By Armin Rosen

Few bands have been as appropriately named as Black Mountain. Indulge me while I parse this one out: contemporary bands with “black” in their name that aren’t death/black metal bands include The Black Lips, the Black Keys, Black Dice, the Black Angels and the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Meanwhile, Mountain …

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by Blake Gillespie

C.R.A.C., standing for Collect Respect And (a) Check, is the oddball musings on wax of producer-on-the-mic Ta’Raach and rapper Blu, with help from Ta’Raach’s crew the Lovelution. C.R.A.C. is a complicated collaboration to grasp, starting with its proper pronunciation, which Blu and Ta’Raach make known throughout the albums interludes and outros — “It …

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By Dan Bennis

Clinic have never been the most commercially accessible band. Their brand of four-on-the-floor, teeth clench, stomp rock has always been a bit jarring. Even their most tranquil dub-inspired tapestries contain enough grit to stir up punk agitation and angst. It’s both the source of their appeal, and a point of distaste for some. I for …

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By Jason Randall Smith

Scoring high in the area of concept records, Serengeti’s Dennehy is unflinching in its frank depiction of adolescence, strained relationships, and class differences. Set in Chicago, the title track introduces us to Kenny, by far the most memorable character on the album. Serengeti’s Chi-Town accent is surprisingly dead-on as Kenny raps about his …

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By Jason Randall Smith

Australian artist Katalyst shows how the land down under gets down with a high-caliber album of varying musical styles. With the help of guest vocalists and MCs, What’s Happening combines hip-hop, soul, funk, and jazz with the greatest of ease. The honey-drenched vocals of Steve Spacek grace “How Bout …

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By Blake Gillespie

Victims of fidgety attention spans and comparative criticism, The Kills may have managed to endure the unwarranted adversity that comes with being a guy-girl duo that makes fashionable bluesy break-beat rock. They provoke scorn with glamorous press photos stirring up sexual tension and cigarette addiction, but the music always seemed to fall …

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By Jason Randall Smith

Connie Price and The Keystones burst onto the scene with a rare groove-revisionist flavor for Now-Again/Stones Throw. Their Ubiquity release, however, revamps the sound into live hip-hop soul. Tell Me Something packs quite a punch musically, and with a number of MCs on deck this one’s a …

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By Jason Randall Smith

It could be said that Dilla’s influence looms large over Eric Lau’s solo debut, but only as a point of reference and not a blueprint to recreate. What separates New Territories from other hip-hop/soul albums is the airy quality of hthe sounds embracing the head-nodding beats. A rural state of …

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Hyperbole is as essential to rock’s DNA as the electric guitar. It’s a concept which Efrim Menuck seems well acquainted, as he sings, “One million died to make this sound,” the oft-repeated refrain from the song of the same name, the 13th track on 13 Blues for Thirteen …

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By Sarah Flynn

Three albums deep into their catalog, Omaha’s Neva Dinova is not poised to break into the mainstream — nor is it likely that the band ever will be. At its least charming, this band is the melancholy soundtrack to a lonely night at the bar. Album opener “Love …

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