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Oxbow

Thin Black Duke
Hydra Head (2017)

I first saw Oxbow perform live back in 2007. The band has just released their then new album, The Narcotic Story, and the experience was simply beyond words. I was not familiar with their back catalogue and they completely stunned me, apart from the vocalist methodically removing his items of clothing through the show, was their radical take on rock … Read more

Planning For Burial

Below The House
Flenser (2017)

Would you rather a musician be great live commanding all manner of powers that conjure spirits and whisk the entire gathering to a place of other or of temporary enlightenment, or would you rather that same musician be a paragon of studio craft, wielding instruments like a paintbrush and the studio like a canvas?I was standing on the side of … Read more

Pharmakon

Contact
Sacred Bones (2017)

Back in 2014, Margaret Chardier came face to face with a life-threatening situation, which inspired her new record at the time, Bestial Burden. As was the case with her third record, her previous works were dealing with the human experience, the disconnect between mind and body, and the notion of one's mind being trapped inside their body. A young veteran, … Read more

L.A. Takedown

II (2017)
Ribbon Music (2017)

You don’t need to have been to Los Angeles to best experience L.A. Takedown’s latest album, II. It’s an album that’s evocative of a time and place, though it’s one that may or may not exist. The fact that it’s almost entirely instrumental (save for some lightly sprinkled vocoder in its final moments) doesn’t provide any concrete evidence. It’s an … Read more

Jim and the French Vanilla

Afraid of the House
Dirtnap (2017)

Jim and the French Vanilla is the solo moniker for Jim Blaha, guitarist in The Blind Shake, a band with have several of their own releases, as well as collaborations with notables like Michael Yonkers and John Reis. This is his third “French Vanilla” release, but the first with true distribution and also the first to feature a full band.There … Read more

The Tossers

Smash the Windows
Victory (2017)

The term “Irish punk” sprung up in the late ‘90s around the time Flogging Molly jumped into the spotlight and in the waning days of ska-punk. A new hyphen was needed for those into punk aggression and hybrid genres.I’ve always had a soft spot for violins, mandolins and other instrumentation common in the style. While time and more and more … Read more

Travoltas

Until We Hit the Shore
White Russian Records (2017)

Reunions make me cringe. I’ll just say it like it is. I dislike reunions. A lot. I am always afraid a band will ruin their legacy. Or at the very least it will feel different. This is most likely due to the fact I’m a different person than I was when I listened to a band first. New material just … Read more

Dag Rosenqvist & Matthew Collings

Hello Darkness
Denovali (2017)

There is a familiarity that builds when musicians collaborate. Experimental alchemists, Dag Rosenqvist and Matthew Collings have met in the past to produce the wonderful Wonderland EP, released in 2012 as part of Hibernate's collaboration series. Their new record together, Hello Darkness, produces a more distinct and complete end result of what their combined musical vision is. At first glimpse … Read more

200 Words Or Less

S.H.I.T.

i EP
La Vida Es Un Mus Discos Punk (2017)

After making some waves around ye olden DIY hardcore scene circa 2014, these Toronto-ians took a little hiatus from recorded output (sans a couple live tapes). But now they’re back to kick of 2017 with this quick, four-song ripper. The titles of which all start with the letter I – “Insidiation”, "Incorporation”, “Information”, and “Individuation.” The aura of leather jacket-clad … Read more

Book Review

Harley Flanagan

Hard-Core: Life Of My Own
Feral House (2016)

This book brings together quite a few things:For a start, it is being published by Feral House, which is owned and operated by Adam Parfrey. Founded in 1989, Feral House has established itself as a publishing house, championing innovative and celebrated non-fiction books– books that planted seeds for the development of what were to become cultural trends that eventually invaded … Read more

Mouth of the Architect

Time & Withering Remastered
Translation Loss (2017)

Dayton, Ohio’s Mouth of the Architect was a post-metal lover’s wet dream when they came on the seen. The Midwest quintet fell into the same bucket as Isis, Pelican, and Intronaut but came out swinging with a sound and fury all their own. They managed to merge beautiful, landscaped instrumentals with scalping, scraping weaponry refined to a point on their … Read more

White Reaper

The World's Best American Band
Polyvinyl (2017)

You’d think that a band that titled their album The World’s Best American Band may be getting ahead of themselves. But not every band is White Reaper. They might have just done it.The second album from the Louisville, Kentucky natives somehow takes elements of ear-pleasing 70’s hard rock a-la Van Halen and a very coked-up Aerosmith, but imbues a punk … Read more

Monolog & Subheim

Conviction
Denovali (2017)

This is the first collaboration between Monolog, master of Drum n Bass and IDM music, and Subheim, explorer of abstract electronica and admirer of ambiance. The two artists have a steady presence in the experimental scene, with Monolog starting off in the early '00s while Subheim appeared in the scene during the last few years of that decade.What is captivating … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Rata Negra

Oido Absoluto LP
La Vida Es Un Mus Discos Punk (2017)

This is some killer punk out of Madrid, Spain on that throwback tip. If you had told me this was some recently excavated ‘80s gem getting the reissue treatment I’d have no reason not to believe you. Even the band photo used on the cover—which itself looks like it was clipped from an old photocopied zine kicking around your dad’s … Read more

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