Microphones In 2020 is an instrumentally predictable but narratively thorough deep dive into the formative years of singer-songwriter Phil Elverum’s music career.
indie rock
Mitski - Be the Cowboy
ReviewsCommentBe the Cowboy is arguably Mitski's most mature release, but most of the songs feel like a faint breeze.
Mount Eerie - Now Only
ReviewsCommentPhil Elverum's songwriting enters purposefully rambly territory on Now Only, a worthy epilogue to last year's A Crow Looked at Me.
Ought - Room Inside the World
ReviewsCommentOught go for a more conventional post-punk sound on Room Inside the World.
TWIABP - "Dillon and Her Son"
New Tracks2 CommentsThe World Is a Beautiful Place has announced their third album, titled Always Foreign, and with that has come a somewhat divisive lead single. The sound the band goes for here is closer to pop punk than Midwest emo, but I can appreciate it as one of the catchiest songs the band has written to date. Always Foreign drops September 29 via Epitaph.
Arcade Fire - Everything Now
Reviews1 CommentEverything Now finds Arcade Fire making a bolder and tighter move in a dance music direction than on Reflektor, but unfortunately it's even more of a mixed bag.
Broken Social Scene - Hug of Thunder
ReviewsComment7 years after the underwhelming Forgiveness Rock, Toronto indie rock collective Broken Social Scene is back with a pretty exhilarating and harmonious return to form.
The Mountain Goats - Goths
ReviewsCommentThe Mountain Goats' latest is a gothic-themed concept album, a foray into the world of guitar-less music, and one of the greatest testaments to John Darnielle's chops as a storyteller.