Call Me Lightning
When I Am Gone My Blood Will Be Free
Dusty Medical (2010)
Is this the band that released Soft Skeletons? It's been 3 years, and clearly the band has opted to go in a different direction. While the band has never hidden their affinity for The Who, naming themselves after a 1968 song by the group, When I Am Gone My Blood Will Be Free takes their influence to the next level. … Read more
Cave In
Anomalies Vol. 1
Hydra Head (2010)
The only phrase that could describe my emotion right now is absolutely gushing, because “Inflatable Dream” is finally playing on my record player after years of obscurity as the “lost” Cave In song that blows away many other Cave In songs, and dear lord does its blasting goodness just make my 1999 barely twenty year old self scream like a … Read more
Cephalic Carnage
Misled By Certainty
Relapse (2010)
Cephalic Carnage have been around the block. For nearly twenty years they’ve been playing their unique blend of grindcore and technical death metal. When it comes to metal, these guys know what the fuck is up. Their previous album Xenosapien is one of my favorites from any genre to have been released in the past few years. That record was … Read more
Cipher
The Joyous Collapse
Uprising (2010)
Cipher is one of those bands that if you were to describe their unique sound to someone, they would undoubtedly be left scratching their heads and asking, “what is it that makes this band good again?” I always put up with quite an internal and external struggle when describing the band to people that have never heard them before. However, … Read more
Coliseum
House With A Curse
Temporary Residence (2010)
One of the beautiful things about making music and sonic art, is that the artists and bands can take their work to interesting places at the drop of a hat if they so choose or are somehow led (by emotions, life changing events, calculated maneuvers, etc) to make such a sonic shift (through songwriting changes, production changes, personnel changes, etc); … Read more
Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip
The Logic Of Chance
Sunday Best (2010)
Ah, the sophomore curse. It's a minefield for most artists, and rare indeed is the second album that matches the first. After due consideration, I declare that the problem is primarily one of gestation. The songs that comprise a debut are usually ones which have been fine-tuned over a number of years while the individuals concerned earn enough reputation or … Read more
Defiance, Ohio
Midwestern Minutes
No Idea (2010)
Midwestern Minutes is the fourth full-length from Defiance, Ohio. The band has crafted a sound that draws from Americana and Plan-It-X-style DIY pop punk. The instrumentation of the six-piece adds to their distinction. While the members split songwriting and lead vocal duties, there is a communal feel as most of their songs end up with a group chorus leading the … Read more
Devil's Brigade
Self Titled
Hellcat (2010)
Back in 2002 a song appeared on a Give ‘em the Boot comp. from a band named Devil’s Brigade. The band was a psychobilly project led by Rancid’s bassist Matt Freeman. The liner notes promised an upcoming record. Here we are in 2010 and, out of nowhere, the project has finally surfaced. While marketed as Freeman’s project, akin to the … Read more
Elliott Smith
An Introduction To...
Kill Rock Stars (2010)
It is hard to understand the purpose of a release like An Introduction to Elliott Smith. Should it be seen as a retrospective look at one of the more revered artists to come out of America in the nineties or a record label sanctioned attempt at creating the type of mix-tape people used to make pre-internet when you wanted to introduce … Read more
End of a Year
You Are Beneath Me
Deathwish Inc. (2010)
“To best enjoy this album… try new things” So starts one of the catchiest records this year this side of the Descendents and Rites Of Spring and maybe you do not fit the description given in this opening soliloquy set to music but that does not mean to stop listening by any means, but rather it puts you in the … Read more
Envy
Recitation
Temporary Residence (2010)
Knowing full well this album was dropping this year (it was on my albums to look forward to in 2010 list last year), I was surprised by its release and caught unaware that it had finally dropped to the public; and this definitely affected the way that Recitation hit me for some strange reason. I sit here and say, “You know, … Read more
Flobots
Survival Story
Universal (2010)
Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore. We have seen the future, and the future is ours. - César Estrada Chávez Matter relates to all things. Matter is defined as "something … Read more
Flying Lotus
Cosmogramma
Warp (2010)
In 1957 the Soviet Union launched the first satellite into orbit. In 1969 Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, and Michael Collins became the first human beings to walk on the surface of the Moon. About half a century later, it has become evident that these remarkable feats of human innovation and imagination still affect our culture today. Steven Ellison’s (a.k.a. Flying … Read more
Football, Etc.
Away Game Football
Count Your Lucky Stars (2010)
Football, Etc. are a Texas three piece and this is the most recent piece of their shortly building discography. There is much to be said about the trend of bringing back 90's style emo. Whether this is applied to the poorly named Skramz genre with bands such as Daitro or the more melodic midwest style that bands like Balance And … Read more
Frank Turner
Rock and Roll EP
Xtra Mile (2010)
It has been a busy year for England’s beloved folk-punk troubadour and in lieu of a new album, he’s delivered a new EP to further whet the appetite of his fans. Instead of a set of ‘rock n’ roll’ tracks, this EP is about the notion of Rock & Roll and its power; the excellent mini-essay included in the CD … Read more
Gholas
Загадка
Self Released (2010)
Post Metal is a pretty loaded genre tag. Most people (myself included) find it misleading. The idea relies on the idea that more effects on your guitars and a sense of dynamics and ambience equal being less than metal. Gholas are a band that seem to fit in this general idea of a genre. They play with a sense of … Read more
Have a Nice Life
Time of Land
Enemies List (2010)
Has it really been almost two years since Have a Nice Life first burst into our collective consciousness as a band that was talked about in soft whispers and wild rumor? Well, it has; it has indeed been roughly two years (give or take several months), and now the band is releasing Time of Land as a free digital download … Read more
Have a Nice Life
Voids
Music Ruins Lives (2010)
Maybe, just maybe, the internet is the reason that some ideas or feats of intellectual wizardry become tangible objects. This could be due to some radical phenomenon, or it could even (gasp) be due to the quality of the work on display. This little theory works in several ways for the duo who are Have A Nice Life. And, if … Read more
