SBTRKT, the reclusive electronic artist, came into the fray with his self-titled debut album that combined house, some dubstep elements and minimalist soul. With collaborations under his belt with Little Dragon's Yukimi Nagano, Londoner Jessie Ware and relative newcomer, the soulful Sampha, his debut was a breath of fresh digital air in this era of stagnant EDM…
"Remember all the days you were so lonely. When leaving wasn't the only thing on your mind." Trying to standout among the New Brunswick music scene isn't an easy task. It's a community that's absolutely packed with incredible potential and exciting new sounds, but Monterey is standing out in a very unique way. Just give…
Topshelf Records has a place near and dear to my heart. It's the label that signed one of the bands that I sat in awe watching back in the 10th grade days of post-rock yore. Now that I get to review one of their newest releases, I can take a little taste of their full…
Punk rock, at its finest, both agitates and puts a smile on your face. Danish band Iceage did that on their previous two albums, New Brigade and You’re Nothing. Both were obliterating affairs dealing with both physical and philosophical anxieties in short, aggressive, and noisy spurts, like a Black Flag for the 21st century. This,…
Jack Antonoff is a busy man. In addition to being the guitarist for the pop band fun., he also wrote songs with Carly Rae Jepsen, Tegan and Sara, Sara Bareilles, Christina Perri, and Taylor Swift (the song "Sweeter than Fiction" was nominated for a Golden Globe). However, he takes a slightly different route with Bleachers. The…
“Everything has chains.” That’s hard-learned wisdom from Brian Fallon, The Gaslight Anthem’s frontman, on “Selected Poems”, a latter-half album cut from the Jersey quartet’s latest album Get Hurt. It’s been a particularly hard year for Fallon, as he divorced from his wife of ten years. But he’s also had to deal with the aftermath of…
Riot Games is the group behind the online multiplayer battle arena game League of Legends, which has more than 2 million players. Filled with colorful, playable characters that have their own unique personalities within this universe, there are five characters that have formed the virtual band Pentakill. Riot decided to release actual music from these characters…
New Jersey-based quartet The Blithedale Romance, all furious guitars and shredded vocal cords, want you to know they’re trying. The young band took a mysterious, cultish online presence and rebranded their sound “new noise” leading up to the release of this, their second EP. Despite the half-makeover, the band comes out sounding more like themselves…
Let’s be frank: U2 is nothing less than one of the most successful and popular acts to have ever recorded a rock album. They need no introduction. As such, this review really needs no introduction either. By now you’re probably already sick of hearing about the band’s thirteenth studio album, Songs of Innocence, as well…
Benjamin Booker’s powerful self-titled debut album is less of a kick in the teeth and more of a push off of a massive cliff into a deep, clear ocean. Its sound is raw and menacing at times, but its construction couldn’t be more tightly controlled. The New Orleans-based Booker burst onto the music scene with…
