Tag: reviews
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FACT released their self-titled major label debut in Japan in 2009 — a decade after they were formed in Japan’s Ibaraki Prefecture — and quickly gained a strong national and international following. They have since become one of Japan’s biggest and most-loved rock bands of the decade. In fact, their first two albums reached the…
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“We’re up all night to get lucky,” Pharrell Williams sings as the now famous Daft Punk single “Get Lucky” comes to an end, but chances are you will be up all night to listen to this record. The thing about Random Access Memories is, it’s such a seductive and enchanting album that once you start…
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Music always plays a major role in Baz Luhrmann’s films. The soundtracks for Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge are two of the biggest-selling soundtracks of all time and they are masterpieces. For the soundtrack for his adaptation of The Great Gatsby, he sought out Jay Z and entrusted him to find songs that would…
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It seems like just yesterday Little Boots — otherwise known as Victoria Hesketh — released her amazing debut album Hands, but it actually came out in 2009, and so four years have passed between Hands’ release and the release of her sophomore effort Nocturnes, which was released on May 3, 2013. There are a couple…
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Singer/songwriter Gabrielle Aplin’s new single, “Panic Cord,” is taken from her album English Rain, which was just released in England today on May 13, 2013. (She is, in fact, English.) It’s the opening track on the album and for good reason: it’s a highly addictive song that showcases Gabrielle’s ability to write poignant lyrics and…
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The Joy Formidable’s “A Minute’s Silence” was released on vinyl on Record Store Day this year. An exquisite piano ballad, it doesn’t have any percussion or guitars, but it’s easily one of their very best songs to date. The melody is beautiful but melancholic and the piano is rather dark. The song also uses keyboards…
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It’s funny that the opening track on this album is called “Sacrilege” because that’s what I initially felt about this album. Oh, like the rest of the world, I thought “Sacrilege” was a fantastic track. It’s truly amazing, the way it builds and builds, becoming something greater and more emotive as it goes on, and…
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When I see She & Him in concert in Boston this July the opening act will be Camera Obscura and I can’t think of a better match. For it’s Camera Obscura that immediately comes to mind when I listen to She & Him’s new album, Volume 3. A mere ten seconds into the opening track,…
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Bradenton, Florida’s finest are back with a red hot new single every bit as infectious as past hits like “Secret Valentine,” “Heaven Can Wait,” “Party, Fun, Love & Radio,” and “Friday is Forever.” It begins with twinkly guitars then the drums and vocals kick right in and immediately hook you. “I’m all alone / holding…
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Until recently, I thought that Diplo and Major Lazer were two different people. Alas, I was wrong. Diplo is Major Lazer, Major Lazer being his reggae-ish alter-ego. Although many of the songs on Free the Universe stray pretty far from reggae. And I have to say — this is a very difficult album to digest.…
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I really hate that there’s a hash tag in the title of this song. It was obnoxious enough when will.i.am used one in the title of his new album. We certainly didn’t need Mariah to do that. It just seems like a lame attempt to capture the attention of the Twitter generation. She’s a living…
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Although many of the songs were in English, Iggy Pop’s last two albums, Preliminaires and Après, were essentially French pop albums. Iggy is a national icon in France, arguably as popular as Elvis is in the States, so I’m sure one of the reasons he made those albums was to thank his devoted French fans.…
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“Everybody have fun tonight, everybody have fun tonight,” will.i.am sings during “Hello,” the first track on his fourth solo album, #willpower. If that sounds boring and uninspired, well, welcome to a whole album of boring and uninspired anthems. I’m talking about songs so horrifyingly bad that they make even the worst songs he’s done with…
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When English singer/songwriter Charli XCX — born Charlotte Aitchison — was 14 her parents loaned her the money to finance her debut album. The album, which Charli wrote entirely herself, was made and called 14, but it was never officially released, though promotional copies were sent out. Charli was quick to put the album behind…
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Patti Smith is a living legend and “Because The Night” is one of her most popular and beloved tracks. It’s such a classic that covering it would seem to be pointless because you couldn’t possibly live up to the original and to even try to would almost be an insult to Smith. Meanwhile, you’d just…
