Ghostface Killah – 12 Reasons To Die
Taking his love of mafia films, horror movies, comic books,
and music and rolling it into one epic album, Ghostface Killah returns with his
best album since 2000’s Supreme Clientele. Working with Adrian Younge, Ghost brings
a storyline that Hollywood wish they could write. 12 Reasons to Die is a
concept record set in the 1960’s about Tony Starks, a man who is muscle for the
Italian mob, when Starks falls in love with a don’s wife, they whack Starks but
little do they know he will return as the Ghostface Killah. Rapping over an
orchestral soundtrack, Ghost delivers a supreme hip-hop opera.
FINAL GRADE: A+
Frank Turner – Tape Deck Heart
The British folk punk returns with his latest record and
Turner drops the politics and picks up his desire to show that everyone is
beautiful. Turner, who has been a master songwriter since leaving his hardcore
outfit A Million Dead, nearly a decade ago, has shown his personal side and
political side in each song he pens, yet, Tape Deck Heart, surprisingly may be
his most introspective to date and is a feel good free for all.
FINAL GRADE: A
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Mosquito
The New York indie punks return with their fourth album and
still keep is weird, and we love it. Yeah Yeah Yeahs link up again with David
Sitek of TV on the Radio for production on Mosquito and even gain some help
from a gospel choir and Dr. Octogan to really bring out the sound and substance
on Mosquito. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs simply know how to have fun and that seems to
be what Mosquito is all about.
FINAL GRADE: A-
Iggy and the Stooges – Ready to Die
The Godfather of punk returns with The Stooges and since
reuniting in the early 00’s, finally – FINALLY, release a record that lives up
to Stooges standards. Ready to Die is a guitar driven manifesto that shows that
age is just a number and if anyone else thinks otherwise, then go fuck
yourself.
FINAL GRADE: B+
Black Angels – Indigo Meadow
The Austin, Texas, Velvet Underground inspired band return
with their fourth album and display a much tighter and conscious sound than
every before. Indigo Meadow is a step in the right direction for a band that
really tries very hard to take a page out of previous bands books, but finally
make a mark on their own.
FINAL GRADE: B+
Kurt Vile – Walkin on a Pretty Daze
The Philly guitar punk returns with his fifth record and is
his most personal to date. Walkin’ on a Pretty Daze is Vile’s musical
autobiography that fills with angst driven guitars, pounding drums, and
presents itself as a full on rock and roll circus.
FINAL GRADE: B
The Front Bottoms – Talon of the Hawk
New Jersey’s punks return with their fourth album and bring
with them their most well-rounded and richest sounding album to date. The Front
Bottoms capture the energy and excitement of their live shows and with just the
perfect amount of magic in the studio and make Talon of the Hawk the bands best
yet.
FINAL GRADE: B
Oberhofer – Nostalgia EP
For years this Brooklyn band has been gaining attention
thanks to their leader Brad Oberhofer’s finger picking, however, the band were
a total Vampire Weekend rip off and a poor one at that. However, since singing
with Glassnote in 2011, the band are turning things around with their latest
EP, Nostalgia, and are finally coming into their own. This EP is chock full of
catchy anthems and stadium sounds that makes us want a full record of all of
this.
FINAL GRADE: B
Caveman
Glimmering Brooklyn rockers comeback with their new album
and after the success of 2011’s CoCo Beware, Caveman still roar and still make
their own fascinating mind bending rock and roll.
FINAL GRADE: B-
Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark – English Electric
The British New Wave legends return with their second album
since reuniting in 2010 and bring forth more of their tactical synthpop meets
classic electronica and after all of these years, still know how to make people
move.
FINAL GRADE: B-
Mudhoney – Vanishing Point
The Seattle grunge legends return and bring forth the same
formula that have had them creating and crafting their career all these years.
Hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
FINAL GRADE: B-
Alison Moyet – The Minutes
Making a welcomed return to her electronic roots, British
singer Alison Moyet comes back in full form with a very dark record that one
could dance to. A worthwhile listen that may rally in new fans.
FINAL GRADE: B-
House of Love – She Paints Words in Red
The English New Wave band return with their first album
eight years and while they may be a bit older and a bit wiser, they lack the
fire to make any sort of a comeback. While The House of Love remain to be one
of the most underrated bands of the 1980’s, this record will quench lifelong
fans pallets but will not gain them any new ones.
FINAL GRADE: B-
Cold War Kids – Dear Miss Lonelyhearts
Between 2008 and 2011, something happened to Cold War Kids
where their sound altered in a direction that had them sounding very swampy and
stormy but also very unique, to simply sounding like nearly everyone else. Dear
Miss Lonelyhearts is a combination of the bands early sound that got them on
everyones radar and the unoriginal dull that turned some fans off.
FINAL GRADE: C+
Phoenix – Bankrupt!
Everyone’s favorite neo-New Wave band returns and after the
mega success of 2010’s Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, Phoenix saw heights that they
never thought possible from headlining major festivals to Madison Square Garden
and bringing along fellow French favorites, Daft Punk. Now, after some becoming
parents, or husbands, Phoenix come back and try to sustain their acclaim, but fail
to capture the magnificent magic that Wolfgang had three years ago. Bankrupt!
was recorded using the same control deck that Michael Jackson used to make
Thriller, but falls short in trying to gather the sound, energy, and most of
all, originality that both MJ and the bands previous efforts had. Bankrupt!
sounds nearly effortless and very uninspired and unfortunately, at many points,
straight up dull and boring, which is unfortunate for a band of this caliber.
FINAL GRADE: C-
The Flaming Lips – The Terror
The Flaming Lips do not need to prove anything at this stage
in their game. Hell, they can do whatever they want and they do and we love
them for it. However, when a band this original decides to release a record of
new material it is something to rejoice about, but The Terror, is nothing to
cheer for. While it is supposed to be played as one long song, and not just
album cuts, The Terror is a redundant sounding, distorted calamity that makes
us wish they had done something more.
FINAL GRADE: C-
The Knife – Shaking the Habitual
The Knife return with their new record, which sounds like a
cat with the worse case of herpes walking across a Casio keyboard while the
cat’s owner presses record. It is unlistenable a weird for the sake of being
weird.
FINAL GRADE: F
