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Playlist Info:
wruv.radioactivity.fm
Reviews Only:
reviews.wruv.org
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Spliced, sporadic, and modern music concrete. The Way Out is amazingly approachable yet wildly unlike anything else.
Five out of Five Salmon
Splicing audio clips together and playing guitar and bass along with some singing accompaniment, this duo take years upon years compiling the most interesting audio samples that please the ear, and the mind. The lyrics--which are, yes, included in the insert--prove to be quite intricate and interesting as found lyrics.
Add to all this a beautiful video maze of puzzlingly inspiring video footage, and you can imagine what a pleasure it is to see them live--one of the best concerts of my life, thanks WRUV/UVM.
Start Digestion On: 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14
FCC Clean
Go Canada! The Arcade Fire continues to roar into 'the Suburbs'. Find it, listen to it, love it.
5 out of 5 iced coffees
This album manages to find another undeniably Arcade Fire sound while sounding, really, nothing like 'Neon Bible' or 'Funeral'. With everything from anthemic body rockers to slow, nostalgic thought provokers, 'The Suburbs' seems more personal than the previous two releases as it reflects upon the suburban upbringing of members, Win and Will Butler.
Completely worth your time.
Suggested: ALL, it's f*g Arcade Fire.
Upbeat Anthems: 2, 5, 8
The Sultry Slow Tunes: 1, 4, 11, 12, 13, 15
FCC Clean
LOCAL Bennington, VT folk trio who will undoubtedly knock your socks off. What's in the VT water these days?
'Made the Harbor', is a beautiful acoustic folk album full of harmonies, and references to woodland creatures. Amelia Randall Meath, Alexandra Sauser-Monnig, and Molly Erin Sarle, bring potent melodies to the table with only their voices and a gee-tar.
The stylings of Mountain Man lies somewhere in between Fleet Foxes (traditional folk harmonies) and Joanna Newsome's (story-like lyrics).
Recommended: 1, 2*, 3, 4, 5*, 6, 7, 10
FCC Friendly
Relaxing rock/folk/country with dreamy vocals, drumming, and strumming. The third full-length manages to record summer vibes and good times, like canned strawberry jam and pickled beans.
Rating: Pi out of 5 Brooklyn Vegans
Cotton Jones (full name: Cotton Jones Basket Ride) is the duo, Michael Nau and Whitney McGraw. They bring a pretty big sound to the table for a duo, with drums, acoustic guitar, slide guitar, and other random tinklings alongside some reverberated vocals.
This album comes off as more folk/country with more of a Bonnie "Prince" Billy vocal style and a strong slide guitar presence. 'Paranoid Cocoon' remains one of my favorite albums of yester-year and by no means will 'Tall Hours in the Glowstream' crawl its way into my heart the same way, but I am considering buying a straw hat and a pipe so I can listen to it on the porch whilst I whittle in my cowboy boots, which I already own.
RIYL Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Papercuts
Sugg# 1, 2*, 4, 5, 8, 10
FCC Clean
Syncopated electronic beats painted on an indie rock canvas. IDM lovers get your fill! Rock/RPM/Urban Crossover, but the impetus definitely springs from the electronics dept.
Baths is Will Wiesenfeld. With high-pitched vocals almost in the vein of Passion Pit, alongside slow, hypnotic electronic breaks, 'Cerulean' may just be your new late-night friend.
Wiesenfeld splices his own musical samples as he plays guitar, bass, and viola. He also makes some seemingly mundane sounds into beautiful samples, most notably the clicking pen sample in the first track, "Apologetic Shoulder Blades".
Though some of the slower jams miss the mark, Baths debut on the Anticon label is definitely no mistake.
RIYL Four Tet, Prefuse 73, Toro Y Moi
Lovely: 1*, 3*, 4, 5*, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11*
FCC 2
Entrancing IDM/Hip-Hop electronic tunes full of breaks and vocal samples from a producer in Doomtree out of Minnesota. For fans of DJ Shadow/RJD2 and epic mixes.
4 out of 5 Styluses
The first three tracks are absolute gold! Impressive poise and grandiose structure for a debut. The mixes are tight and the samples are great. Then... unfortunately, the female singer kicks in. The vocals are decent, but the tempo drops a bit too slow for my taste and the spotlight is taken off of the great production/beat-making skills.
In my opinion, this album needed a decent rapper to make it whole. That said, I am thoroughly ecstatic about this release. Track 7, "5360", involves a spoken word portion with a London-type accent behind the simple, choppy breaks that is minimalist and awesome.
RIYL DJ Shadow, RJD2
For your own good: 1, 2, 3*, 7*, 9, 10, 11 (two parts with silence in between, second section is the most emotive and beautiful track on the album, by far)
FCC Clean
Inspired by classic R&B acts. Michael Fitzpatrick stews up some salivation-inducing soul with the septet, the Tantrums.
4.5 out of 5 Hit-Me's
Hailing from LA, CA, this bombastic neo-soul group is all about energy and full of talent. The band make up is a bass, keyboards, male/female vocalists, percussion, and a couple saxophones.
RIYL Jamie Lidell, Eli "Paperboy" Reed
Sugg# 1*, 3, 4*, 7*, 8, 9
FCC Clean