Boston’s Eroica and their debut album Hisen the Architect reminded me of a Mitch Clem comic strip that jokes about needing a dictionary to understand Bad Religion lyrics.  A Wikipedia session is definitely in order to catch some of the quasi-obscure references contained in the song titles, as well as the band name itself.  I’ll save you the […]

In the interest of self-disclosure, I preface this by saying that instrumental/post-rock is my genre of choice, and I welcome a good, meaty listen.  As such, I was excited by the opportunity to review the latest effort, Ohm, by Milwaukee’s This Specific Dream. But what started out as excitement and intrigue didn’t quite make it […]

Every now and again, the hours spent clicking random Myspace links pays off in a big way. Seattle’s Chris Mansfield and Matt Beacham, collectively known as Fences, are easily my best accidental find of the year. An intimate, introspective brand of poppy acoustic folk music that isn’t just another drop in the bucket […]

Capillary action, or capillarity, is the ability of one substance to draw another substance into it.  Considering that definition, Capillary Action is one of the most aptly named bands in history. So Embarrassing, in its entirety, is an exercise in musical capillarity: the ability of one style (free-form jazz) to draw other styles (mathcore, punk, […]

In the midst of the high-definition, words per minute and frames per second lives we lead, it’s easy to forget that it’s the things we don’t say that often leave the most lasting impressions.  No matter our language or vocabulary, it’s the non-verbal cues and clues we give that unravel all the words to unmask […]

Everise /
Petrograd in Transit /
El Ten Eleven -
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
The Orpheum
Tampa, FL
To use an analogy, this was a show that I would have waited for the DVD rather than see it in the theater. Maybe it was the 10:00pm doors coupled with the 7:00am alarm before and after. Maybe it was the high […]

Jonathan Poneman (Sub Pop) on NPR…

There was a time when music was simpler. Bands kept their names to 5 syllables or less, adjectives and hyphens were mysteriously absent from genre designations, and file sharing was more trouble than it was worth on a 56k dial up connection. Bill Clinton was President of the United States; Bob Nanna was the pinnacle […]

This Band Dump is brought to you by the many great sounds originating from Japan. Yes, you heard me, Japan: it’s not just cosplay and bukkake anymore.

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