Kevchino.com - Current Reviews

Kurt Vile - Childish Prodigy

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Matador | 2009 | Album
Reviewed By: Erin Murray
Review Date: 3/12/2010
Rating (out of 10): 8 - Great.

In conjunction with his work with The War on Drugs (the band, not the war), Kurt Vile released his third solo album, Childish Prodigy, which “leaked” on the Internet in the fall of 2009 before being officially released in October of the same year. A lot of the songs on this album are infectious, particularly after a second or third listening, as I soon found out. Tracks like “Freak Train” (“Riding on the freak train, train, train, train”) get stuck in your head and stay there for hours regardless of what you listen to afterwards. Some of the songs lack dynamics, which is a real injustice to the album. The louder, more rock-oriented tracks plateau early and then coast to the finish. Songwriters have done this in the past, cert... [read full review]

Various Artists - New Tales To Tell: A Tribute To Love And Rockets

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Justice Records | 2009 | Album
Reviewed By: Jon Prusik
Review Date: 3/11/2010
Rating (out of 10): 1 - Trash. Possible coaster.

Since the beginning of the concept, cover albums have been a widely used marketing scheme for bands to come together, for either tribute or money, to put their stamp on songs from a band that you would have interest in. That's a nice way of putting it. The reality is that most of the time it's a large waste of time and resources. This compilation is no exception to these facts. However, that doesn't mean there can't be some scattered gems amidst the dung heap for reasons too inconsistent to ever be stated in consistent logic within enough ears to make it all worth the price of admission for the masses in the respective fanbases. On this lengthy tribute to the most consistent offspring of Bauhaus, there are a number of tracks whose radica... [read full review]

Efterklang - Magic Chairs

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

4AD | 2010 | Album
Reviewed By: Scott Hansen
Review Date: 3/10/2010
Rating (out of 10): 7 - Very enjoyable.

There is good news and bad news about the new Efterklang album. The bad news is they abandon their orchestral-based, experimental sound for a more accesible one. The good news is the same. Efterklang now sound similar to a Scandinavian version of Bon Iver if Bon Iver had a larger band. A couple songs even resemble Iver's Blood Bank, with a strong mix of guitar accompanied by steady piano, a string that plays both backdrop and headliner throughout the album. Magic Chairs dazzles with song after song full of distinct melodies and hooks. Opener and single-worthy "Modern Drift" is a piano-driven, sweeping song exhibiting the purity of nature. Follow-up "Alike" is more introspective and has that kind of haunting quality that we've ... [read full review]

Titus Andronicus - The Monitor

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

XL Recordings | 2010 | Album
Reviewed By: Katherine Baltrush
Review Date: 3/9/2010
Rating (out of 10): 9 - Simply Amazing.

The Monitor, the second studio album recorded by the quintet from Jersey, will arrive on March 9, 2010. I think that the members of the band, named for Shakespeare’s first and bloodiest drama, would appreciate the historical significance of that date (on March 9, 1841, The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that captive Africans who had seized control of the ship carrying them had been taken into slavery illegally). In their latest effort, Titus Andronicus continue their trend of socially charged lyrics, historically mindful music, and ironically positive energy. The lead track sets the tone of the album with a sample of an empowered speech. Throughout the track, despite the change from the speech to the punk rock anthem, both express their... [read full review]

Various Artists - Inglourious Basterds

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Warner Bros | 2009 | Sountrack
Reviewed By: Eric Risdon
Review Date: 3/8/2010
Rating (out of 10): 9 - Simply Amazing.

Is Quentin Tarantino delightfully crazy? Arguably, very possible, but only so because the passion for his art supersedes any other life distraction as he stabs away at American film, instantly creating cult classics and blockbusters with mind-blowing ease. Anything and everything this man sees, hears, or feels and enjoys is painstakingly filed away in his mind and then carefully regurgitated into each correct project he works on. The Inglourious Basterds soundtrack recalls tracks from past movies such as White Lightning (“White Lightning (Main Title)” - Charles Bernstein), The Alamo (“The Green Leaves of Summer” - Nick Perito), Cat People (“Cat People (Putting Out the Fire)” - David Bowie), and Slaughter (... [read full review]

Holly Miranda - The Magician’s Private Library

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

XL Recordings | 2010 | Album
Reviewed By: Kacy Karlen
Review Date: 3/5/2010
Rating (out of 10): 6 - Promising. Heading up.

Holly Miranda, previously a quadruple threat on the guitar, keys, trombone, and vocals in Brooklyn’s eclectic The Jealous Girlfriends, has branched out to release The Magician’s Private Library under the production of TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek. Miranda’s plaintive vocals and tight playing worked with The Jealous Girlfriends’ rockingly good experimental compositions. But finding her land legs from the sea of newly minted solo artists proves a daunting task—especially as Sitek’s heavy-handed influence on The Magician’s Private Library threatens at times to wash her away. Miranda’s dusty voice seems to be the stuff of dark lounges, begging for the warm acoustic stylings or the minimal backdrops that suit her musical soul si... [read full review]

Massive Attack - Heligoland

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Virgin | 2010 | Album
Reviewed By: Jon Prusik
Review Date: 3/4/2010
Rating (out of 10): 5 - Good and bad. Just OK.

Oddly, twice over now, Massive Attack have reappeared after a lengthy gap between albums and affirm that, even though the trip-hop movement never really happened, this band proves that they were the movement. The championship belt doesn't rest firmly in place seven years after 100th Window, and being the geniuses that time forgot, they now show the strain of attempting reinvention again with new guest members, along with some of old, making for mixed results. The album starts with a rather boring collaboration with TV on the Radio, “Pray For Rain,” and it feels like the vast majority of the album is stuck with stock female vocal performances (though they account for less than half the tracks). Yet some victories are made amongst... [read full review]

Lali Puna - Our Inventions

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Morr Music | 2010 | Album
Reviewed By: Chelsea Cohen
Review Date: 3/3/2010
Rating (out of 10): 8 - Great.

When they first came onto the scene, Lali Puna were ready to trouble the water with their resonate keys and trembling rhythms. Now in their twelfth year and second incarnation, the German quartet continues to set the precedent in their respective vein of electro-pop. Their fourth studio album, Our Inventions, holds true to the high expectations that followers have come to expect of the group while delving ever-deeper into a world of ambient electronics. The band came together just outside of Munich in 1998, when frontwoman Valerie Trebeljahr began seeking a new project after the collapse of her all-girl band. Markus Acher and Christoph Brandner were the next additions to the ensemble, along with keyboardist Florian Zimmer. Zimmer... [read full review]

Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Drag City | 2010 | Album
Reviewed By: Tyler McWilliams
Review Date: 3/2/2010
Rating (out of 10): 10 - Essential. A must have.

Joanna Newsom’s work exists in a space between vanity and ambition, a place where our finest artists create in a permanent state of exceptional self-indulgence and assured semi-obscurity. Her musical purview continues to swell and expand like the universe itself: mysteriously and, as apparent on her third LP, Have One On Me, indefinitely. But on this widening threshold there is an ever-present danger: if the mirror is the muse, if the sound of one’s own voice is sufficient for inspiration, if no one says “when” at strategic intervals, the volatile space between vanity and ambition can swallow both extremes and implode into an overblown singularity, albeit one with marvelous, awe-inspiring fireworks. Have One On Me is breat... [read full review]

Ben Sollee & Daniel Martin Moore - Dear Companion

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Sub Pop | 2010 | Album
Reviewed By: Tyler McWilliams
Review Date: 3/1/2010
Rating (out of 10): 5 - Good and bad. Just OK.

Ben Sollee is a classically trained cello virtuoso who, in recent years, has swapped licks with folk luminaries and jazz legends alike. He is a unique talent whose live performances immediately won me over. In the span of a single song, he interchangeably bows and fingerpicks the cello, creating a percussive, wholly inventive expression from an instrument more accustomed to Bartok études than Béla Fleck barnburners. On his debut solo LP, Learning to Bend, Sollee’s singular talents leap from the strings with a yelp and a joyous holler; it’s when left to his own devices that Sollee’s understated bluegrazz (bluegrass and jazz, just coined it, folks) begins to shine, begins to radiate warmth like the Bowling Green of his native Kentucky.... [read full review]

Local Natives - Gorilla Manor

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

French Kiss | 2010 | Album
Reviewed By: Hannis Brown
Review Date: 2/26/2010
Rating (out of 10): 7 - Very enjoyable.

With Gorilla Manor, the debut album of L.A.’s Local Natives, the band epitomizes the sunny side of L.A.’s indie rock sound: catchy clean-tone guitar riffs, 1960s Laurel Canyon vocal harmonies, and stampedes of hand percussion that lend a faint Afropop twinge to the music. While the band may not breaking any new musical ground here, Gorilla Manor is an exhilarating and uplifting marriage of sophisticated arrangements and gleeful pop that makes you want to quit your day job and cruise the Pacific Coast Highway with all of your windows down. The most obvious comparisons that come to mind are Fleet Foxes and Band of Horses. Like those bands, Local Natives mixe rootsy vocal harmonies that reference the country-twinged sounds of ... [read full review]

Buzzcocks - Another Music In A Different Kitchen

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Mute | 2010 | Album
Reviewed By: Erin Murray
Review Date: 2/25/2010
Rating (out of 10): 9 - Simply Amazing.

The Buzzcocks’ first album of two released in 1978, Another Music in a Different Kitchen, is punk music at its best, and at its basics. It came out in a time when England was the capital of the punk world, spawning such acts as the Sex Pistols in addition to Buzzcocks. This is what I believe to be the most cohesive album by them, and it serves as a proper foundation to the rest of their work. Off the bat, we are treated to what I think is what makes The Buzzcocks one of the most influential punk bands around: experimental beats and sounds. In the first track, “Fast Cars,” they kick off with a waspish guitar riff, and we go right into the odd, sometimes jolting rhythm changes. Where other artists might use such techniques to impres... [read full review]

Trans Am - Things

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Thrill Jockey | 2010 | Album
Reviewed By: Chelsea Cohen
Review Date: 2/24/2010
Rating (out of 10): 9 - Simply Amazing.

There's good electronic music, and then there's good music that happens to be electronic. Trans Am is very much the latter. A Maryland trio known for their constant reinventions and surprising dedication to the craft, they can be described as little more than pioneers. In the case of their newest album, Things, they explore the electronic front without restraint while still never losing the rock elements that brought them together. The way Trans Am approach music is almost comical. They exist on the fine line that separates art and parody, using their quasi-futuristic synthpop to amuse and engage their audience. Drawing upon the retro future, Things brings to mind images of the final frontier as it was once heard by stoner... [read full review]

Gil Scott-Heron - I'm New Here

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

XL Recordings | 2010 | Album
Reviewed By: Andy Heater
Review Date: 2/23/2010
Rating (out of 10): 7 - Very enjoyable.

Since writing poetry as a teenager and making his first foray into songs on 1970's Small Talk at 125th and Lenox, Gil Scott-Heron's fusion of message and music has influenced countless activists and artists. His aggressive, political street poetry—especially the funk-based anthem "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"—inspired the earliest rappers. Now, after years of personal troubles, he sounds amazingly vibrant, reciting emotionally powerful autobiographical tales accompanied by dark, edgy soundscapes blending hip hop, dubstep, and minimal electronics (producer, collaborator, and XL owner Richard Russell's influence). I'm New Here is Scott-Heron's first studio album in sixteen years. It is a study in redemption. It’s a ... [read full review]

Shout Out Louds - Work

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Merge | 2010 | Album
Reviewed By: Chelsea Cohen
Review Date: 2/22/2010
Rating (out of 10): 9 - Simply Amazing.

Though they've maintained a solid career and a strong fan base, Shout Out Louds have never been at the top of their game. Eclipsed by their contemporaries, the Swedish fivesome have only made a name for themselves by picking up on the followings generated by more prominent bands. Then came Work. Their third full-length album, Work brings out a new element in the indie group that has finally set them apart. Shout Out Louds began in Stockholm just after the turn of the millennium. One of many bands trying to break through in an emerging indie rock scene, they began enjoying moderate success after the release of their first album in 2003. Featured internationally in magazines and compilation albums, they were nevertheless unab... [read full review]

Nick Cave - & Warren Ellis White Lunar

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Mute | 2009 | Sountrack
Reviewed By: Erick Mertz
Review Date: 2/19/2010
Rating (out of 10): 8 - Great.

Nick Cave’s presence in the sphere of cinema has been notable almost as long as his solo musical career. In Wim Wenders’s 1987 classic, Wings of Desire, the object of the angel’s desire, Marion (Solveig Dommartin), weaves alone through a dreamlike Berlin and fixes in particular on an eviscerating Nick Cave performance with The Bad Seeds; the dank neo-Western The Proposition was all Cave; his little-known screenwriting exploits include a rejected script sequel to Gladiator and penning the feature-length Death of A Ladies’ Man in 2009. Cave is nearly as prolific in front of and behind the camera as he is in front of an audience. Late in 2009 Mute Records released a double disc of what may yet be Cave’s greatest ... [read full review]

Sea Wolf - White Water White Bloom

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Dangerbird Records | 2009 | Album
Reviewed By: Erin Murray
Review Date: 2/18/2010
Rating (out of 10): 8 - Great.

White Water, White Bloom is the second full-length album released by L.A. indie band Sea Wolf and the first of two releases in 2009. Overall, the album follows a lot of trends popularized in indie music these days, including haunting reverb on the drums, overlapping of lead vocals, and adding orchestral instruments in with the usual rock band. At its best, it sounds like David Bowie meets Cat Stevens with a little bit of Patrick Wolf. At its worst, it’s your everyday indie album. And that ain’t bad. The instrumentation of this album is deceptive. Sea Wolf go with the often-proved “less is more” philosophy. Yes, we have the usual instruments of a rock band, and a couple violins to boot (and oh, is that a mandolin?), but there is a ... [read full review]

Tiny Vipers - Life on Earth

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Sub Pop | 2009 | Album
Reviewed By: Tyler McWilliams
Review Date: 2/17/2010
Rating (out of 10): 9 - Simply Amazing.

Tiny Vipers’ Life on Earth is a bare-bones acoustic testament to the suffocating solipsism that dampens our mind’s thin tin roof like rain, rain that, even in pause, moistens our eyes and makes heroic our most personal defeats. To deliver these songs, Jesy Fortino’s jaw unhinges and with each word swallows, digests, and internalizes the entire history of human repression. Her lilting voice lends gravity to even the slightest, most affectionate phrasings, and her lyrical candor is laid to bear naked and shivering upon the framework of melodic minimalism. Her subdued demeanor, her unadorned guitar, her breath, and her innermost uncertainties are paraded before my feet by the light of the moon alone. And under this milky, overcast sky, ... [read full review]

Buzzcocks - Love Bites

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Mute | 2010 | Reissue
Reviewed By: Erin Murray
Review Date: 2/16/2010
Rating (out of 10): 8 - Great.

Buzzcocks’ second album, Love Bites, dropped in 1978 at the height of the Manchester punk scene, which also played host to such legendary bands as The Sex Pistols and Slaughter & The Dogs. Where the Pistols pushed their vocals to the front, Buzzcocks generally showcased drums and guitar, and rightfully so; the drumming channels Keith Moon at his craziest, and the distorted guitar fits the punk peak mold. If this album can be divided into three parts, it would be like a delicious ice cream sandwich. The outer layer is the sketch- looking wrapper that makes you a little nervous about the rest. Such it is with the first track, “Operator’s Manual.” The jarring time changes make it impossible to rock out to it without knowing it by he... [read full review]

Buzzcocks - A Different Kind of Tension

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Mute | 2010 | Reissue
Reviewed By: Katherine Baltrush
Review Date: 2/15/2010
Rating (out of 10): 7 - Very enjoyable.

The Buzzcocks emerged onto the packed punk rock scene from Manchester in 1977, a period when a new band was formed several times a day on every street corner. To The Buzzcocks’ fans, who have included some of the most acclaimed bands of the last twenty years, they were and are more than just average British punk rockers. So now the Mute label is dropping this walls-blown-out expansion of The Buzzcocks’ third album, A Different Kind of Tension (as part of the label’s effort to re-release the entire Buzzcocks catalogue). The sheer amount of material on the expanded A Different Kind of Tension (of the album’s 38 tracks, only the first 12 constitute the original album) speaks to the impossibly voluminous amount of tracks and de... [read full review]