On Stray, Bambara peel the curtain back further on their reality. Haunting and deeply evocative words are sewn into a dark tapestry of atmospheric, brooding goth meets post-punk on an album that lingers like the rough outline of an aging scar.
Algiers are what would result if Verso Books turned into an art rock band. This is a very good thing.
Revered experimental Japanese noise/punk/jazz band, OOIOO are back with a typically intense and brilliant new album, nijimusi.
Minneapolis noise rock band, Buildings return with a new album and a new cut that speaks to the frustrations we face every day. Buildings make boredom sound (almost) fun on "Sit With It".
The companion piece to Sunn O)))'s masterful Life Metal completes the most organic and minimal chapter in the drone masters' journey.
After more than three years together, Brooklyn duo ESSi finally released their first full-length album. PopMatters caught up with them before a show to discuss their effects-laden punk sound, New York's vibrant DIY music scene, and how Craigslist saved them more than once.
October is dominated by heavyweight returns from noise rock pioneers Swans and Lightning Bolt, while also filled with the black metal bleakness of Blut Aus Nord and the Great Old Ones, while Vastum continue 20 Buck Spin's death metal master class streak.
Lightning Bolt's Sonic Citadel is both punishingly noisy and, at times, surprisingly tuneful. People who are on Lightning Bolt's exceedingly loud, improvisational vibe will find plenty to like here.
The last in Cherry Red Records' four Dinosaur Jr. album reissue series, Hand It Over, makes a clear case for the appraisal of an album that deserved far more than it received.
Dinosaur Jr.'s last chance to bite at the apple of fame came in late 1994 with their album, Without a Sound. This expanded edition from Cherry Red Records makes the case for hearing it free of the baggage of that alt rock era.
One of alternative rock's key statements arrived in 1993 with Where Have you Been. It receives the definitive treatment from Cherry Red Records in the second of a four album reissue series encompassing all of Dinosaur Jr.'s major label releases.
A long-overdue reissue of Dinosaur Jr.'s Green Mind from Cherry Red Records wraps a superb album in top-notch outtakes, scorching live renditions, liner notes worth the price of admission, and great artwork.
