Vinyl Vault

Silver Apples Still Sparkle

By Brian Castleberry
July 12th, 2009

In 1968, far from the long-hair tent, artists like the Velvet Underground and the often-forgotten Silver Apples were pushing the envelope of rock music in artier, and far more dangerous, directions.

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Album Review

Grizzly Bear Back on the Prowl with Veckatimest

By Brian Castleberry
April 26th, 2009

Already one of the more anticipated albums of 2009, Veckatimest sees Grizzly Bear at their most mature. Combining both the inverted low-fi iconoclasm of 2004’s Horn of Plenty with 2006’s more austere and folkish Yellow House into a more complete sound.

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Album Review

Medeski, Martin & Wood Strike Back
with Radiolarians II

By Brian Castleberry
April 19th, 2009

Medeski, Martin & Wood keep pushing the envelope with their second installment of the Radiolarians trilogy.

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Album Review

Super Furry Animals
Dark Days/Light Years

By Brian Castleberry
April 2nd, 2009

One listen to Super Furry Animals’ latest album, Dark Days/Light Years, and you can tell the Welsh band seems more adventurously weird than ever.

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1978: The Year After Punk

An Interview with Larry Fast of Synergy

By Brian Castleberry
March 27th, 2009

Synergy’s Cords marries Larry Fast’s incredible compositional skill with the synthesizer to a driving pop format. This final touchstone in our brief review of important 1978 recordings is yet another key entry in the history of electronic music during its most experimental and free-thinking heyday.

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Album Review

Crystal Antlers’ Aural Assault

By Brian Castleberry
March 18th, 2009

Crystal Antlers’ first full-length album, Tentacles is garnering a great deal of hype in the indie blogosphere, and much of it is warranted.

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Album Review

Faunts Look Back While Moving Forward

By Brian Castleberry
March 5th, 2009

Usually, I’d be the first to pan a group who actually sounds like other bands that came before them. But Faunts’ Feel. Love. Thinking. Of. is more than just a copy of your favorite dancefloor tear-jerkers.

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Album Review

The Bad Plus + 1

By Brian Castleberry
February 24th, 2009

It’s a little shocking when one of your favorite bands makes a sudden change in their sound. Sometimes it’s a radical stylistic development. Other times it’s the addition of new instrumentation. And then there are the changes that really warrant a band changing its name, like when the progressive jazz trio The Bad Plus added a vocalist to their beloved instrumental sound.

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