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  FUTURE ISLANDS: ON THE WATER

  November 1, 2011

  Rating:
  Future Islands: On the Water
  Release date: October 11, 2011
  Label: Thril Jockey
   

  To say that Future Islands singer Samuel Herring has an unusual voice, would be an understatement. Before listening to the band’s new album, On the Water, I have always equated Herring’s distinct, strained  vocals with the likes of Tom Waits. What critic Daniel Durchholz described as sounding “like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and

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  WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS: IN THE PIT OF THE STOMACH

  October 29, 2011

  Rating:
  We Were Promised Jetpacks: In the Pit of the Stomach 
  Label: Fatcat Records
  Release date: October 4, 2011
  When people think of Scotland, three things come to mind – kilts, haggis and the Loch Ness monster. This is a fact and to be honest, it’s quite comprehensive. But after spending a decade living there one year, I quickly realised that beyond prehistoric urban myths and (surprisingly delicious) sheep innards, Scotland has a thriving music scene with a wealth of burgeoning talent and

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  RYAN ADAMS: ASHES & FIRE

  October 29, 2011

  Rating:
  Ryan Adams: Ashes & Fire
  Label: Paxam
  Release date: October 11, 2011
  The long, desultory wayfaring that Ryan Adams first embarked on as a lovelorn, sentimental balladeer on 2000′s Heartbreaker, has finally come full circle.Adams, whose previously, indiscriminate performances in musical experimentation could be described, at best, as enigmatic (here’s to you, Orion), is finally back, doing what he does best: Alt. Country Rock.Ashes & Fire is a collection of understated, honeymoon songs from a man who sounds again at ease. Since

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  ATLAS SOUND: PARALLAX

  October 29, 2011

  Rating:
  Atlas Sound: Parallax
  Label: Parallax
  Release date: November 8, 2011In the past year, Bradford Cox has asserted himself as one of the most important musical figures of this generation. Four, full-length, outtake and rarity albums, a massive tour with Deerhunter, and the release of his career-defining album Parallax. Up until this point, so much of Cox’s solo work was indistinguishable from his other projects — different store fronts for the same product. But on Parallax, the output is entirely unique and tremendously

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  ICEAGE: NEW BRIGADE

  October 21, 2011

  Rating:
  Iceage: New Brigade
  Label: What’s Your Rupture
  Release date:  June 21, 2011
  Anger, anxiety, maladjustment and nihilism are all impulses that legions of teenagers combat daily. In Copenhagen,  four teens are not merely scrapping against these demons, but waging an outright war on them.
  Meet Iceage: a Danish punk outfit, whose rowdy live shows have delineated them the poster children for a “new cult of violent youth” – just have a scroll through the bloody post-show photos on their blog.But their new album New

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  M83: HURRY UP, WE’RE DREAMING

  October 19, 2011

  Rating:
  M83: Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
  Label: Mute
  Release date: October 18, 2011
  Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming is twenty-two tracks of flawlessly crafted synth, drenched in intrepid, day-glo, art-pop scenery, barring a wasted moment. What M83 (Anthony Gonzalez) has accurately described as “Very, very, very epic.”

  The double-album experience marks M83’s sixth record release, and an ambitious one at that. Siting Billy Corgan’s twenty-eight-track, nine times platinum, alternative magnum opus Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, as inspiration, more evoking of The Breakfast Club

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  ST. VINCENT: ST. VINCENT

  September 15, 2011

  Rating:
  St. Vincent: St. Vincent
  Label: 4ad Records
  Release date:  September 13, 2011
  Annie Clark is a woman of almost painterly beauty who would, in all likelihood, cut a bitch if she needed to. Beneath her gracefully composed chamber pop lies a scratchy, violent underbelly. With Strange Mercy, Clark achieves the perfect balance of porcelain elegance and distorted ugliness she’s spent three albums working to hit. Serrated guitar and some seriously agitated synthesizers—the coda of “Surgeon” sounds like something off a particularly wigged-out Bernie Worrell

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  MILK MAID: YUCCA

  August 31, 2011

  Rating:
  MILK MAID: YUCCA
  LABEL: SUFFERING JUKEBOX / FATCAT
  RELEASE DATE: JUNE 20, 2011
   
  Martin Chohen, bassist turned singer / songwriter and frontman of Milk Maid, formerly of Nine Black Alps, recently recently recorded and released the debut album Yucca. Recorded in Cohen’s apartment in Macnchester, UK Yucca is an intelligent and solid album that offers up gritty guitar and often dark or concerning lyrics over “sweet, sun-drenched pop hooks”.
  Yucca is what I imagine a Sonic Youth album would sound like if they

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  THE HORRORS: SKYING

  August 15, 2011

  Rating:
  THE HORRORS: SKYING
  LABEL: XL Recordings
  RELEASE DATE: August 9, 2011
  Most bands wontedly mature with mileage, but rarely are they able to thrive with the same level of success as The Horrors. In 2007, the band released Strange House; an underrated debut album that has slipped into indie rock obscurity, sounding today, like it was written and recorded by a different group altogether. Two years later, The Horrors released Primary Colours, rightfully shuttling the group into musical notoriety andsetting the pace

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  BON IVER: BON IVER

  July 20, 2011

  Rating:
  Bon Iver: Bon Iver
  Label: Jagjaguwar
  Release date:  June 21, 2011
  When Justin Vernon holed himself up in a remote cabin, writing For Emma, Forever Ago, there is no way he could have foreseen the span of impact his album would exonerate, nor could anyone else.  Like a folk story echoed from generations ago, the goal was to hibernate and purge a year of personal trouble, pain, lack of perspective, heartache, longing, love, loss and guilt into a deeply affecting nine-song avalanche of

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  BATTLES: GLOSS DROP

  July 15, 2011

  Rating:
  BATTLES: GLOSS DROP
  LABEL: WARP RECORDS
  RELEASE DATE: JUNE 6, 2011
  How many bands can you think of that lost their lead singer and didn’t completely fold? Probably not many. But for Battles, the show goes on after the departure of Tyondai Braxton, the central figure of 2007′s break-out album Mirrored. As you’d expect after such a line-up overhaul, Gloss Drop is noticeably different from its predecessor, though many of the qualities that made their debut such a hit are still at

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  DAWES: NOTHING IS WRONG

  July 15, 2011

  Rating:
  DAWES: NOTHING IS WRONG
  LABEL: ATO RECORDS/ RED
  RELEASE DATE: JUNE 7, 2011LABEL: ATO RECORDS/ RED
  When Taylor Goldsmith rips into a staccato-laced solo toward the end of “Fire Away” on Dawes’ second LP, Nothing is Wrong, the band emphatically declares their expansion. With more time to write and focus their efforts, Dawes managed to honor their modern, Laurel Canyon country folk by adding moments of increased muscle and bright, new flourishes to their striking harmonies within a wider palette of sound.

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