Album Review: Woodsman’s ‘Woodsman’

I wrote a review for psych-ambient group Woodsman’s new self-titled, released day before yesterday.

“. . . I had the impression of beginning in the woods and ending up elsewhere, a good sign for a psychedelic recording. It reminds me of a fantasy series, Roger Zelazny’s The Chronicles of Amber, in which the main character arrives on other planes by walking and simultaneously imagining the destination piece by piece, subtracting elements that don’t fit, thus shifting the landscape around him until he has arrived at the place he’d envisioned. It’s a good model for how each track tends to progress – movement in pieces, like clay being shaped.”

Check out the full review here.

Music Review: Spanish Lounge/Trip Hop Mix “Nuestro Agradecimiento”

“The internet is rarely more rewarding than when it spits a strange gem from out its mists with little more explanation than a note with a name. Such is the case here: we have an eclectic sequence of beats overlaid with sparkling sampling from childrens’ choruses, lo-fi crooners’ calls, and ethereal lullabies. It’s a great soundtrack to night-drives and garage kickbacks that ends just a track or two too soon.”

Read the rest of my review here.

New Music: “Shapeshifter” – Elephant

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“London-based trip-hop duo Elephants follow up their beautiful doo-wop-infused single ‘Skyscraper,’ released earlier in March this year, with ‘Shapeshifter’: a similarly engaging and wintry piece of bliss. Where the former whets the appetite, the latter makes their forthcoming album worth anticipating.”

You can find my full write-up here

Album Review: MGMT’s ‘MGMT’

Or if the tracks aren’t frustratingly airy, they can be downright clunky. Take the single “Your Life is a Lie” – yeah, the candidness of the lyrics and their laconic brevity have a lot to do with the track title and the sudden revelation thereof, except the repetitiveness of it blunts the whole message. It strives to be this barrage of wake-up calls, but by the end of the song it’s just become white noise, and I’d be amazed if you weren’t reaching for the skip button. It’s a real Bible-thumper of a track: “Count your friends / On your hands / Now look again / They’re not your friends.” Cue jaw-drop.

Read the rest of my review here!

Music Review: ‘The Hexagonal Murder’ – Vania de Bie-Viernet

“The Hexagonal Murder is the soundtrack to a fake film, probably from the 70s, and probably dealing with international intrigue, blue velvet curtains, and skyscrapers slick with rain. As a rock/pop album you might call it samesy and sporadic, but as the fantasy soundtrack to an unrealized film (composed entirely of samples, mind you), it is harrowing.”

I gave it a 7.0/10, and you can read my full review here.