Category Archives: Reviews
Top Ten of 2010: Jeff Hassay’s Favorites, Honorables, and Previews
1. Elton John & Leon Russell - The Union Invoking the Civil War, Jimmie Rodgers and Melville (as well as an ethereal guest vocal by Neil Young), The Union is heavy on gravitas especially on the profound death march “There’s No Tomorrow.” … Continue reading
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Album Review: The Heartlanders – On The Roam
With a couple of move-ins with a banjo, a slide guitar and a few dozen dreams, it’s clear: On the Roam is an appropriate title for The Heartlanders’ new album. The Heartlanders are a Cincinnati band transformed from the Austin, TX band The … Continue reading
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Album Review: Belle & Sebastian Write About Love
Belle and Sebastian Write About Love begins with a long fade-in into a hazy trance meets disco “I Didn’t See It Coming.” It sounds like Nick Drake joined Wings and wrote a song for their introverted niece’s prom. Then again … Continue reading
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Album Review: Cockfighter – Universal Field Theory Blues
Cockfighter is a somewhat elusive new Californian “buzz” band whose overall sound is difficult to pin down. Universal Field Theory Blues, their first album, rings out of the aether like an urgent message. About what and to whom I’m not … Continue reading
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Live Review: Dayton, Ohio’s Own Guided By Voices Reunion Show at The Wiltern in L.A., 10/4/10
A rowdy crowd, an exalted entrance and a wall-of-sound take on “A Salty Salute” began Guided By Voices reunion show in Los Angeles. At the song’s end, the repeated line “the club is open” became a celebratory chant with the … Continue reading
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Album Review: Elizabeth & The Catapult – The Other Side of Zero
My friends are my world. They are, in all fundamental ways, my family. And just as any good family member should, they provide unprecedented support, joy filled laughter, wrenching heart ache, and raw, honest, growth. I expect the same from … Continue reading
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Album Review: Women – Public Strain
Public Strain is darker in tone, more pensive and anxious than Women’s exceptional eponymous debut. It also marks a more focused and profound approach to songwriting, expounding on themes of personal longing, anxiety, and estrangement. The album winds through eleven closely knit songs that build tension without ever granting complete emotional release. The opener, “Can’t You See,” presages the tenor of the album with a lone bassline bolstered by a steadily intensifying cacophony of static, feedback, and the pining of a full string section that never ultimately resolves itself, but instead fades into silence. Continue reading
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Album (p)Review: Wolf Parade – Expo 86
So, Wolf Parade’s latest LP, Expo 86, came out a few weeks ago and it’s fantastic (read: every bit as solid as Apologies to the Queen Mary). Continue reading
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Album Review: The Greatcoats – The Greatcoats
The Greatcoats self-titled (and criminally self-released) debut wants to be perfect musical fudge and, at times, it succeeds. Swirling vocal harmonies, bouncy rhythms, and catchy singalong choruses, all wrapped into under-four-minute bursts, trigger pleasure centers in the brain, flushing the cheeks, moving the hips, and creating a demand for more. The first proper song of the album – after the Fleet-Foxes-lite vocal harmony exercise, “Birdsong” – “Come Up and See” embodies that perfection. The guitars chime their happy melody, drums amiably provide a solid backbone, and overdubbed vocals swirl and dance around the main lyrical line, which exhorts the listener to have a drink, relax, stop staring at your feet while you walk, and “come up and see” the beautiful world so that you don’t miss a thing. It’s a timeworn sentiment, but one delivered beautifully. A delightful morsel of aural fudge. Continue reading
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Live Review: Frightened Rabbit—05/06/2010 (Newport, KY)
The energy hardly waned as Frightened Rabbit entered the final portion of their performance with several hugely warm, raucous, passionate songs. Show closer “Keep Yourself Warm” was a brilliant choice and it was clear the crowd felt the honesty of this song acutely, as the room was soon filled with people singing along in agreement. All and all, Frightened Rabbit was one of the highest energy shows I’ve been to at the Southgate House. It was an evening of loud, profound rock and roll that you could clap your hands and stomp your feet to… and what more could you ask for? There wasn’t a whole lot of pretentiousness going on last night, but there was a whole lot of shakin.’ Continue reading
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