Why?, ‘Mumps, Etc.’ – Album Review
"No, I am not OK, boys" sings Why? frontman Yoni Wolf on 'Strawberries.' And he's right; he most certainly is not. But then again, it's hard to imagine a Why? track where Wolf is anything but depressed, dejected, disheartened, incensed, jilted, in the throes of cripplingly neurosis or just plain sad. For better or worse, the Yoni Wolf that comes across on record is as much a collection of maladies as a man, and 'Mumps, Etc.' may be his most his most fatalistic self-diagnosis yet.
Flying Lotus, ‘Until the Quiet Comes’ - Album Review
Taking on a new Flying Lotus album is a difficult task, partially because it's hard finding a criterion with which to measure it. While other artists sit alongside a pantheon of contemporaries, the man formerly known as Steven Ellison makes it seem as if his colleagues exist in an alternate dimension altogether. One might imagine Flying Lotus trading ideas with aliens via a TARDIS kept in the same clandestine basement from which he unearths his samples. Of course, that isn't the case -- no artist is an island -- but 'Until the Quiet Comes,' is the first Flying Lotus album since he signed to Warp where that's apparent.
How To Dress Well, ‘Total Loss’ – Album Review
The fundamentals of Tom Krell's wisp-voiced How to Dress Well project were (un)defined from the get-go. By taking the melodies and beats of traditional R&B and slathering on the reverb, he tapped into a musical subconscious where forgotten K-Ci & JoJo and Mariah Carey tracks bubbled up from past epochs (or a least the early '90s), shedding their fidelity on their way to the surface.
On his debut, 'Love Remains,' he played with shadow versions of mainstream pop, but on 'Total Loss,' he's less interested in critique and more wholly invested in making some really catchy songs. Yet, in what may seem like irony to some, this new accessibility was born of a series of personal tragedies that could have left a different sort of artist hopelessly deflated.
Jens Lekman, ‘I Know What Love Isn’t’ – Album Review
For an artist who goes so far out of his way to avoid confrontation, Swedish crooner Jens Lekman makes remarkably divisive music. Since 2004's 'When I Said I Wanted to Be Your Dog,' Lekman has been serenading listeners with his string-laced melodies and self-deprecating humor. He's the sort of performer that fans instinctively call by first name, as if he were a lifelong friend, but who detractors tend to write off as overly twee. Lekman's new record, 'I Know What Love Isn't,' likely won't gain him many new converts, but longtime followers will be happy to know that not much has changed in the five years since Lekman's last proper LP, or since he came on the scene in the first place.
Dan Deacon, ‘America’ – Album Review
If you’ve had the pleasure of seeing Dan Deacon live, you may think you know what to expect: audience participation, stroboscopic lights, human tunnels and a general sense of psychedelic shenanigans. In other words, Dan doesn't seem like the sort of guy that would take himself too seriously. Yet behind the controlled insanity over which the Baltimore-native presides, there have been signs that Deacon has more "serious" aspirations as a musician and artist.