4 Stars Archive

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Venomous Maximus – The Mission – Album Review

By
down.caster
– 03/20/2012Posted in: 4 Stars, Album Reviews, Featured, Metal
[Here we go again!] Here is The Mission: Rape and Destroy. Fuck their permission. You’re all just my toy…Houston four-piece Venomous Maximus make good use of sludgy riffs and galloping assaults on their latest, The Mission. And yeah, you’ve heard all that before. But what sets these guys apart from your standard Black Sabbath, Pentagram or Blue Cheer reboot is singer Gregg Higgins’ approach.

Rather than attempt to sing, Higgins presides over The Missions‘ hustling collection of proto metal with vocals recalling a stadium announcer at some satanic rodeo. An experience you’re surely familiar with. So you should find The Mission both comforting and bad ass.

Stream it…

4 / 5

 

Stream The Mission…

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RxGibbs – Futures – Album Review

By
down.caster
– 03/20/2012Posted in: 4 Stars, Album Reviews, Electronica, Featured

Download the title track, “Futures” [XLR8R]

Hypnotic effects and swirling ambiance ride a golden wave of bobbing bass and pop beats on RxGibbs latest, Futures. It’s a surprisingly fresh, techno-slanted (no vocals) rendering of chill wave. But whereas pioneers Washed Out, Neon Indian and Toro y Moi have pushed the genre toward the analog, Minnesota producer RxGibbs’ approach is decidedly more machine than man. The balance reminds us of Tycho’s Dive (2011), but without occasionally and uncomfortably conjuring scenes from “Gossip Girl” or “90210″.

4 / 5
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Buildings – Melt, Cry, Sleep – Album Review

By
down.caster
– 03/04/2012Posted in: 4 Stars, Album Reviews, Best New Albums, Downloads, Featured, Rock, Songs

Download “Invocation” from Melt Cry Sleep

Minneapolis three-piece Buildings continue experimenting with an asymmetrical, high-strung breed of punk and hardcore on Melt Cry Sleep. The Jeusus Lizard, Melvins and Fugazi echo through a barrage of anxious riffing, rigid dynamics and tortured guitar squalls.Structurally, most of Melt, Cry, Sleep alternates between bouts of seething tension and waves of cascading riffs. Through the swings, singer/guitarist Brian Lake narrates with his boxed howl and bassist Sayer Payne (one of the newest additions to the band) unloads a relentless churn. But as with most music this aggressive and jagged strain, it’s the controlled chaos of the drums that separates Melt, Cry, Sleep from much of the common, uninspired pablum that passes for “rock” these days. High-five to drummer Travis Kuhlman for that. In fact, high fives all around for making one of the best rock records of 2012.

4 / 5
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Grimes – Visions – album review

By
down.caster
– 02/27/2012Posted in: 4 Stars, Album Reviews, Alternative, Best New Albums, Featured

Download “Genesis” from Visions [via Pitchfork]

Grimes latest, Visions, is a pop record in the sense that it’s vocal-driven music with catchy beats and cascading melody. But the vocals are strange and buried, the melodies are modest and songs wander without conventional structure. So maybe it’s not a pop record? Whatever it is, we like it.

Across Visions, Grimes (aka Claire Boucher) layers robotic, post-industrial beats with shadowy synths and her echoing, falsetto to create an unfamiliar, strangely beautiful landscape. We’re pretty sure all of the songs on Visions started as bright, conventional numbers. But through Grimes’ curiosity and restlessness, we’ve ended up with something mostly obscure and totally gripping.

As contradictory as this sounds, Visions is not a pop record meant for mass consumption (though we’re sure NPR and your local newspaper will act like it), but it is a wonderful serving of synth candy for fans of cyber ambience, goth wave and the like. And it’s one of the freshest sounds we’ve heard in fringe pop for quite a while.

4 / 5
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Gangrene – Vodka & Ayahuasca

By
down.caster
– 02/27/2012Posted in: 4 Stars, Album Reviews, Best New Albums, Hip-Hop

Download “Dark Shades” from Vodka & Ayahuasca [Spin]

Producers Alchemist and Oh No have combined forces again as Gangrene on Vodka & Ayahuasca. This time around, it’s a rad dose of gritting, slashing underground hip-hop doused in shadowy samples, thumping beats and menacing loops.

Not only do Alchemist and Oh No provide the beats on Vodka & Ayahuasca, the pair also do most of the rhyming. We know what you’re thinking. And normally, you’d be right. But these guys actually do a better-than-expected job behind the mic here, helped by strategically placed verses by guests Kool G Rap, Roc Marciano, Prodigy and a few others.

Though Vodka & Ayahuasca has the tone of a jagged mixtape, there’s a chemistry and attitude at play that put this collection a couple levels above most of the more polished hip-hop LPs we’ve heard in the last year.

4 / 5
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Suuns – Zeroes QC – album review

By
down.caster
– 01/15/2012Posted in: 4 Stars, Album Reviews, Rock

Stream “Arena” from Zeroes QC

There’s something entirely vital and magnetic about Montreal four-set Suuns’ debut LP, Zeroes QC. So much so, we thought it was important to write a review for this album more than a year after its release. At a time when rock music is struggling for an identity, when forward leaning groups seem uninspired and backward-facing teams seem tired, Suuns leads the former camp with its droning, apocalyptic rock deconstruction. It’s shadowy and tense, bleak and experimental, but infused with a pop sensibility that makes it hard to turn this record off.

Although Zeroes QC wanders with a worthy purpose, it does meander quite a bit. In the end, the LP sounds like a collection of studio outtakes rather than a trimmed and polished effort. But despite the wandering, Zeroes QC never slips off the cliff that separates lazy experimentation from focused experimentation.

Standout Tracks: “Armed for Peace”, “PVC”, “Arena”

 

4 / 5
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Martyn – Ghost People – Album Review

By
down.caster
– 01/05/2012Posted in: 4 Stars, Album Reviews, Best New Albums, Electronica, Featured

  Ohhhh, dubstep. [English accent] Whence thy was infused with testosterone and made master of ceremonies on Greek Row, how quickly the right people abandoned you and kicked you to the pile. [End English accent] Well, there still is some life in this genre, and one of the last guys waving around the dubstep torch with any integrity is Brainfeeder recording artist Martyn. On his latest, Ghost People, you’ll find a plenty of choppy, dub-stepping rhythms, glitchy house bouncers and mild techno psychedelics.

Ghost People is an easy-to-swallow pill, but it never feels cheap, and it never feels desperate (take note, you DJs that wonder why you’re always looking at a crowd of meat heads when you pull out your turn tables, er, laptops). It’s not easy to balance accessibility and integrity, but it’s something Martyn has gotten pretty good at in his 15 years of crafting beats.

Standout Tracks: Horror Vacui, Popgun

4 / 5
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Elder – Dead Roots Stirring – album review

By
down.caster
– 11/29/2011Posted in: 4 Stars, Album Reviews, Best New Albums, Featured, Metal
Boston stoner rock trio Elder return with an epic psychedelic rock opus, Dead Roots Stirring, jammed with cascading riffs, cosmic melody and spiraling sonic architecture. All of it delivered with much greater focus and swagger than their self-titled 2009 debut. The songs are long and the guitar solos themselves wander longer than most trendy indie bands’ singles. But you know what? Dead Roots Stirring, all 5 songs clocking in at a combined 51-minutes, passes more quickly than most buzz-band-of-the-week’s 5-song, 17-minute remix EPs.

Lyrics on Dead Roots Stirring are applied sparingly, which is too bad as singer Nick DiSalvo’s vocals have evolved nicely over the past two years. And the last couple of songs could have been a minute or two shorter, but these are minor complaints for an album that’s full of highlights.

Throughout Dead Roots Stirring, Elder moves things along by shifting from tumbling riff-work and dizzying solos to desert-inspired acoustic breakdowns and guitar phrasing reminiscent of post-rock acts like Russian Circles and Mogwai. But Elder’s more rounded, organic temperament still owes its heaviest debt to deities like Tony Iommi and Dickie Peterson. Elder are taking small steps beyond their comfort zone, but combined with much tighter songwriting and focused jamming, Dead Roots Stirring is an excellent second step for this young group with an old name.

4 / 5
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Stepkids – Self Titled – album review

By
down.caster
– 11/11/2011Posted in: 4 Stars, Album Reviews, Featured, Rock
The Stepkids gracefully reconstruct late-60s and early-70s funk, R+B and soul soundscapes on their hazy, psychedelic self-titled debut. What’s most impressive is how the Stepkids never take themselves too seriously, but never stray into wacky territory. Combined with the albums grainy, saturated tone, the Stepkids loose attitude makes for a surprisingly durable LP.

When most bands dig earnestly into urban music bins of the Vietnam Era, the results are typically disposable and sterile. But Stepkids has a persistent warmth and buoyancy that recalls the past without boring us to tears.

That said, this is a retro-obsessed album that will probably be overlooked by most press outlets as they struggle to portray an image of cutting edge, we’re-years-ahead-of you authority. For us, we really don’t care about that. We like good music. And this is a good album.

Standout Tracks:  ”Shadows on Behalf”, “Legend in My Own Mind”, “La La”

More Stepkids: Dig the (pretty funny) “Legend in My Own Mind” video, grab “Shadows on Behalf” and “Legend in My Own Mind” free.

4 / 5
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Tyler Ramsey – The Valley Wind – album review

By
down.caster
– 11/10/2011Posted in: 4 Stars, Album Reviews, Best New Albums, Featured, Rock
Band of Horses lead guitarist Tyler Ramsey returns with The Valley Wind, a slow-turning collection of somber, rambling folk rock. Melody here is dusty, sharp and plentiful. Ramsey’s voice is shy but purposeful. And, quite frankly, we’re surprised how much we like this, his sixth solo album.

Sorry, we’re not big Band of Horses fans. Their music is a little too direct for us, and it’s always sounded a little too anxious for acceptance (but we wouldn’t say they sound as desperate for credibility as say, The Kings of Leon). But Ramsey’s The Valley Wind spins with a humble confidence that we find attractive and, occasionally, irresistible.  That said, Ramsey digs generously into a bag of classic rock tricks that you’re probably familiar with. Fans of Neil Young, Jackson Browne and, sure, Bruce Springsteen, echo throughout The Valley Wind. And no, we’re not complaining, all the borrowing here is done tastefully.

Our biggest complaint is that Ramsey didn’t revisit the American Primitive styling of the album opener, “Raven Shadow”. We wish he’d stretched the one-minute piece into about three, maybe four minutes.

Standout Tracks: “The Valley Wind” (free download), “When It’s Done”, “The Nightbird”

4 / 5
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