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Music

Khruangbin Go All-Out Summer with New Dub Mix, 'Hasta El Cielo'

If Khruangbin's Con Todo El Mundo was a sweltering Texas night drive, then Hasta El Cielo is a beachfront sunset. No longer on the attack, Khruangbin relax at last.
Recent
Books

Sonic Art, or, Groovy Rock Posters

For fans of poster art and other ephemeral graphic representations of rock music, Rock Graphic Originals is a wonderful resource.

Music

Animal Collective Dives Into the Sea with 'Tangerine Reef'

Baltimore's resident oddball experimental quartet Animal Collective add a new dimension to their sound - for a good cause - on Tangerine Reef.

Music

Moon Duo: Occult Architecture, Vol. 2

The flip side to the first volume, Occult Architecture, Vol. 2 is a brighter and suitably trippy yang to its predecessor’s yin.

Music

Cairobi: Cairobi

Cairobi's self-produced, self-titled debut has an international, globe-trotting feel while still maintaining an honest, straightforward, indie vibe.

Music

The Brian Jonestown Massacre: Third World Pyramid

Psychedelia has a tendency to seem unhurried while keeping a tempo it can’t quite enjoy, and Third World Pyramid finds Anton Newcombe honing in on a progression that works.

Reviews

'Small Radios Big Televisions': Small Game Short Review

Games like Jazzpunk make me laugh and make me think. Small Radios Big Televisions just reminds me of staring into a lava lamp for a couple of hours.

Music

Send Medicine - "Translucent" (video) (premiere)

Send Medicine releases trippy video showcasing tune's modern slice of '60s psych-folk.

Music

Drugdealer: The End of Comedy

Michael Collins & Co. reference musical views of both past and present on The End of Comedy, and in doing so provide listeners a sonic smile.

Music

Racializing Rock: The '60s and the White Sounds of 'Pet Sounds'

The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds is not a racist text, but its impact was racist because it further encoded rock as a white genre, perpetuating the institutionalized prejudice that relegated African Americans to the margins of rock.

Music

Morgan Delt: Phase Zero

Delt sounds like a vinyl LP left out in the LA sun, with the melted wax frozen into a popsicle that melts perfectly while you eat it.

Music

Allah-Las: Calico Review

The sound may be retro, but Allah-Las focus upon the now with a strong set of songs on their third release.

Music

Todd Rundgren, Emil Nikolaisen, Hans-Peter Lindstrom: Runddans

Runddans has been described as “a spiritual magnusopus", but that may be a euphemistic assessment.

Music

Bart: Bart By Bart EP

If you like ‘70s music with the hint of a modern edge, Bart By Bart will more than fit the bill.

Music

The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger: Midnight Sun

This is a product that could have easily come out in the Beatles late '60s heyday, with gated reverb drums giving this statement a big, cavernous sound.

Books

"The Goodness of Privacy in a Warm Room with Books"

We all search for escape, and while music, drugs, radicalism, or fame may ease the monotony, the protagonists of so many of these tales find themselves at the end of their narratives still constrained.

Music

Bomba Estereo: Elegancia Tropical

The band's star has risen thanks to their unique blend of cumbia-powered jams, electro-shimmering layers of sound and catchy riffs from the guitars and synths.

Music

Jacco Gardner: Cabinet of Curiosities

Dutch wunderkid’s first album offers much promise.

Games

Mods and Mellotrons: The Zombies at Abbey Road

The Zombies had arrived at Abbey Road Studios in June of 1967. Fortunately, the Beatles had left some things behind.

Music

Spirit Animal: This Is a Test EP

When this band is firing on all cylinders with their druggy take on white boy funk music, it’s a remarkably good time.

Zachary Houle
Music

Golden Void: Golden Void

Less crunchy, more dispersed than some of its Northern California peers, Golden Void seeks out swirls and thickness, less febrile and more woozy, as its name promises.

Music

Slim Twig: A Hound at the Hem

A Hound at the Hem is a pop record that completely forgets it’s a pop record.

Music

Ty Segall: Twins

The prolific Ty Segall is back with another great album.

Music

The Amazing: Gentle Stream

Swedish rockers aim for mellow lushness, but hit lethargy instead.

Music

Tame Impala: Lonerism

Tame Impala follow up their successful debut with songs of persistent devotion, turning the heavy-lidded repetition at their sonic core into a warming psychedelic mantra.

Music

Aqua Nebula Oscillator: Third

French musicians have a long history of warping and reconstructing the orthodox adornments of rock/metal and electronica into more unconventional configurations. Aqua Nebula Oscillator's contribution to that anomalous pool is delightfully bizarre.

Music

The Bombay Royale: You Me Bullets Love

Sitar, tablas, dohl drums, scorching Indian vocals, funk, disco, surf and psychedelia. Just your everyday Indian film soundtrack, recreated by Aussie collective!

Music

Siddhartha: If It Die

While this debut doesn't quite pull off the journey to the center of the mind that was seemingly intended, its open-ended approach to psychedelic rock makes the trip worthwhile.

David Bloom
Music

Lou Ragland: I Travel Alone

One of soul’s underrated voices, resurrected by archive specialists Numero Group on their 3-CD/4-LP retrospective.

Music

Lilacs & Champagne: Lilacs & Champagne

Lilacs & Champagne have crafted what will likely stand out as one of 2012's best debut albums with their self-titled LP, mixing trip-hop beats, absurd samples, and an intriguing spy film atmosphere.

Music

Cotton Mather: Kontiki (Deluxe Edition)

The Austin-based band’s tracks sound like George Harrison leftovers from the Sgt. Pepper era.

Music

Trembling Bells: The Constant Pageant

This is the strongest collection Trembling Bells have yet put out. The band sound assertive and in complete control of their strange aesthetic; they've also produced some mightily catchy and haunting songs.

Music

WITCH: Introduction

Something about WITCH seems to have excited record collectors outside of Zambia, but in a world where rareness, exoticism, and commodity fetishism become peculiarly intertwined, one hopes that it is more than just the rarity of the commodity that is being valued.

Richard Elliott
Music

Botany: Feeling Today

Botany offers a glimpse of the beats that lie ahead on an experimental and nostalgic EP.

Dominic Umile

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