Review: Laura Gibson – If You Come To Meet Me (or) where the deer and the antelope play
Laura Gibson is from Portland, OR and plays a nylon-stringed guitar. On her latest (and first) full-length album If You Come To Greet Me she (at times) sounds eerily like Julie Doiron or a folkier and less jazzy Norah Jones or maybe even Feist. Whatever. Her music has an almost timeless or even old-timey quality (Read more…)
Review: Illinois – What The Hell Do I Know? (or) crossing state lines and moving on
I a big fan of Illinois (both the university and the band). And while the band Illinois might share a name with my home state, they are actually based in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. I find that very interesting because my wife is originally from Pennsylvania, but now calls Illinois home. It can all be very (Read more…)
A review of the Altec Lansing iM7
For the last month or so we’ve had the Altec Lansing inMotion iM7 sitting in the kitchen playing steady shuffle of songs from my iPod as well as Amy’s iPod and I can’t heap enough praise on this product. It is an iPod dock and sound system whit a modern tubular design that looks almost (Read more…)
Review: Penthouse Sweets – See You In Bed (or) sweet child of mine
If you like LA’s The Broken West, you’ll most definitely like Chicago’s Penthouse Sweets. Both bands have that sun-soaked rootsy pop-rock sound that has just enough alt-country charm to make you fall in love at sunset. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but it doesn’t have to be. Great melodies and flawless (or perfectly flawed) execution that slowly (Read more…)
Review: Loch Lomond – Lament For Children (or) indie pop music for pine trees
Loch Lomond started as a solo recording project of Ritchie Young in 2003 but has since become of full-fledged band consisting of 6 or 7 people (depending on who you consult). They are from Portland, Oregon in the Pacific Northwest and just like the forests that dominate much of that landscape, the band’s music is (Read more…)
Review: Ozark Cousins – Ozark Cousins (or) ma and pa can we go to branson
Does Chicago have its own indie rock sound? I would like to think that instead of a particular sound, it has a feel. A certain combination of Midwestern charm, rough edges, and melodic prowess. Ozark Cousins certainly falls into that category (which is seemingly about the size of Lake Michigan right now) of killer Chicago (Read more…)
Review: Richmond Fontaine – Thirteen Cities (or) cities are buring and turing into dust
Even though the band Richmond Fontaine calls Portland, Oregon home, their music oozes with the flavors and sounds of the Southwest. Listening to their latest album, Thirteen Cities, I can picture the lingering desert smog over Phoenix or Albuquerque coloring the sunset deep shades of orange and red. That is due in part to the (Read more…)
Review: Hialeah – Where You’re Standing (or) have you ever had too much fun
Hialeah is not just some town in Florida. It is also the name of a rock band from San Diego, California. Their 2006 album Where You’re Standing is full of muscular post-hardcore in the vein of Frankie-era Braid, Jawbox, Helmet, and Elliott. The lilting bass and dynamic guitar interplay create swirling and temperamental grooves that (Read more…)
Review: Low – Drums And Guns (or) blog is the new black
Blogger ate the first draft of this after I was done typing. Here is how it went as best I can remember. I remember the first time I heard the music of Duluth, MN slowcore pioneers Low. It was December of 1999 and my father had just read the Best Music of 1999 list in (Read more…)
