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Music

Reaching For the Vibe: Sonic Boom Fears for the Planet on 'All Things Being Equal'

Sonic Boom is Peter Kember, a veteran of 1980s indie space rockers Spacemen 3, as well as Spectrum, E.A.R., and a whole bunch of other fascinating stuff. On his first solo album in 30 years, he urges us all to take our foot off the gas pedal.

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Music

Counterbalance No. 13: Radiohead - 'OK Computer'

Is Radiohead's OK Computer the last canonical rock album? Counterbalance debates the case.

Music

Mike Patton and Anthony Pateras' tētēma Don't Hit the Mark on 'Necroscape'

tētēma's Necroscape has some highlights and some interesting ambiance, but ultimately it's a catalog of misses for Mike Patton and Anthony Pateras.

Music

JARV IS... - "House Music All Night Long" (Singles Going Steady)

"House Music All Night Long" is a song our inner, self-isolated freaks can jive to. JARV IS... cleverly captures how dazed and confused some of us may feel over the current pandemic, trapped in our homes.

Music

Electropop's Bizou Blend the Bleak and Beautiful on "Crashing Sky" (premiere)

Bizou features former and current members of Light FM, Smashing Pumpkins and Glaare. New single "Crashing Sky" reflects their penchant for pop and darkwave.

Music

Needshes Perfectly Capture Teenage Obsession on "Love"(premiere)

Uzbekistani band Needshes' new single is a playful indie track that quickly locks into a tight, funk groove. Have some "Love" for Valentine's Day.

Music

Holy Fuck Morph Into an Electropop/House Group on 'Deleter'

On Deleter, Holy Fuck have enthusiastically thrown themselves into the kaleidoscopic world of the early 1990s house scene while adding a few footnotes using their particular musical vocabulary.

Music

Battles Keep the Loops Going on 'Juice B Crypts'

Going from a trio to a duo doesn't affect Battles' dedication to chirpy synths and deep grooves on their latest, Juice B Crypts.

Music

Brits in Hot Weather #17: Pelicandy, Chay Snowdon, Tom Fleming, GLOWS, Baby Taylah

Up now on Brits in Hot Weather, we have swaggering alt-pop from Pelicandy, rousing indie from Chay Snowdon, electrifying synth-rock from former Wild Beasts co-vocalist Tom Fleming, the melodic electronics of GLOWS, and the brooding debut single from Baby Taylah.

Music

Metronomy Create Some of Their Best Music on ​​'Metronomy Forever'​​

Ranging in tone and style, Metronomy's Metronomy Forever feels like a spiritual successor to their second album Nights Out.

Music

TesseracT's Daniel Tompkins Constructs an Alluring and Distinctive Solo Debut with 'Castles'

Progressive metal vocalist Daniel Tompkins of TesseracT successfully infuses his trademark serenity and intensity with plenty of experimental electronic edge on Castles.

Music

Elimination Leads to Creation: Junkie XL on His Score for 'Alita: Battle Angel'

From crafting the acclaimed soundtrack to Max Max: Fury Road to his latest score for Alita: Battle Angel, Junkie XL talks with PopMatters about his film score work and what draws him to classic scores from the '50s.

Jose Solis
Music

Talu Turn Toxicity Into Triumph on "Butterflew" (premiere)

Talu's "Butterflew" counters the more blissful vibe of its predecessor—"Change in the Winds"—with a fittingly franker and heavier spirit that deals with "the end of a long-term toxic relationship".

Music

Camera Stuns with Psychedelic Phantasmagoria in "Patrouille Pt. 1" (premiere)

For the first time in six years, Camera is a quintet. The newly-formed five-piece break free of krautrock's confines to deliver something substantially more avant-garde.

Music

John Grant's 'Love Is Magic' Shows Off Exquisite Ballads and Irksome Electro Excursions

The masterful bearded balladeer John Grant's fourth LP, Love Is Magic, rarely matches the soaring heights of his past triumphs.

Music

Garbage's 20 Years Paranoid Tour: Weirdos Take the Spotlight

Garbage brings a powerful female perspective 20 years on, in a show devoid of nostalgia and full of powerful messages.

Music

Do We Need Another Live Justice Album?

Justice are best consumed as a live act, but as a stand-alone piece, Woman Worldwide struggles to justify its own existence.

Music

"Romantic, Baroque, and Danceable": An Interview with Justice

With Woman Worldwide, the French electronic duo Justice recorded an unusual experience: a live album… recorded in a studio.

Music

Talker Finds Some Release in Powerful Video for "Collateral Damage" (premiere)

With the video for "Collateral Damage", Talker has produced that rare thing, a video that stands up as a profound piece of art on its own.

Music

Private Life (This Will Destroy You/Shmu Collaboration) Gives Taste of New LP With "Hesitation" (premiere)

Private Life's "Hesitation" features fast rhythms, strange electronic noises, and all the intensity you can pack into 1:58 seconds.

Music

Summer Like the Season Unveils Sunny, Dreamy Tune "Wakey" (premiere)

With "Wakey", Detroit-based electronic/art rock quartet Summer Like the Season has delivered a tune that perfectly fits their name.

Music

Reliving Fandemonium on the Road to Utopia With Todd Rundgren and Phantogram

How an appreciation for adventurous rock music — and a couple of close encounters — made one week in May a double shot of euphoria when two class acts lowered the boom in the rarefied air around the Mile High City.

Music

Editors Collaborate with Blanck Mass for 'Violence'

Editors experiment on Violence and produce a pop-focused set of tracks tinged in darkness and depth, but explore too far and overshadow the band's strengths and past successes.

Music

Django Django - "Surface to Air" (feat. Self Esteem) (Singles Going Steady)

Newcomers to Self Esteem will find a singer who can command in front of the camera as well as in the studio.

Music

Velveteen Pink Gets Trippy with New Video for "Black Heart" (premiere)

"Black Heart" bursts through the door with heavily processed vocals and an aggressive, percussion-led arrangement that culminates in a solo that sounds like the circuits on the P-Funk Mothership are overloading.

Music

VOWWS Updates James Bond-Style Spy Music with "Esseff" (premiere)

New single from dark duo VOWWS conjures classic James Bond scores while avoiding all the stuff we've all heard before.

Music

Django Django Return in Joyful Style with the Hook-Filled 'Marble Skies'

Marble Skies retains the charming diced and spliced sound of Django Django's debut while delighting in the sheer joy of experimentation.

Music

AUTOBAHN Unleashes a Dark Engine with 'The Moral Crossing'

Leeds' AUTOBAHN release a bleak, moving, and dark engine of an album in The Moral Crossing.

Books

'Depeche Mode: Monument' Is Everything a Depeche Mode Fan Could Imagine

Dennis Burmeister and Sascha Lange add just the right amount of in-depth material to give even the most devoted fan a complete picture of the band.

Music

'OKNOTOK' and the Nostalgic Radiohead

Radiohead completists already own much of what is on OKNOTOK, but those wanting to experience OK Computer for the first time need look no further than here.

Music

Radiohead: A Moon Shaped Pool

After the longest absence between studio albums in their career, Radiohead returns with yet another studio triumph.

Music

Nigel and the Dropout feat. Passalacqua - "Rearrange" (audio) (premiere)

Detroit’s Nigel and the Dropout have been a genre-bending outfit since their inception.

Music

Phantogram: Nightlife EP

Saratoga Springs duo Phantogram find themselves under the bright lights once more with their third EP, but it's a less than stellar return.

Music

Innerpartysystem: Never Be Content

Innerpartysystem is the perfect artist for Red Bull's music division.

Music

Innerpartysystem: The Download EP

Innerpartysystem is like The Killers, except that Brandon Flowers' name is actually Biff Johnson, and his personality is that of an iron-pumping badly-stereotyped frat boy.

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