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Our latest album reviews, featuring the records we've most enjoyed (or not) over the past few weeks.

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Browse our album reviews according to score: Highest (9.5/10 or more) or Lowest (2/10 or less)

The Lotus Eaters

Wurmwluv
Troubleman Unlimited (2007)

I love The Lotus Eaters. Not many people know the surprisingly laid back side project of Aaron Turner (Isis, Old Man Gloom, House of Low Culture), Stephen O'Malley (Sunn 0))), Khanate, and a myriad of others), and James Plotkin (Khanate, Phantomsmasher, Khlyst, etc); this may be due to the fact that the group does not release records at the clip that some of their other projects do. Wurmwluv is, after all, only the group's fourth release since the three individuals began collaborating since 1999 (this includes the Alienist on a Pale Horse LP, the Mind Control for Infants LP, and the untitled 7"). Wurmwluv does see them traversing some of the same subtle sonic territory that The Lotus Eaters have made their domain on these past releases, which is a very good thing, because the band does create a mood that is vastly different than most of their other individual projects. The three untitled pieces on this album are very long and can make listening to them a dubious undertaking if one is not prepared to sit for a while (this is not a car listening record by any stretch of the imagination and should come with a sleep warning … Read more

The Mock Heroic

Dignified Exits
SuperFi (2007)

Contrary to popular belief, screamo isn't dead. Granted, it could very well be crippled and unable to be even a … Read more

Manes

How the World Came to an End
Candlelight (2007)

Linkin Park, by and large, are looked upon as a joke. With few exceptions, they are loved solely by young … Read more

Jesu

Pale Sketches
Avalanche Inc. (2007)

Pale Sketches is the second full-length that Jesu has released this year, and it marks an important step for Justin … Read more

Jesu

Lifeline
Hydra Head/Daymare (2007)

As unbelievable as it may sound Lifeline is Jesu's fifth (and possibly the sixth if Robotic Empire gets the split … Read more

Bark Bark Bark

Haunts
Retard Disco (2007)

Jacob Cooper, the solo man of Bark Bark Bark, is quite an ambitious fellow. Though, I regret to say that … Read more

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One from the archives

The Wild

Dreams Are Maps
Asian Man (2013)

Maybe Defiance, Ohio are the height I hold the folk-punk genre to, maybe it’s just that they’re the first such band to really click with me. Regardless, on listening to The Wild’s second full-length, Dreams Are Maps, I find myself making several comparisons. Given the context that’s a good thing. Given the band’s overall sound, well, there are also some pretty big differences.The similarities come quickly: genre, vocal deliveries and trade-offs, and the voices themselves. The difference, though, is important. It’s clear that a lot of studio work went into the overall product. The levels are steady from start to finish, the sound is crisp, and everything focuses on remaining in tune and creating an unblemished product versus capturing the live feel. It’s more tightly-knit, as in the bluegrass-tinged “Cut … Read more

More album reviews

Flotilla

Disaster Poetry
Independent (2006)

Taste is a strange thing. You start to form an opinion on something from the first contact with it. Take Flotilla for example - a four piece indie-rock band that includes a classically trained harpist and, according to their press release, "a noted composer of contemporary concert music." Now to be honest, the first thing flashed into my mind was … Read more

Pinback

Autumn of the Seraphs
Touch & Go (2007)

After three years of Rob Crow sowing his wild musical oats with namely Goblin Cock and his solo album, he has joined back with Armistead Burwell Smith IV to put out another album under the name Pinback. Autumn of the Seraphs is Pinback's second album for Touch & Go and you can tell right from the first note that the … Read more

Om

Pilgrimage
Southern Lord (2007)

Sleep was great. High on Fire is pretty good. But Om consistently impresses me, and seems to gain momentum with every album. Om seems to be getting closer than ever to carving out its own unique corner in the psychedelic genre that I could simply call "zen doom." These days "hypnotic" is a much-overused word in review writing, especially since … Read more

Alcest

Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde
Profound Lore (2007)

To listen to "Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde" (which translates into Memories Of Another World) is to experience a world free of pain, darkness, and despair, and to enter a world of beauty and harmony. The scenario that such an album paints is one where pure joy and happiness triumph through the overbearing cascading light, where innocence prevails, and where the … Read more

Just Surrender

We're in Like Sin
Broken English (2007)

Rob Gordon once said "The making of a great compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do and takes ages longer than it might seem. You gotta kick off with a killer, to grab attention. Then you got to take it up a notch, but you don't wanna blow your wad, so then you got to cool it off … Read more

Okkervil River

The Stage Names
Jagjaguwar (2007)

It's a rare commodity to find a record that just seems to get it right. I mean really get it. The kind of disc that echoes your little world, your thoughts and your feelings, back to you in lines that you just wish you had the talent to write yourself. The kind of album that has you walking the long … Read more

Sons of Azrael

The Conjuration of Vengeance
Metal Blade (2007)

"Trail of Flesh," "Sweet Blasphemy," and "Scent of a Dead Whore". Sure, we all know these titles as classic children's books, but did you know that they've been adapted into songs by a group called Sons of Azrael? Yes, that's right - all your favorite bedtime stories set to music on one convenient disc as sung by the cookie monster. … Read more

Cloak/Dagger

We Are
Jade Tree (2007)

Last year a band by the name of Cloak/Dagger released a 7" record. That record, Piñata, was easily one of the best slabs of wax I had heard in a long long time. The record was eventually re-released with their original demo following the band's singing to Jade Tree Records. As time elapsed my anticipation for new songs from the … Read more

Make the Difference

I Still Believe
Our Pride (2007)

Cincinnati, Ohio's Make the Difference is two guys, named Justin and Josh, and a rotating cast of friends according to the liner notes. It doesn't tell me what Justin or Josh happen to do in Make the Difference. The liner notes don't even bother to tell me which two of the four gentlemen in the band photo are Justin and … Read more

Albert Hammond Jr.

Yours to Keep
New Line (2007)

Okay, let's get this out of the way here and now - The Strokes. I really do not care for them one bit, I find their music to be contrived, the image a little forced, and I just find them really rather boring and uninspired. So you can only imagine what my feelings on Albert Hammond Jr.'s debut solo album … Read more

The Fucking Wrath

Season of Evil
Goodfellow (2007)

I would not know the guys from The Fucking Wrath from Adam if they were walking down the street. Maybe that's the point, three working Joes that crank up the volume when not doing their day jobs. The first time I heard of this band was not long before I heard their debut Season of Evil, which is this loud … Read more

Kanye West

Graduation
Roc-A-Fella (2007)

Kanye has lost it. Well, sort of. I don't know. Shit, I'm sorry. Believe me, I am. I didn't want this to happen. Unlike most of the intelligent people in the world, I had convinced myself that his absurd behavior was justified, that he really was as good as all that. Apparently, I was wrong - Graduation doesn't hold a … Read more

Newspapers

Lakeview EP
Montgomery (2007)

Before even listening to Newpapers' Lakeview EP, everything about them screams, "Hate me." It could be the fact that their album cover seems to be like a bad Simpsons rip-off, featuring a lake spewing out things like an old love bus, a factory, and what one can only assume are cheap beer cans with angel wings. It could also be … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Parhelia

First Light
Independent (2006)

The number of atmospheric rock bands has skyrocketed recently. Dublin, Ireland's Parhelia, a group of "post-rockers," play very welcoming and groove-oriented songs. This instrumental four-piece doesn't sound "groovy," but the rhythm section is extremely tight. Guitarists Greg Clarke and Diarmuid Shore create pleasant, melodic parts that keep me interested (even without crescendos!). "Ebb/Flow" contains cool delay effects combined with sudden … Read more

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