Reviews of Music, Movies, Anime & More

Though a bit uneven in places, Carlos Forster’s self-titled debut still evokes the magic of those old For Stars albums, and his voice sounds as good as ever.

Though less psychedelic than In Gowan Ring, Birch Book finds B’eirth crafting music that is just as lovely and haunting.

Lovesliescrushing’s latest is a free download that serves as an excellent introduction to their abstract form of shoegazer ambience.

If the thought of a band likely decked out in leather, chains, spikes and/or corpse paint ripping through the theme to My Neighbor Totoro fills you with delight, then this is the album for you.

A lovely blend of warm, earthy folk and left-field experimental music.

Pearson’s songs pull no punches as he chronicles all of the ugly, nasty, and shitty things that bring about a relationship’s end.

This is good, honest, soul-stirring music of the finest kind, music that never feels the need to announce itself or overstate its worth.

Proof that quieter and subtler can prove more impactful and haunting than any barrage of monstrous or terrifying sounds.

Cadiz’s self-released debut conjures up June Carter Cash and Patsy Cline as much as Joanna Newsom.

What if Anamanaguchi, Susumu Hirasawa, Ronnie Martin, and Sufjan Stevens got together and made a chiptune gospel album?

A meticulously crafted album that straddles the lines between jazz, folk, and psychedelia.

Convalescing in Braille might be the most unassuming album I’ve listened to in quite some time.

Carss’ compositions are quite evocative and even occasionally intimate.

Dreamy, washed out bliss-pop full of swirling, sighing vocals and ambient guitar textures.

There’s a sense of slow burn here, a sense of movement towards a deeper, darker realm of sound that is only apparent in hindsight.

“All Delighted People” contains some of the most ambitious music Sufjan has recorded to date, but it’s still just as heartfelt and poignant as ever.

The trio perform “instrumental rock” in the truest sense of the word: without vocals and fully intent on melting your face.

Of the many Slowdive/MBV/Cocteau aficionados that have appeared in recent years, Canisius is one to keep an eye on.

In the end, this feels very much like a “transition” record to me.