Neil Barbour 
The Avalanches Wildflower Astralwerks [2016] Fire Note Says: Wildflower is another glimpse at the Avalanche’s endless summer, as compelling and maddening as it was the first time around. Album Review: The core experience of The Avalanches is the sense that you’re listening to a handful of reasonably talented and supremely stoned guys play around with … Read more
Gold Panda Good Luck And Do Your Best City Slang [2016] Fire Note Says: Gold Panda’s new album reveals more secrets after every play. Album Review: Good Luck and Do Your Best feels like an object of value. It’s not that it’s a great album, but it is very good in parts. Nor does it … Read more
Cullen Omori New Misery Sub Pop Records [2016] Fire Note Says: Smith Westerns frontman retains sensibility on solo debut. Album Review: The Smith Westerns came from a short-lived movement that specialized in half thoughts, songs that don’t quite connect but leave open the possibilities of tone and intent up to the listener. That’s an enterprise … Read more
Majical Cloudz Wait & See EP Matador Records [2016] Fire Note Says: Nice release for fans wanting more. Album Review: Majical Cloudz decided to go out on a high point after last year’s excellent album cycle, which culminated with this EP of unused material from the album sessions. Wait & See throws a few errant … Read more
Eleanor Friedberger New View Frenchkiss Records [2016] Fire Note Says: New View offers a streamlined version of the Eleanor Friedberger experience, and it may be the album she was trying to make all along. Album Review: There are two ways to read the easygoing charms of Eleanor Friedberger’s newest album. The first is that she’s … Read more
Neon Indian VEGA INTL. Night School Mom + Pop Music [2015] Fire Note Says: Neon Indian floats – will you follow? Album Review: Full disclosure: I was assigned this review months ago. And I listened to it at the time, I really did. I just couldn’t hear it. So indebted to tape hiss and AM … Read more
Majical Cloudz Are You Alone? Matador Records [2015] Fire Note Says: An album that searches for sincerity in a space that has been salted with cliché, Are You Alone? builds an immersive world around love and loneliness. Album Review: When my infant daughter couldn’t sleep in the depths winter, I’d sometimes let her lie on … Read more
Coheed And Cambria The Color Before The Sun 300 Entertainment [2015] Fire Note Says: Eighth album proves Coheed have a few more small wonders left in the tank. Album Review: “No conceptual framework, no galaxy of characters, no seven-minute epics.” the presser promises. Still, a handful of tracks soundly best six minutes and only two … Read more
Chvrches Every Open Eye Glassnote Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Chvrches return with an unrelenting pace. Album Review: Your heart goes out to acts like Chvrches. Time was, an album as strong as The Bones of What You Believe would have afforded a band time to regroup, find out where they wanted to go. Today, … Read more
HeCTA The Diet Merge Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Kurt Wagner follows a new path with his band HeCTA. Album Review: Kurt Wagner tends to duck any fight to establish a legacy as a treasured American songwriter. He’s a considerable talent, but not particularly interested in pushing it on you. Where Lambchop cut a very … Read more
HEALTH Death Magic Loma Vista Recordings [2015] Fire Note Says: The interstitial moments on Death Magic are the weapons this band has been sharpening for a decade. Album Review: HEALTH is a slow drive downtown after dark. A stretch of sodium lights, a rotting out office building, a peek down the riot alley in Mouth … Read more
The Chemical Brothers Born In The Echoes Astralwerks [2015] Fire Note Says: The Brothers further toy with song structure when their best work is their most traditional. Album Review: There’s a lack of finesse in the loops, a want for direction in the pacing, but there’s a density and a weight to the way the … Read more
No Joy hail from Canada and have released three LPs with the label Mexican Summer since their late 2009 inception. Since the beginning the group has continually received praises from critics including their most recent effort, More Faithful, that came out this past June. We recently caught up with No Joy’s bassist, Michael Farsky and … Read more
Matt Pond PA The State Of Gold Doghouse Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Pond’s 11th album is a workmanlike effort that evokes a more transcendent experience. Album Review: I thumb through old emails looking for the cell phone number of a guy I knew in college. We spent an afternoon with Green Fury on repeat. … Read more
No Joy More Faithful Mexican Summer [2015] Fire Note Says: When all the pieces lock into step, you’re in that ride through the wormhole that all the best shoegaze evokes. Album Review: The Kinks knew it. The Mats knew it. You know Pavement knew it. Work smarter, not harder. Find your lane, play to your … Read more
Shamir Ratchet XL Recordings [2015] Fire Note Says: Portrait of an artist as a young man. Album Review: There was some story last year about a high school senior who was said to have made millions on the stock market. I don’t know if the reporter got it wrong or the kid misspoke, but the … Read more
Jamie xx In Colour XL Recordings [2015] Fire Note Says: A relaxed build to some truly devastating xx moments, but nothing here rivals the snap of We’re New Here, which feels like a missed opportunity. Album Review: The xx are fun to watch live. Oliver’s big, stage-chewing gait, Romy’s stony confidence. In lesser hands, their … Read more