Ra Ra Riot: The Rhumb Line August 21, 2008It’s hard to believe, after spending four years there, that anything good could come out of Syracuse. It’s...
Destroyer: Trouble in Dreams June 29, 2008Dan Bejar is never at a loss for words. He crams his songs full of ‘em. He packs...
Destroyer: Thief June 29, 2008If cabaret weren’t self-indulgent garbage, it would sound like this. If showtunes were rock ‘n’ roll and not...
Beirut: Gulag Orkestar June 13, 2006Listen to the wunderkind make the oldie-time music! One part Neutral Milk Hotel and another Jonathan Richman, this...
Destroyer: Streethawk: A Seduction April 1, 2006Destroyer, by the sound of their name, should be playing death metal or something, but they are indeed...
John Vanderslice: Time Travel Is Lonely February 28, 2005Vanderslice is a hard sell for some folks. He’s this kind of mad production genius who tweaks and...
The Decemberists: Her Majesty the Decemberists September 10, 2003Who doesn’t love a sea shanty? Well, sea shanties sung by nerdy intellectuals whose only experience on a...
John Vanderslice: Life and Death of an American Fourtracker May 8, 2002John Vanderslice is a weird guy. Helming the now defunct San Francisco band MK Ultra, he got the...
The Beach Boys: Pet Sounds March 11, 2002This is the grandaddy of the alternative rock albums. Yes, Brian Wilson probably didn’t realize it at the...
Belle & Sebastian: Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant June 6, 2000Ugh, who’s the dude with the deeper voice? Track three starts and I’m convinced that he has somehow...