Let Planes Circle Overhead
Let Planes Circle Overhead
Motivesounds (2005)
Tantric music has its charms, but more often than not, it's boring as shit. What's tantric music you ask? Well I'll tell you, you nosey bastards. We all know what tantric sex is and the music works on the same principle. It starts out soft and mellow, keeps building and building, gets harder and harder, but never busts a nut. … Read more
Life in Your Way
Ignite and Rebuild
Indianola (2005)
Oh jeez, another one of these bands. You know the kind - screamo/emo band who wants anything but to be labeled as such. They come up with alternate and sometimes startlingly inaccurate descriptors such as "melodic hardcore" or "emotion rock," or they take the easy way out and spout off the classic "we don't like to label ourselves" or "our … Read more
Life Long Tragedy
Destined for Anything
This Blessing, This Curse (2005)
When was the last time you left your car running while going inside your house to get a jacket from your room because it began raining? And while you were in your room you noticed a CD you thoroughly enjoyed? You began playing the CD and realized the next day that your car blew up and everything inside it was … Read more
Life Long Tragedy
Destined for Anything
This Blessing, This Curse (2005)
The way the underground music scene, namely hardcore, functions is vastly different from the days before the existence of the Internet. Gone are the days of having to attend shows to purchase records, shirts, and other merchandise. We now have online distros and record labels that exist only in theory. Gone are the days in which music was spread by … Read more
Lightning Bolt
Hypermagic Mountain
Load (2005)
Preparation for listening to the new Lightning Bolt record for the first time: ' Call up around a dozen of your closest buddy's and get them to haul ass to your place. ' Splash out your last forty bucks on as much low grade beer as your arms can carry. ' Take the last ten bucks you earned pumping gas … Read more
Lights Out
Get Out
Youngblood (2005)
When was the last time you were angry? You're on a computer at the moment, so maybe you have a sticky key that really pisses you off. Or maybe your computer speaks to you in a really sarcastic tone, and you...just...can't....take...it...anymore. At any rate, anybody can relate to anger. Hey...you also like music, I bet. Crucial music you say? Well … Read more
Lights Out
Overload
Youngblood (2005)
Overload, Lights Out first full-length, is nothing less than amazing. Honestly I was not expecting this from the band because after listening to Get Out so many times, it got rather old. But this new album still hasn't gotten old and I've listened to it every day since I got it. And the reason is that on Overload, Lights Out … Read more
Lion of Judah
Soul Power
Lockin Out (2005)
Despite the obviously hippie-drawn, almost Narnian cover art, and a band name perhaps more likely to evoke visions of reggae or, even worse, Christian rock, Lion of Judah sound much more interested in the likes of Bad Brains and Fugazi than Bob Marley or Creed. Putting the DC back in hardcore - rightfully making it "harDCore" once again - Lion … Read more
Logh
A Sunset Panorama
Hydra Head (2005)
Is Sweden even cold? Whenever I think of Northern Europe, I think of mountains, yodelers, and folks with Princess Leia hair wandering around in big coats. Yet the continent keeps popping out some of the ââ¬Â¦well, warmest albums I've ever heard. Par example: the new album from Logh, a band I didn't care about until this year. I started caring … Read more
Lords
Swords
Jade Tree (2005)
Don't blink, or it will all be over before you even realize what hit you. Swords is what a hit and run car wreck feels and sounds like. The group Lords has been a roadwarrioring (yes, I made this word up and I am trademarking it) group of semi-Hessian sound miscreants for quite some time. After two equally disturbing EP's … Read more
Lucero / Loggia
Split 7
Soul is Cheap (2005)
This is the kind of split 7" I like to see. On one side you have Lucero, a Memphis band who have recently gained a lot of popularity. They have a style that is as equally influenced by Jawbreaker as it is by Waylon Jennings. They constantly are on tour, put out records on large indie labels, and have drawn … Read more
M.I.A.
Arular
XL Recordings (2005)
Superfluous. If I could describe the music press' fawning over female Sri-Lankan/British emcee M.I.A. in a single word, that would be it. This excessive praise for a new artist is not unique to her, of course. In 2004, it was Franz Ferdinand. In 2003, it was the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. To be honest, M.I.A.'s Arular does not live up to … Read more
M83
Before the Dawn Heals Us
Mute (2005)
I don't know why I used to assume that following up an amazing album is hard to pull off. Listening to this release, you wouldn't think that at all. M83's second release, Dead Cities, Red Seas and Lost Ghosts gave My Bloody Valentine an electronic makeover, but with enough character of its own to avoid being dismissed as some sort … Read more
Mad Sin
Sweet and Innocent? Loud & Dirty!
Thorp (2005)
First released in 1998 und das Vaterland, Mad Sin's album Sweet and Innocent? Loud & Dirty! finally gets a "proper release" on North American Shores, courtesy of Thorp Records. A band that's been around for nigh on 17 years, these guys could quite possibly be the only band to have been on more labels than they have albums released. How … Read more
Madonna
Confessions on a Dance Floor
Maverick (2005)
Do you remember when Madonna used to be the only female pop star that could sell millions with every album? When she was always ahead of the chasing pack by being the first major pop star to take the latest underground fade and turn it into the new cool? Do you remember when she looked hot and flaunted her sexuality … Read more
Magnolia Electric Co.
What Comes After the Blues
Secretly Canadian (2005)
You would be hard pressed to come across a review of Magnolia Electric Co.'s What Comes after the Blues that doesn't mention Neil Young. The reason for this is pretty simple, it sounds very reminiscent of Neil Young, on first listen at least. People who count this as a fault haven't been paying much attention to Jason Molina's body of … Read more
Maria Taylor
11:11
Saddle Creek (2005)
A spotlight can show a lot about a person. Over the course of her career Maria Taylor has been, arguably, the driving force behind both the bands Azure Ray and Now It's Overhead, as well as lending her talents to various other artists including Crooked Fingers and Moby. Despite gaining moderate recognition for her work with groups, Taylor's delicate style … Read more
Mass Movement of the Moth / Polar
Split
Discern Direction (2005)
I've heard many people blaming over saturation for many of the problems associated with punk/hardcore: too many bands and too many labels. The overabundance of bands and labels can lead to streets filled with diarrhea. But for every toilet brimming with brown stains, there's a white alligator stalking the sewers. Such is the label Discern Direction and their release of … Read more
