One man project by Portland's Phil Spirito, who evidently has a lot of musician friends that helped out with this recording. Sparse, subtle arrangements are the norm for this outing. If I had a dream about this record, I would think it is either Tom Waits or Neil Young crashing an Alan Lomax recording session. Apparently there is such a thing as a tenor banjo. Who knew?
There’s a particular tension that makes alternative rock compelling. I love the emotional push and pull between softness and eruption. On No Requiem, Massachusetts outfit Dream Fatigue thrive in that space, crafting a seven song EP that balances dreamlike melody with bursts of distortion and emotional urgency. Born from the creative partnership between drummer Matt Wood and vocalist Jonali McFadden, … Read more
I'm not sure what's happening to me in middle age. I used to find samples clever and a nice change-of-pace technique on albums. But lately I feel like they interrupt instead of compliment what I'm hearing. This Isn't What I Ordered starts off really strong with fast, melodic and personalized punk over the first few songs. Then the sound clips … Read more
Spillings is a minimalist reconfiguration undertaken by two artists whose careers have been about genre deconstruction. The paths of Mathieu Ball and Liam Andrews have been running on parallel tracks, but both have been aiming for a similar endpoint. That is to strip down the heavy, experimental rock form, while at the same time retaining its destabilizing core. With Big … Read more
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