Die Antwoord – Ten$ion
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Between lead vocalist “Ninja” who raps into a penis-shaped microphone attached to his crotch and his freakish, circus-like sidekick Yolandi Visser, it’s no surprise that their sophomore album, Ten$ion, is just as shocking and discombobulated as the personas they have created. These South African natives have certainly made a name for themselves in America, but perhaps for all the wrong reasons, seeing as it is their violently explicit videos instead of their… continue reading
The Weeknd – Echoes of Silence
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“And it hurts to accept what I am, and how I live and what I do. But I’ve been good since Thursday,” The Weeknd croons on “The Fall,” hinting that he has settled into his fame. The mysterious R&B singer ended 2011 with, Echoes of Silence, his third mixtape of the year. Released on December 21 immediately after Drake dropped his video for “The Motto” at midnight, it seemed like the OVOXO team had… continue reading
Skrillex – Bangarang
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Sonny Moore has his place in the world; this much cannot be denied. The renegade post-hardcore vocalist has besieged mainstream dance culture since becoming Skrillex four years ago. The past two years yielded four colossally successful extended plays, of which Bangarang is the most recent and the final installment before Skrillex’s first studio album, Voltage, expected later this year. So, it’s like I said: Skrillex has found an incredibly fruitful… continue reading
Gotye – Making Mirrors
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Rock and pop flourish on Gotye’s highly anticipated American release of Making Mirrors. Multi-instrumentalist Wally De Backer is the genius behind Gotye, creating a sound much larger than himself. Five years since his previous release “Like Drawing Blood,” it becomes clear why De Backer waited so long. “Making Mirrors” and “Easy Way Out” are short and sweet numbers to start off the album. The first is a shoe-gaze track that… continue reading
The Black Keys – El Camino
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With El Camino, their seventh studio album, The Black Keys adhere to the adage, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” The album, with its title translating to “the way,” is abundant with The Black Keys’ trademarks: catchy guitar riffs, a groovy beat, and Dan Auerbach’s perpetually alluring voice. Yet, it hasn’t gotten old. El Camino, at nearly 18 minutes shorter than last year’s Brothers, amps up the rock and… continue reading
The Roots – Undun
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When Spin, Slant, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Billboard, and Time all call Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy the best album of 2010, you can be fairly confident that it will be considered – at least critically – the new standard for modern hip-hop. While its brilliance can be found in its bombastic lyrics and thunderous production, Fantasy was introspective and brutally honest, and as you’d expect from the controversial icon, the… continue reading
Florence + The Machine – Ceremonials
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British indie pop band Florence + The Machine’s sophomore project, Ceremonials (released on November 1), took the dramatic notes from their 2009 debut effort Lungs and built on it tremendously, making for a large and bold album. Applying this change was deemed either a hit or miss by many critics, but I don’t just think they used it to the best of their ability. “Only If For a Night” is a dramatic opening, sounding… continue reading
M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
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Anthony Gonzalez is a French musician who, under the name M83, has spent the past ten years making ambitious music that people like to call ‘powerful,’ ‘epic,’ ‘vast’ and ‘cinematic.’ His work, which mixes various influences such as shoegaze, ambient, and other electronic music, feels designed to impart everyday life with a feeling of grandeur, as if the things done while listening to it are filled with capital-M Meaning. So… continue reading
Atlas Sound – Parallax
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Parallax is Deerhunter frontman Bradford Cox’s third LP using the moniker Atlas Sound. While the record features strong songwriting and great musicianship from Cox, who pulled a Dave Grohl and played pretty much everything but saxophone and wood block, it suffers from a slow pace and lengthy play time. The vocal arrangements, however, are a highlight; Cox navigates his instrumental compositions with ease and a pleasant disregard for conventional pauses…. continue reading
Los Campesinos! – Hello Sadness
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Los Campesinos! have chosen to go in a path too mellow for their own good with their album, Hello Sadness. It takes a couple of listens to try and accept that there are no lip clenching moments. Even then, there is not enough grizzle to keep a fan satisfied. Maybe they just do not want to revisit “the year punk rock broke their heart,” but we want it all. We… continue reading
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 Soundtrack
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It’s that time of the year again: Twilight season. Twi-hards will gather en masse to obsess over the books and how all boys should strive to be just like Edward Cullen. Bickering is bound to ensue over who’s better, so you must choose wisely: Team Edward or Team Jacob. Lines will form well before midnight on Thursday at movie theaters across the country as part one of the last installment is released. Good grief…. continue reading