth album is a beautifully crafted set of bittersweet, soul-tinged indie-pop. Recorded in Portland with Tucker Martine producing, Desire Lines features a warm, lush sound with guitars, synths, horns, organ and other instrumentation accompanying Tracyanne Campbell’s emotive vocals. Best of all, the songs are consistently stellar, featuring impeccable arrangements, dreamy melodies and often-melancholy lyrics.
5/31/2013 - Don Yates
Other Camera Obscura album reviews:
My Maudlin Career - 4/10/2009Underachievers Please Try Harder - 1/19/2004
Big Deal: June Gloom
- (Mute)
While the debut album from the London-based duo of Alice Costelloe and American-born Kacey Underwood was a sparse and scruffy affair, this follow-up album features a fuller, more muscular sound, with the duo recording with a rhythm section for the first time. The end result is a well-crafted set of ‘90s-influenced pop-rock with fuzzy guitars, intimate female/male vocals, melancholy lyrics and catchy melodic hooks.
5/31/2013 - Don Yates
Other Big Deal album reviews:
Lights Out - 1/23/2012Free Time: Free Time
- (Underwater Peoples)
The debut album from this NYC-via-Melbourne group led by Dion Nania (a touring member of Twerps) is an impressive set of catchy jangle-pop and hazy rock that saddles \up nicely alongside contemporaries Kurt Vile, Real Estate, and The War On Drugs. "World Without Love" offers a distinctive highlight, recalling Sung Tongs-era Animal Collective.
5/31/2013 - Alex
Tricky: False Idols
- (False Idols/!K7)
After a string of erratic albums, the trip-hop pioneer is back with what he does best on his most focused effort in years. It’s a dark, brooding set of trip hop and related styles, combining gloomy, mostly downtempo beats and haunting textures with a variety of (mostly female) guest vocalists paired with Tricky’s own bleak muttering vocals.
5/24/2013 - Don Yates
Other Tricky album reviews:
Angels With Dirty Faces - 6/15/1998Pre-Milennium Tension - 11/15/1996
Various Artists: After Dark 2
- (Italians Do It Better)
The sequel to the 2007 Italians Do It Better compilation After Dark is an excellent set of new Italo disco and related styles. Produced by Johnny Jewell, the compilation features various acts associated with him including Chromatics, Glass Candy, Desire and others, with most of the songs being the kind of nocturnal, heavily atmospheric and drowsily propulsive synth-pop that Jewell excels at.
5/24/2013 - Don Yates
Laura Marling: Once I Was An Eagle
- (Ribbon/Domino)
This British singer-songwriter’s fourth album is a masterful set of dark, intimate folk-pop. The album begins with a sparse-sounding, raga-influenced song suite featuring some intricate acoustic guitar work from Marling along with cello and percussion. As the album goes on, more instrumentation is gradually added, and while the accompaniment is often gorgeous, the focus is rightfully on Marling’s husky, elastic vocals, spellbinding melodies and probing, sometimes cutting lyrics.
5/24/2013 - Don Yates
Other Laura Marling album reviews:
A Creature I Don't Know - 9/13/2011I Speak Because I Can - 4/12/2010
Eleanor Friedberger: Personal Record
- (Merge)
The second solo album from the Fiery Furnaces vocalist is another well-crafted set of ‘70s-inspired pop-rock, featuring a warm sound with electric piano and guitars along with occasional organ, woodwinds and other instrumentation accompanying her rich alto and lyrics of love lost and found.
5/24/2013 - Don Yates
Daft Punk: Random Access Memories
- (Daft Life/Columbia)
This French duo’s fourth proper studio album (and first in eight years) finds them moving away from electronic music towards a sleek ‘70s disco sound inflected with prog-rock, smooth jazz, yacht rock, sci-fi soundtracks and more. Using some stellar veteran studio musicians and featuring a variety of special guests including Chic’s Nile Rodgers, electro pioneer Giorgio Moroder, composer/pop cheese-ball Paul Williams, Animal Collective’s Panda Bear, the Strokes’ Julian Casablancas, the Neptunes’ Pharrell Williams and other luminaries, Random Access Memories is a lush, glittering set of meticulously arranged songs that often pack a surprising poignancy.
5/17/2013 - Don Yates
Other Daft Punk album reviews:
Discovery - 3/15/2001Majical Cloudz: Impersonator
- (Matador)
This Montreal duo’s second album is an often-stunning set of brooding, majestic ballads featuring a stark, minimalist sound with atmospheric synths and somber piano accompanying Devon Welsh’s booming, dramatic vocals and deeply personal lyrics.
5/17/2013 - Don Yates