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Nate DorrReviews
Shy Child: Noise Won’t StopLive energy and racing tempos have translated to studio recording very well, but the band's genre decisions, intentional or not, may not be maximizing their potential. [5 May 2008] 
Chessie: ManifestSoundtracks to the exhilarating speed and momentum of transcontinental locomotion. [28 April 2008] 
Realistic: Perpetual Memory LossRealistic feels like a missing link between familiar electronica and plunderphonia. [4 April 2008] 
Oh Astro: Champions of WonderLatent pop sensibilities get free reign for a glossy sample-collage sound, something like Jason Forrest re-imagined as a slick electro producer. [1 April 2008] 
Angel: KalmukiaDrone of uncommon vision and scope, from microscopic detailing to monolith force to utter swallowing void. [20 March 2008] 
Flying: Faces of the NightFaces of the Night is a nocturnal carnival of uneasy delights. [7 March 2008] 
Little Women: TeethSpiralling twin-sax freakouts, tightly coordinated jazz-as-thrash-metal noise blasts, and almost-smooth melody references. [5 March 2008] 
The Apes: Ghost GamesSpare post-punk overwhelmed by organ storm-surge, oddly held together by uniformly strong vocal performances. [12 February 2008] 
Venetian Snares: My Downfall (Original Soundtrack)As with its predecessor, My Downfall is a meticulous exercise in constructing intricate and expansive classical music, then inundating the results in heavy drum and bass programming. [15 January 2008] 
Dan Deacon and Jimmy Joe Roche: Ultimate RealityA full collective, American unconsciousness of glorious Saturday morning cartoons-and-sugar-cereal overstimulation. [9 January 2008] 
Marcus Schmickler: Altars of ScienceAn electronic reworking, perhaps, of Penderecki's screeching orchestrations. [12 December 2007] 
Clipd Beaks: Hoarse LordsWith unpredictability and rule-breaking held as virtue, there's a better chance that new noise-rock will be able to keep genre monotony at bay. [11 December 2007] 
Sightings: Through the PanamaThe noise overwhelms the cues of traditional music, but not the senses. [14 November 2007] 
Fennesz: Hotel Paral.lelEndless Summer may be the most recognized Fennesz release, but even as far back as 1997 he was laying down a template for the tension of that album's lovely guitar shimmer and abrasive scraps of feedback. [12 November 2007] 
Prefuse 73: PreparationsIt's going to take more than a simple return to the clearer song forms of One Word Extinguisher to get anyone all that excited at this point. [25 October 2007] 
Enon: Believo / Grass Geysers… Carbon CloudsBoth albums are united by a certain loose noisiness, however, that makes them inherently more involving than those of the intervening years. [18 October 2007] 
Japancakes: Giving Machines / LovelessThe two albums are occasionally lovely, always effortlessly competent, and while a body of work can perhaps survive by those traits alone, it isn't likely to distinguish itself. [10 October 2007] 
Múm: Go Go Smear the Poison IvyGo Go Smear the Poison Ivy may serve as an affirmation, both of Múm's lasting viability after flagging somewhat on their last effort, and of the practicability of their new seven-piece line-up. [4 October 2007] 
Luke Vibert: Chicago, Detroit, RedruthBy drawing from several of his past genre-segregated projects, Vibert has created an album that stays fresh a little longer than some of his other recent output. [25 September 2007] 
Dirty Projectors: Rise AboveThis is some kind of alchemy, turning straight-shooting punk guitar riffs into quiet breaths of orchestration and shouted choruses into cooing two-part female harmonies. [12 September 2007] 
µ-Ziq: Duntisbourne Abbots Soulmate Devastation TechniqueA distinctly organic sort of dystopia: a soundtrack for debilitating hang-overs, burst appendixes, and feverish dreams of oozing, animate organs sloshing together. [7 September 2007] 
65daysofstatic: The Destruction of Small IdeasIt sounds great on paper. Buzzy, technically proficient math-rock, now with greater attention to dynamics. Why then, is The Destruction of Small Ideas, in fact, rather uninspiring? [28 August 2007] 
Caribou: AndorraCaribou impresses primarily on the strength of Snaith's pop instincts and arsenal of appropriate musical references, crafting hook-packed ersatz psych-pop. [24 August 2007] 
Loden: Valeen HopeProving that electronically-augmented shoegaze need not be clinically clean. [24 July 2007] 
Distance: My DemonsHeavy on the noir ambiance of rain-streaked nocturnal streets, and relatively low on actual content. [20 July 2007] 
Vladislav Delay: WhistleblowerWhistleblower sounds like a concept album, a charting of an insular submarine world where the lapping synths and burbling sub bass from outside are balanced against a clatter of mechanical and human presence. [18 July 2007] 
Julian Fane: Our New QuartersSomewhat unsurprising electronic indie-rock which, especially considering his vocal style, comes off sounding like a slightly fuller, broader-paletted version of Thom Yorke's The Eraser. 
The New Yorker: s/tAcid may yet complete its comeback, but it's going to take a lot more than this. [16 July 2007] 
Ulrich Schnauss: GoodbyeSchnauss' new compositions are oddly detoothed. Most worrisomely, a few of the songs shift their attention near entirely over to vocalists. [5 July 2007] 
Fennesz and Sakamoto: CendreWhile Cendre may seem considerably more lavish in arrangement than its predecessor, Insen, it is still primarily an exercise in tension. [2 July 2007] 
Steve Bug: Fuse Presents:Technique can only take a mix so far; after that the material itself has to take over. [14 June 2007] 
Child Abuse: Child AbuseChild Abuse, as confrontational in sound as in naming decision, creates vicious no-wave with further abrasion derived from metal and hardcore. [13 June 2007] 
Bloke: Tears of the Broken WarriorBloke arranges perfectly serviceable melodic drill'n'bass circa 1997, but brings absolutely nothing of his own to the table. [12 June 2007] 
Dan Deacon: Spiderman of the RingsDan Deacon manages to lure in his audience with his strange, raucous brand of electro-pop and induce them to sway, leap, and even shout along with him. [6 June 2007] 
Venetian Snares: Pink + GreenThis is a Venetian Snares EP, so of course it's technically better than 90% of the breakcore being released right now, but it stumbles in crucial ways, especially when cast in the harsh light of expectation. [17 May 2007] 
Ra: WxfdswxcRa successfully infuses his noisy, jittery compositions with a striking dose of actual funk and an occasionally bigbeat-esque level of rhythmic cohesion. [3 May 2007] 
Fennesz: Endless SummerSix years later, the original tracklist, full of gauzy guitars and bristling white noise, still holds up on its own merits -- and without the unneccessary bonus tracks. [1 May 2007] 
Frivolous: Midnight Black IndulgenceSeemingly as unsure of what it's trying to accomplish as we are of what to do with it. [23 April 2007] 
Not Breathing: The Black Old PuebloNot Breathing's seventh full-length is an album whose gaudy, messy oversaturation is perhaps both its apparent weakness, and hidden strength. [18 April 2007] 
Milenasongs: Seven SistersStrange, ephemeral folk songs with a combination of age-yellowed instrumentation and modern electronic ornamentation. [16 April 2007] 
Drei Farben House: Any Kind of FeelingEvery beat, is in place, complemented easily by Siegle's dispassionate yet still distinctly human vocals. [12 April 2007] 
Stars of the Lid: And Their Refinement of the DeclineRepetition mesmerizes us, lulls us, and yes, bores us when misused. Fortunately, with the long-awaited new album from SotL, repetition rests in very capable hands. [4 April 2007] 
Amon Tobin: Foley RoomThese are field recordings at their most viscerally involved, built into their tracks from the ground up. [8 March 2007] 
Hauschka: Room to ExpandFor Hauschka, the pleasures of piano preparation seem to lie in subtle timbral manipulations and accents. [6 March 2007] 
Kerrier District: Kerrier District 2Can anyone really keep up with all the Luke Vibert aliases? [2 March 2007] 
Various Artists: 8-Bit OperatorsAn entire generation weaned on Nintendo and the Commodore 64 is coming into its own right now... and building symphony halls of its nostalgia. [12 February 2007] 
Matt and Kim: Matt and KimIsn't this what punk was originally all about? Stripping music back to an entry-level formula where anyone could hop on stage, bang out vital, messy songs, and have fun? [1 December 2006] 
Dirty Projectors: New Attitude EPThe seven new attitudes on display here seem to maintain a vague veneer of folk, but also lurch between electronic blip accompaniment, noisy backup vocal arrangements, sudden falsetto, oozing cello drone, scratchy keys-and-flute jams, and operatic orchestration reminiscent of the last full-length. [6 November 2006] 
DFA: Remixes: Chapter TwoThese tracks seem only as long as the groove demands, but the groove demands long, long tracks. [31 October 2006] 
Squarepusher: Hello EverythingHello Everything steps back from recent experimentation and, carefully and effectively, refocuses on melody. [13 October 2006] 
Cepia: Atlantic BloodTo be fair, a remix disc isn't perhaps the best introduction to an electronic musician's work. [5 October 2006] 
Shinjuku Zulu: Various ChimerasYes, that's a Tokyo neighborhood and an African tribe. [3 October 2006] 
Venetian Snares: Cavalcade of Glee and Dadaist Happy Hardcore Pom PomsThe new album seems to be part of the more playful Venetian Snares lineage, most comparable, perhaps, to the manic surreality of 2003's Chocolate Wheelchair. [29 September 2006] 
The Grates: Gravity Wont Get You HighSinger Patience Hodgson seems to spend as much time in the air as on the stage. It's a good image for the enthusiasm and energy of her band. [18 August 2006] 
Kid 606: Pretty Girls Make RavesKid 606's schizophrenic career now provides us with, of all things, an old school techno album. [11 August 2006] 
Asobi Seksu: CitrusAfter languishing for over 10 years as a frequently cited, rarely performed influence on an entire generation of bands, shoegaze appears to be a viable genre again. [28 July 2006] 
Plaid: Greedy BabyWhile Plaid has always excelled at percussive melodic sounds, the new album makes such natural, effective use of assorted xylophones, bells, and glockenspiels that it seemed an additional multi-instrumentalist had to be responsible. [21 July 2006] 
Lithops: QueriesElectronic music dates quickly, and IDM -- even precise, focused IDM -- dates even quicker. [14 July 2006] 
Banco de Gaia: Farewell FerengistanMost bands don't become horrible overnight, just uninteresting over time, fading until you realize that you've missed a whole album and that you don't even really care. [30 June 2006] 
Girl Talk: Night RipperSampling over 160 bands and artists on the new album, Girl Talk continues to push his way out of the space between DJ mix and mash-up and into territory all his own. [21 June 2006] 
Loka: Fire ShepardsWhat happens when familiar Ninja Tune jazz and breakbeat elements get rewired for live instrumentation with a post-rock slant? Greater flexibility allows for arrangements that can seamlessly progress, but just as seamlessly lose focus. [15 June 2006] 
Of Montreal: Deflated Chime, Foals Flower Sibylline ResponsesWith only two new tracks padded with a couple old favorites, this peculiar tour EP may be best examined as if it were a 7" single. [9 June 2006] 
Grandaddy: Just Like the Fambly CatWhat happened to the family cat? I guess that, after a frequently brilliant 14-year career, she realized she was running out of ideas and decided to slink away on her own terms. Cats are like that. [11 May 2006] 
The Essex Green: Cannibal SeaThe Brooklyn three-piece's third album of melancholy '60s indie-pop won't come as a surprise to anyone, but who really wants to be surprised all the time anyway? [28 April 2006] 
Keith Fullerton Whitman: LisbonA single live document of the latest -- unabashedly noisier -- developments in Keith Fullerton Whitman's Playthroughs drone project. [4 April 2006] 
Casiotone For the Painfully Alone: EtiquetteRecently upgraded to mid-fi production and displaying more varied arrangements, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone's latest is probably his best, more accessible without sacrificing any of his sharp-witted observational lyricism. [29 March 2006] 
Edu K: FrenétikoStand aside, Federline. Actual Brazillian Edu K manages to work baile funk influences into a much more convincing, if thoroughly unsubstantial, party mix of punk and funk. [27 March 2006] The Boy Least Likely ToThird concert of the week on short notice? Not what I needed. Or was it? [22 March 2006] 
Various Artists: Check the WaterWith this comprehensive, impressive 10-year retrospective, London's Leaf label proves that organic, acoustics-driven arrangements are not a new direction for IDM. [10 March 2006] Jimmy Edgar: ColorstripEdgar's hybrid makes for catchy electro, but it's hard to shake the feeling that there's nothing new happening here/ [27 February 2006] 
Various: Traveler ‘06Six Degrees Records returns to their definitive Traveler series with this classy collection of electronically reworked traditional music from all over the world. [23 February 2006] Judith Juillerat: SoliloquyJuillerat climbed onto the world musical stage last year when she won a Unicef-run Björk remix contest with a sparse, ominous version of "Army of Me". [17 February 2006] DeerhoofIn the wake of the shark-fighting cowboys, the animal doth emerge... [13 February 2006] Tod Dockstader: Aerial #2Back after a 40-year hiatus, early musique concrète pioneer returns with a three part collection of eerily manipulated shortwave radio noise, of which this is the second part. [10 February 2006] |
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