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reviews
Leave Your Sleep – Natalie Merchant
One time vocalist for 10,000 Maniacs, Natalie Merchant has since erected a pulpit for herself, atop of which she conducts some spectacular vocal performances. Her solo work has comprised mainly of songwriting which tread a fairly different path from that of the Maniacs. Lately, she began to rely more on the spoken word than anything [...]
Elect the Dead Symphony – Serj Tankian
Dead men don’t tell tales. Yes, we may have heard this oft repeated quote in gangster flicks when the mob decides to take care of someone for good. But when the living cease to be of any good use, its probably left to the dead to rise up to the occasion. Serj Tankian, vocalist of [...]
Head First – Goldfrapp
The British electronic music duo of Goldfrapp hasn’t really remained loyal to a particular variety of music over the span of their discography. Their latest album “Head First” just makes it the fifth piece which makes this truth more complete. With synthpop melodies, 80s style disco inspired club music minus the funk elements, and all [...]
Congratulations – MGMT
In an age where singles have erased the inherent concept of releasing albums, it does display a lot of guts if a band tries it the other way round. But then MGMT hasn’t really shied away from making records with idiosyncrasies. Since the runaway success of “Oracular Spectacular”, they established themselves as a band which [...]
Slash – Slash
The legacy of Slash lies in the stuff he did a good decade and a half ago. Yet the iconic image he built with not just his guitar playing skills, but also his onstage persona, lives on till this day. Guns N’ Roses may have had Axl Rose and his idiosyncrasies as its mascot, but [...]
Here Lies Love – David Byrne & Fatboy Slim
If there was one word which defined Imelda Marcos, it was excess. Imelda who? And if you are wondering if Marcos refers to her genealogy with a patriarchal mob, it’s best to stay content in just knowing she is one woman who forms the subject for the collaboration of two of the most prolific musicians [...]
Mantis – Shaa’ir & Func
All that the world needs is a little more love. And even if there is more, there can always be some more. The New York – Mumbai duo of Shaa’ir + Func embarked on a journey of spreading, like we said, some more love, and creating a lot more music. Two albums under their belt [...]
Twilight Theater – Poets of the Fall
At the time the Finnish sextet of Poets of the Fall set foot on Indian soil, they managed to successfully convert a significant populace into their followers. With the subsequent release of some good pop rock material, that following has only stuck faithfully, but also grown in numbers. They may be known best for the [...]
Fist of God – MSTRKRFT
The Canadian duo of Jesse F Keeler (better known as the unimaginative, yet obvious, JFK) and Al-P, in the short span that they have been together, managed to carve out a niche for themselves as one of the most sought after remix artistes. Though they may not have received much applause for their debut album [...]
Grounded in Space – Advaita
Creating fusion music, especially when considered in conjunction with Indian classical music is akin to walking on thin ice – the effect of a single strain at the wrong spot, and you run the risk of going down under. Thankfully, Delhi based band Advaita has been providing us with doses of raga based music, in [...]
Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice – HIM
The Scandinavians have usually been better known for their brand of hitting heavy metal in our part of the world. But then they haven’t just confined themselves as far as genres go. Finnish band His Infernal Majesty, better known as HIM, have kept themselves busy over the course of their career making a brand of [...]
Campfire Songs – Animal Collective
The Animal Collective has steadily grown in stature as one of the most avant-garde electronic acts. Much of the credit for this goes to their last release, “Merriweather Post Pavilion”, which has constantly been creating waves since the time it came out. But the Baltimore based band still seems to hark back to the time [...]
Rebirth – Lil Wayne
Stardom is good as long as it doesn’t allow you to overstep your capabilities. Lil Wayne, with the phenomenal success of the “Tha Carter” trilogy behind him, and with self proclamation of being the best rapper around had definitely cut a meaty place for himself in the hip hop galaxy. This was all the more [...]
Transference – Spoon
Managing to create seven records over a musical career is quite a feat in the industry. And if they bear a hallmark of consistency, it becomes all the more commendable. Spoon, the indie band from Austin has done just that with their latest record “Transference”. In fact, they sound much better this time around. Something [...]
Raymond v. Raymond – Usher
As one of the foremost entertainers of the past decade, Usher has cemented his position as a modern day entertainment machine. Though his forays into displaying his histrionic abilities may not have found much notice or critical success, this can be discounted as one of the effects stardom usually has. Nonetheless, as far as his [...]
Mechanize – Fear Factory
Not many bands have been able to mash together different genres of metal and been successful at it. Fear Factory, with its brand of music picking up in the nineties, proved itself to be contrary to this popular belief. Combining death, groove and industrial metal, they made a pioneering statement during their heyday. Band bickerings, [...]
We Are Here – Apparatjik
Side projects are fun, specially when musicians wish to display an new facet to themselves. This holds itself true in full measure when you get to hear Apparatjik’s “We Are Here”. The name which would probably make you sit up and notice is that one of the members is Coldplay bassist, Guy Berryman. Synth led [...]
Heligoland – Massive Attack
You maybe forgiven for thinking of this album to be the name of some tiny landmass tucked away unknown in some corner of the earth. Well, you would be just about right, actually. So while it beats us as to why Brit trip hop pioneers, Massive Attack, chose to name the album after this group [...]
Need You Now – Lady Antebellum
Nashville, being the cradle of American country music, has been home to producing some of the best known country music acts we’ve known. There were days when country music used to be tales of everyday hardships with words of wisdom interspersed, with a certain rustic nature which endeared it to the soul. Now, it’s more [...]
Hellbilly Deluxe 2 – Rob Zombie
Be it his music or his directorial pursuits, Rob Zombie has relied on the power of shock to the fullest to further his ambitions. Recent times haven’t really seen much action from him, apart from his engagements with the release of “Halloween 2” which didn’t do much at the box office either. “Hellbilly Deluxe 2” [...]
The Element of Freedom – Alicia Keys
Pop divadom today thrives on scandal. And exhibitionism. And jiggly wigglies on stage – and off it too. Just browse through the in-your-face antics of the knickered Perrys, the sans-bottomwear Gagas, the burlesque Pussycats or the leathered Rihannas, and you would know what we mean. And if you have your acts in place, it definitely [...]
The Fame – Lady GaGa
Artistes have a way of cultivating an image for themselves which is supposed to act in conjunction with their brand of music, and allow growing space for the creation of a superstar package. And while some have been taciturn, most have been fairly flamboyant and unabashed in their revelling ambitions, with a distinct few bordering, [...]
Untitled – R. Kelly
The brazen approach to the subject which R. Kelly has resorted to on his albums is something that just leaves you confounded. Though he recently got cleared of the charges, he remained under the shadow of a child pornography suit for most of the past decade. Yet, he managed to stick to a singular topic [...]
Of the Blue Color of the Sky – OK Go
If you watch any of the popular music channels on TV, then there is a good chance you would have seen them. And if you are a net buff, there is a very good chance you would have been bitten by the viral phenomenon they created a couple of years back. Expressing exceeding levels of [...]