Scout Niblett It’s Up To Emma Drag City Records [2013] Fire Note Says: Emma Louise Niblett’s decade-long run of excellence continues. Album Review: When most critics talk of Scout Niblett they inevitably bring up Cat Power and PJ Harvey. But it is her work with Bonnie “Prince” Billy and especially the late, great Jason Molina … Read more
Portugal. The Man Evil Friends Atlantic Records [2013] Fire Note Says: A more progressive Portugal goes for bombast on Evil Friends. Album Review: I hate to say it but I have been losing faith in Portugal. The Man. Seeing them live seemed to damage my progressive psyche. I was expecting progressive laden guitar explosions, a … Read more
Here is some cool reissue news from one of our favorite bands the Motel Beds. You now can pre-order one of their earlier excellent records Sunfried Dreams on wax! Sunfried Dreams is strictly limited to a hand numbered 300 copies on white vinyl. It also includes a bonus track that wasn’t available on the original … Read more
Surfer Blood Pythons Warner Bros. Records [2013] Fire Note Says: Surfer Blood’s sophomore effort is cleaner but less charming than their debut. Album Review: Surfer Blood’s debut album Astro Coast was one of the best albums of 2010. The four-piece from Florida wowed with their guitar skills and lo-fi production, which combined to form a … Read more
These New Puritans Field Of Reeds Infectious Music [2013] Fire Note Says: Jack Barnett and company – for better or worse – leave Rock ‘N Roll in their rear view mirror. Album Review: This is a hard record for me to be completely objective about – for several reasons. To start with, These New Puritans’ … Read more
Black Sabbath 13 Universal Music Group [2013] Fire Note Says: Black Sabbath reclaim their rightful seat on the heavy metal throne! Album Review: The godfathers of heavy music are back! When it was announced that Black Sabbath was getting the original lineup back together for a new album and tour, the world was shocked and … Read more
Sonny & The Sunsets Antenna To The Afterworld Polyvinyl Records [2013] Fire Note Says: More psychedelic 60’s influenced pop weirdness from Sonny & The Sunsets! Album Review: Sonny & The Sunsets are back, and their latest effort, Antenna to the Afterworld, is their strongest effort to date. It is a record that deals with some … Read more
Filter The Sun Comes Out Tonight Wind-Up Records [2013] Fire Note Says: With feet firmly planted in the 1990s, Filter makes a fresh, nostalgic album. Album Review: It’s safe to say Filter commercially peaked on their first two albums, which produced the singles “Hey Man Nice Shot” and “Take a Picture.” I can still see … Read more
Black Joe Lewis brand new full-length LP, Electric Slave, will be released on August 27 on Vagrant Records. Most of the album was produced by GRAMMY award winner Stuart Sikes (White Stripes, Cat Power, Modest Mouse) and recorded at Church House Studios in Austin, TX. Three of the new tracks (“Skulldiggin,” “Dar Es Salaam,” “My … Read more
Neko Case returns September 3rd with her new record The Worse Things Get on ANTI- Records. This deluxe version is a limited edition that includes 3 additional bonus tracks and a vinyl etching on side 4. Your guess is as good as ours when it comes to the limited part, maybe 1500 – 2000 pressed? … Read more
Kylesa Ultraviolet Season Of Mist Records [2013] Fire Note Says: Savannah stoner metal band continue refining their sound with very good results. Album Review: Like fellow Georgian genre-hoppers Baroness, Kylesa is a bit of a paradox. Their early material was heavy on swamp sludge but as each personal tragedy, band shake-up or label change occurred … Read more
R.E.M. Green (25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) Warner Bros./Rhino Records [2013] Fire Note Says: Green is next in the R.E.M. reissue series that includes a great live second disc. Album Review: For me, Green started an entire new era for R.E.M. as their sixth full length was all about transition. It is interesting how this record … Read more
Foreign Talks Foreign Talks Expunged Records [2013] Fire Note Says: Foreign Talks shows loads of potential on their debut. Album Review: After generating significant online buzz, Portland-based Foreign Talks’s self-titled debut album has arrived, and while it will no doubt be enthusiastically accepted by those who are into the band’s musical aesthetic (more on that … Read more
July 23rd, Hardly Art will release the new full-length by California’s Hunx & His Punx. Street Punk, as the title implies, is a dramatic departure from the band’s previous outing, 2011’s Too Young to Be in Love, and includes a deep-cut Beastie Boys cover (“Egg Raid on Mojo”) and brief, blistering anthems like “Everyone’s a … Read more
For the most discerning aficionados of Robert Pollard and Guided By Voices, Teenage Guitar offers experiments in spontaneity and lo-fi witchiness and wizardry, exploring multiple moods and styles. Brewed in the home laboratory using a historic mid-90s Tascam 488 cassette recorder, without professional engineers or adult supervision, Force Fields at Home recalls the sound and … Read more
Eleanor Friedberger Personal Record Merge Records [2013] Fire Note Says: Sophomore album Personal Record secures Eleanor Friedberger’s full time status as a solo act. Album Review: With The Fiery Furnaces on a hiatus it seems like the perfect time for Eleanor Friedberger to release her sophomore album Personal Record. The record once again highlights her … Read more
Woodsman Orphan My Name Is Ishmael Ali Obscure Me Records [2013] Fire Note Says: Charmingly sloppy backwoods psych-folk for the Elephant 6 crowd. Album Review: Anyone who pays attention to the music scene will have noticed the explosion of bearded folk rock acts that have gained notoriety in the last few years. Fleet Foxes, Band … Read more
City And Colour The Hurry And The Harm 10 Spot [2013] Fire Note Says: City and Colour’s fourth LP is vibrant and forthright. Album Review: City and Colour’s primary member is Dallas Green, former lead singer of the band Alexisonfire (and not the former baseball manager though that would be awesome). City and Colour used … Read more
You can now see Pokey LaFarge’s debut video “Central Time,” which is the first single from his self-titled album that released June 4 on Third Man Records. Directed by frequent Third Man collaborator Jo McCaughey, with set design and Lomokino photography by Rachel Briggs, the video features whimsical scenes of Pokey and the band playing … Read more
Robert Randolph, the slide guitar jam/rock/blues phenomenon who’s been captivating global audiences for a decade, has debuted the first song from his upcoming album Lickety Split, set for release July 16th from Blue Note Records. Randolph explains the song’s origins: “We started writing Born Again as a love song. It was about that feeling you … Read more
The Dandy Warhols Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia (13th Anniversary Edition) Capitol Records [2013] Fire Note Says: The Dandy Warhols celebrate Thirteen Tales with an expanded anniversary edition. Album Review: 2013 marks the thirteenth anniversary of The Dandy Warhols Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia and that probably leaves you saying – so what? Well in … Read more
Rogue Wave Nightingale Floors Vagrant Records [2013] Fire Note Says: The new Rogue Wave serves as a kind of return to form – with mixed results. Album Review: Zach Schwartz (aka Zach Rogue) has had the kind of career most indie rock bands at the beginning of the 21st century could have only dreamed of … Read more
Naam Vow Tee Pee Records [2013] Fire Note Says: Brooklyn’s Naam works to stand out with their groovy Vow. Album Review: Naam is a band that’s put me in quite a pickle. Their second LP Vow was really trying very hard to get me to like it. With influences ranging from Wolfmother to Graveyard, from … Read more
Here is an interesting listen for a Friday afternoon. Olivier Libaux of Nouvelle Vagues cover of Queens of the Stone Age’s No One Knows. His new album Uncovered Queens of the Stone Age (Music for Music Lovers), is due July 16. Check out the cover below.
Baths Obsidian Anticon Records [2013] Fire Note Says: After a near death experience, Will Wiesenfeld drops a near masterpiece. Album Review: On his 2010 debut as Baths (the woefully neglected Cerulean) Will Wiesenfeld was content to let his laptop do most of the talking for him. A cool hybrid of the LA beat scene and … Read more