Feb 02, 2012 Music Issue #39 - Best of 2011

It’s nice when an artist seems to realize his own limitations, and instead of attempting to compensate, does his best to navigate the next album accordingly. More

Feb 02, 2012 Music Issue #39 - Best of 2011

Leila’s rickety electronic bleats, pitter-patter drums, and moody, stargazing atmosphere make her close in kin with some of the hallowed legends on her new label, Warp.  More

Feb 01, 2012 Music Issue #39 - Best of 2011

Imperial Teen have been making records since 1996’s Seasick, long enough to write a how-to manual on the keyboard driven power pop formula. More

Jan 31, 2012 Music Issue #39 - Best of 2011

Singer/songwriter (and guitarist/pianist) Amber Papini has a rueful and luminescent voice that fills up every corner of her debut release with her competent band, Hospitality.  More

Jan 30, 2012 Comic Books Web Exclusive

Jan 30, 2012 Music Issue #39 - Best of 2011

Claire Boucher, the sole-proprietor of Grimes, is billing Visions as her first “real” album—coming a year after a few extraneous curiosities and flashes of interest. More

Jan 27, 2012 Music Issue #39 - Best of 2011

In the midst of everything, a heart-in-mouth Matthew Caws proclaims “it’s never too late for teenaged dreams!” This comes on the sixth track of Nada Surf’s seventh studio album, which marks the band’s entry into a third decade of existence (they formed in 1992).  More

Jan 26, 2012 Music Issue #39 - Best of 2011

The Hold Steady’s crunchy bar-rock never really made much sense for frontman Craig Finn’s brand of lyrics-first, reference-laden, recurrent pan-album concepts. More

Jan 25, 2012 Music Issue #39 - Best of 2011

Those familiar with the two- to three-minute melodic power pop blasts of Dylan Baldi’s self-titled debut as Cloud Nothings will be mighty surprised by Baldi’s sophomore offering. More