Author Archive

Album Review: Adam Green – Minor Love

By Luke Johnson on March 8th, 2010

Makes you almost wish Green had gone back to his fascination with non sequiturs and body parts.

On Second Listen: Kathryn Williams and Neill MacColl – Two

By Luke Johnson on October 24th, 2009

Two will most likely garner a yawn at one point or another throughout the runtime, but when Williams and MacColl click, sit up and take note.

Album Review: The Clean – Mister Pop

By Luke Johnson on September 15th, 2009

Back in the late ’70s and early ’80s, if you were a Kiwi and a punker, you needed no introduction to The Clean.

Album Review: A.A. Bondy – When the Devil’s Loose

By Luke Johnson on September 8th, 2009

Walker Percy might’ve donned headphones for such an album as this.

Red Collar sails into Snug Harbor (8/29)

By Luke Johnson on August 31st, 2009

It wasn’t Jason Kutchma’s combat boots with spurs. It wasn’t the duct tape on Mike Jackson’s guitar, or the count offs: “1, 2, 3, GO!” Neither was it that Kutchma’s guitar strap came unsecured on the first track from jumping around. It wasn’t the head down, off to the races drumming or the constant smile [...]

Album Review: Ocote Soul Sounds & Adrian Quesada – Coconut Rock

By Luke Johnson on August 19th, 2009

Grab a beer. Add a lime wedge. Coconut Rock is the soundtrack for the summer of 2009.

Red Collar to release Pilgrim on limited edition vinyl

By Luke Johnson on August 14th, 2009

We thought Pilgrim was pretty good for a freshman release. Following up the initial release of that album earlier this year, blue collar rockers Red Collar are set to release the obligatory vinyl version of the record via Loose Charm Records. Keeping with the band’s do-it-yourself roots, all the sleeves of the records did time in a [...]

Watch: Ear Pwr & Showbeast question existence — with puppets!

By Luke Johnson on August 6th, 2009

We’ve shed a few words a couple of times before on Ear Pwr, and none of us foresaw the group questioning existence in a music video. We figured the band for a more pedestrian outfit. When you name a track “Cats is People, Too”…

But what’s that? The video includes a man dressed as a zebra [...]

Album Review: David Thomas Owen IV – Solace My King

By Luke Johnson on August 6th, 2009

Whether speaking of the macabre keys or the reverb-heavy, timorous (but certainly not weak) vocals, David Thomas Owen IV has created a world unto itself on the album. In so doing, Solace My King represents a complex network of fears, dread, and neuroses covered intermittently with hope. Owen has created a complete work, the most complete likely to be released this year.

Album Review: Wye Oak – The Knot

By Luke Johnson on July 27th, 2009

Flaws aside, The Knot is a release for Wye Oak to be proud of.