Teen Dream, the long-awaited third release from Beach House proves the Baltimore duo’s still got it. A noticeably different release, the new album sounds like they’ve emerged from their signature sinister, attic-dweller sound, providing us with an added upbeat dimension we’re not yet familiar with, but will soon know and love.

The Sound: It’s all about light on Contra, coastal sunlight and sonic lightness manifested by the twinkly, symphonic surf pop sound further cultivated since Vampire Weekend’s debut blew up hard two years ago.
Electro/synth elements suggest the long arm of Animal Collective’s influence, yet VW remains wholly their own by maintaining the precision at the core [...]

As the decade comes to close, the album as a medium seems to be disintegrating rapidly. To that end, 2009 will likely be remembered as a year with few classic albums.
But cheer up, there’s a shining light at the end of this dark tunnel. No, we haven’t figured out a way to end the economic [...]

The world of Phish has, and always will be, centered around the live experience. Simply a means to an end, the band’s studio efforts provide little more in the eyes of their fans than an expanded live arsenal. In a recent interview Phish keyboardist Page McConnell was presented with this observation, to which he replied, [...]

The recent Indian summer here in San Francisco is the perfect timing for local group Girls‘ debut, Album. Our city’s definitely still got the taste of summer in our mouths, but let’s face it, San Francisco — like the flings in Girls’ lyrics, those good times are nearly over and the bittersweet taste of Fall [...]

It’s old news, but the internet is devastating the record industry in a perplexing way. The biggest and best releases are, ironically enough, the ones no one seems willing to pay for because of their availability through illegal file-sharing. Times they are a-changin’ and it’s up to the modern artist to adapt, to evolve – [...]

In no way are Doves a band branded on thievery. The British trio has built a career on unconventional, original and daring music, with only subtle influences sprinkled throughout their first three albums. Their fourth effort, Kingdom of Rust, however, seems to borrow a bit more regularly from some other noteworthy U.K. acts. The result [...]

While more under the radar in the “grizzled, bearded, singer-songwriter” realm of artists like Ray LaMontagne and Iron & Wine, the especially crusty Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy (aka Will Oldham) nonetheless maintains a position near the center of the alt.country universe. Analogies should veer from the galactic, however, because Oldham’s work is heavily based in soil, [...]

Hold Time, M. Ward’s seventh full length album, was released today, although if Ward were to commandeer a time machine to 1958 and release it then, it’s likely no one would recognize him as an interloper.
The album is a sonic throwback on every level. It’s full of reverb-heavy Fender Stratocaster guitar work, and thematically, it [...]

I was charged to write a review of Animal Collective’s new album, so here it is: I love it. It’s way more polished and produced than their others, so some people will hate it, but seriously, as Pitchfork said in its glowing review, no other band in the world could make this album.
As I was [...]