“Alternative” Reviews

I was completely unaware that I needed a good Christmas album this year and yet this album has filled that niche quite nicely.

Lake Trout shatters through the obvious comparisons, attaining a lofty sound all their own.

There’s such a wealth of ideas and detail in Sutton’s compositions that even hearing other people’s takes on those elements feels like wholly original material.

The long and short of it is that the band sounds just a little too much like Radiohead for their own good.

A pleasantly enjoyable disc, one that deserves to be heard by far more than have probably had the chance to hear it.

Buchanan and his bandmates seem more interested in capturing the beauty and magic in life’s mundane details.

The album is pop album first and foremost, in all of its unabashed glory.

Piano Magic’s music is as spectral and eerie as it is beautiful and enchanting.

A real gem that hasn’t lost it’s energy after almost a decade, and whose impact will probably never fully be known.

A very solid debut from a group that clearly knows their strengths and plays to them consistently from beginning to end.

When taken on its own merits, the compilation has plenty of high points.

If loving Animal Collective is wrong, I don’t want to be right.

It has the operatic rock quality of The Who or Pink Floyd with the sensibility to rock à la Radiohead.

The Vibration take what worked in The Cranberries and Sleater-Kinney and throw in a little Björk as well.

This self-titled album certainly represents a much-needed step in the right direction, displaying a newfound confidence and sense of freedom.

Oysterhead challenges the curse of the rock band fusion and comes out on top, smiling toothy grins.

Codename: Dustsucker represents a stunning return to form for the band.

A must-hear for any fan of dreamy, lazy day music.

Listening to the album reveals a kind of dark electronic pop that now sounds ten years out of time.

Every time I put on the album, I find myself coming under its spell just as surely as when I first listened to it.