Indie/Alternative Stream

The Brian Jonestown Massacre – Revelation – Music Stream

May 19, 2014

The music industry illuminati declared The Brian Jonestown Massacre – and their supposed mad genius frontman Anton Newcombe – to be rock’s great saviors.

Owls – Two – Music Stream

April 8, 2014

Owls are a satisfying throwback to a time when emo rock hadn’t yet evolved into an overly sleek, whiny mess of a movement.

Dum Dum Girls – Too True – Music Stream

January 30, 2014

My brother-in-law saw this band open up for Ben Gibbard, and his zero-word review was a lethargic shoulder shrug. Maybe they’ve improved with age? Maybe not.

Matt Pryor – Wrist Slitter – Music Stream

January 8, 2014

The Get-Up Kids got less terrible with every release, as the cute college girls I assigned to review them for the magazine often noted.

Boardwalk – Music Stream

January 2, 2014

Pleasant, predictable, and mesmerizing. Breathy, gauzy female vocals, and a hipster dude handling the deeply-reverbed guitars, and a drum machine set on snooze.

Blitzen Trapper – VII – Music Stream

December 31, 2013

Seventh full-length. And the music, heard here on “Ever Loved Once,” is just as straightforward and unpretentious, with a confident alt.country swagger.

Rogue Wave – Nightingale Floors – Music Stream

December 9, 2013

“College” is appropriately-named. Rogue Wave offer up a 101-level anthem for awkward, nervous late-teens.

Saturday Looks Good to Me – One Kiss Ends It All – Music Stream

December 3, 2013

Gloriously produced, easy-breezy summer indie pop, with most of the vocals volleyed by the women. Their voices match better than my socks.

Goldfrapp – Tales of Us – Music Stream

November 15, 2013

Not that Goldfrapp hasn’t been doing well since her collaborations with Orbital, but having your song in an Apple commercial is a new level.

Maps – Vicissitude – Music Stream

September 17, 2013

Chilly electro indie rock that you quickly warm up to, in the vein of Junior Boys or Supersystem. Maps is one dude – James Chapman from Northampton, England.

William Beckett – Genuine & Counterfeit – Music Stream

August 22, 2013

Unfailingly earnest indie rally-rock from the former frontman of The Academy Is… (and a singer on the “Snakes on a Plane” song, score!).

Wampire – Curiosity – Music Stream

August 13, 2013

“The Hearse” dances its way into your heart. Bass-heavy and poppy, with surer vocals, and head-bobbing infection.

The Pigeon Detectives – We Met At Sea – Music Stream

August 8, 2013

This Leeds band are known for their active live shows, and We Met At Sea is touted (by the band) as an unpredictable offering, more natural and plugged in.

No Age – An Object – Music Stream

August 6, 2013

“An Impression” has a dreamy, hypnotic quality to it, and that’s before the old-school psychedelic sounds creep in towards the end.

Fossil Collective – Tell Where I Lie – Music Stream

August 5, 2013

This UK duo aim to strip it bare and focus on the songwriting of their childhood heroes (Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac, Simon & Garfunkel, Crosby, Stills and Nash).

Low – The Invisible Way – Music Stream

July 5, 2013

10 albums in 20 years for these slowcore trailblazers, er, wanderers. Produced by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, “So Blue” represents The Invisible Way nicely: Sparse yet majestic, thoughtful yet moving (slowly, of course), finding sparkling interest in the otherwise sprawling spaces.