Andrew Dietzel

Reviews

Sole & The Skyrider Band: Plastique

By Andrew Dietzel

Plastique utilizes scathing hip hop to bring to light the despondent affairs of America through the use of dark constructs, an irony you can be assured isn’t lost on Sole & the Skyrider Band. [24 November 2009]

The Red Chord: Fed Through the Teeth Machine

By Andrew Dietzel

Fed Through the Teeth Machine is well executed, mature, and utterly mosh-worthy, a great example of how to remain true to metal roots without becoming trapped inside them. [19 November 2009]

Horace Andy and Alpha: Two Phazed People

By Andrew Dietzel

With the help of Alpha’s confident, well-crafted beats, Horace Andy proves that he is still in integral part of the music world. [13 November 2009]

Soulico: Exotic on the Speaker

By Andrew Dietzel

Deftly incorporates a multitude of rhythmic structures and vocal styles that are distinctly Middle Eastern, hip-hop, or, as the case may be, both. [2 November 2009]

Pelican: What We All Come to Need

By Andrew Dietzel

What We All Come to Need is as aphoristic about living as it is metaphoric about dying. It’s a musical version of Picasso’s Guernica where the instruments are the paintbrushes and your ears are the canvas. [27 October 2009]

The Proclaimers: Notes and Rhymes

By Andrew Dietzel

On the whole the Proclaimers show that they still have a lot more to offer the world than equations of love and mileage. [7 October 2009]

Suicide City: Frenzy

By Andrew Dietzel

If the aim was to get you to kill yourself, Suicide City have failed. With verve, some metal know-how, and a dash of ominous sensitivity, Frenzy will make you want to dance away any rejection and heartache instead. [6 October 2009]

Slavic Soul Party!: Taketron

By Andrew Dietzel

Think Parliament mixed with Gogol Bordello and a dash of Beirut and you’ll have a fairly clear benchmark by which to judge Slavic Soul Party! [25 September 2009]

Early Day Miners: The Treatment

By Andrew Dietzel

There is nothing overwrought about this album, despite its name. Early Day Miners instead opt for an uncomplicated opus where memories, desires, and experiences overlap. [23 September 2009]

Portugal. The Man: The Satanic Satanists

By Andrew Dietzel

The band has an impressive ability to create memorable hooks and forget-me-not rhythms. [11 September 2009]

Eyedea & Abilities: By the Throat

By Andrew Dietzel

After the feedback fades into silence, after the last snare drum’s concluding echo, there is a definitive feeling of having experienced something as unique and rare as a two-horned unicorn. [31 August 2009]

Zao: Awake?

By Andrew Dietzel

The one cardinal sin amongst the stringent metal community, the single act beyond redemption, is the inclusion of clean vocals, especially for a band as influential and resilient as Zao. [18 August 2009]