Dusted Magazine Features and Reviews

Four Tet - Ringer

Fri, 16 May 2008 00:00:00 PDT

by Patrick Masterson
Branded with the dubious "folktronica" tag following 2001's Pause , Four Tet's Kieran Hebden has tried to shake the label from his solo moniker ever since. Work with artists as diverse as Madvillain and Steve Reid inspired fresh material that drew from indie-rock, hip-hop, free jazz and the... Read More

The Fall - Imperial Wax Solvent

Fri, 16 May 2008 00:00:00 PDT

by Ben Donnelly
On last year's Von Sudenfed project, Mark E. Smith declared, "I am the DJ tonight" and proceeded to mumble through his best dance song since "Hit the North" 20 years before. Imperial Wax Solvent puts MES back in his regular gig: the DJ who doesn't mix records, the DJ who mixes human beings... Read More

El Perro Del Mar - From the Valley to the Stars

Fri, 16 May 2008 00:00:00 PDT

by Daniel Levin Becker
In retrospect, the beautiful sheen of Sarah Assbring's first album had a lot to do with simplicity. If the notion of it seemed complicated although it probably wasn't complicated, just unexpected it was at least very clear what it was: a heartbroken soul record for the modern set, what one... Read More

Awesome Color - Electric Aborigines

Thu, 15 May 2008 00:00:00 PDT

by Doug Mosurock
To paraphrase a better man, What a Goddamn Great Second Awesome Color Record. What is it, then? Better songs? A deeper understanding of the recording process? More confidence? Brooklyn-via-Ann Arbor trio Awesome Color (nee Violent Ramp!) figured something out this time around. Without making... Read More

Peter Walker - Echo of My Soul

Thu, 15 May 2008 00:00:00 PDT

by Jon Dale
Forty years between albums it's a fair old crack, as they say. Peter Walker's legend is built on two albums he released in the late 1960s on Vanguard ( Second Poem to Karmela and Rainy Day Raga ), which chimed in nicely with a particular cultural moment (I am loathe to type the word hippie'... Read More

James Pants - Welcome

Thu, 15 May 2008 00:00:00 PDT

by Ben Yaster
The gift of a synthesizer is exactly what its name implies: the engineering of novel sounds from familiar sources. So, it's perplexing that James Pants's synth-ridden debut, Welcome , sounds so trodden. Pants, born James Singleton, has produced an album that rehashes at least a half-dozen styles... Read More

Blues Control - Puff

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 PDT

by Josie Clowney
Blues Control is so easy to like. A relief, even. It's tempting to think rock music is dead, but it's here, in the guise of a band that calls itself blues that people say is noise. The duo, Lea Cho and Russ Waterhouse, do mantra melodies and heartbeats that make their jams pleasant and impossible... Read More

Cheap Time - Cheap Time

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 PDT

by Nate Knaebel
Upon first listen to Cheap Time's self-titled debut on In the Red, one could be forgiven for thinking it nothing more than a good, albeit fairly ordinary garage punk record. It's young, loud and snotty; it's hook-filled and succinct. You get the idea. Don't be hasty though: not only does Cheap... Read More

Christina Carter / Pocahaunted - Split

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 PDT

by Adam Strohm
Christina Carter and the ladies of Pocahaunted are some pretty dreamy women. This isn't meant in the typical sense: it has nothing to do with come-hither looks, pouty lips, or bodies draped across American sports cars. They're no passive sex objects; rather, this qualifier is indicative of an... Read More

Grails - Take Refuge in Clean Living

Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 PDT

by Michael Crumsho
Now ass-deep in the new millennium, and post-rock has long since become the dirty word it always should have been. All well and good, mind you, save for the fact that it gets consistently trotted out for any rock-based band that decides to approach the dais sans vocals. There's hardly anything to... Read More

Listed: Dominique Leone + The Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound

Thu, 15 May 2008 00:00:00 PDT

by Dusted Magazine
Dominique Leone Dominique Leone is a musician and critic, and remarkably successful in both arenas. Originally from Texas, Leone now lives in San Francisco and will be releasing his superb, self-titled debut album on Lindstr m's Str mland label next week. Dominique Leone has moments of... Read More

Lost in Space: The story of Big Dipper

Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:00 PDT

by Jennifer Kelly
From its casual late 1980s beginnings, through three landmark Homestead albums and a heart-breaking ill-fated jump to the majors, Big Dipper's story tells you everything you need to know about talent caught in the money machine. Yet, now 15 years after Big Dipper's break-up, there's also room for... Read More

Listed: Cian Nugent + Nathan Salsburg

Tue, 06 May 2008 00:00:00 PDT

by Dusted Magazine
Cian Nugent Dublin-based guitarist Cian Nugent turned some heads last fall with his self-released EP of meditative guitar compositions. Recorded to an old reel-to-reel machine, Nugent's originals (plus a cover of Buell Kazee's Anthology of American Music staple The Wagoner's Lad ) were well... Read More

Still Single: Vol. 4, No. 7

Mon, 05 May 2008 00:00:00 PDT

by Doug Mosurock
How long does it take to review 100 records? Longer than it takes to listen to them. This is all I could get done this time. Will finish everything else up in the next go-round, including a reissues update. Thanks again to everyone who reads this crud, and to all the bands and labels sending in new... Read More

Listed: Thee Oh Sees + Lexie Mountain Boys

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:00:00 PDT

by Dusted Magazine
Thee Oh Sees Though the land may be littered with a number of garage rock throwback outfits, few have established themselves with such a unique and irresistible kick as San Francisco four-piece Thee Oh Sees. The group originally began in the bedroom of Bay Area vet John Dwyer (Coachwhips... Read More

Listed: Sic Alps + David Karsten Daniels

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 PDT

by Dusted Magazine
Sic Alps San Francisco duo Mike Donovan and Matthew Hartman have been bruising the psychedelic scene for a couple years now, channeling the ghost of garage rock through guitar jangle and overloaded amplifiers both in the live context and through limited-edition recordings. Originally formed... Read More

Refurbishing Factory Seconds: The Durutti Column

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 00:00:00 PDT

by Jon Dale
Joy Division may have taken the cult prize, and New Order the mantle of electronica's antecedent, but I've always thought the Durutti Column, Vini Reilly's three-decade long compositional vehicle, were the most affecting outfit in the Factory Records stable. His frail shape channeling mercurial... Read More

Listed: Big Dipper + Pita

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 00:00:00 PDT

by Dusted Magazine
Big Dipper Big Dipper's Top 10 Fave Bands to Share a Bill With Boston's Big Dipper came and went faster than you can look up asterism. The foursome of Embarrassment guitarist Bill Goffrier, former Volcano Suns members Gary Waleik and Steve Michener, and drummer Jon Oliphant came... Read More

Still Single: Vol. 4, No. 6

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 00:00:00 PDT

by Doug Mosurock
Breeders We're Gonna Rise b/w German Demonstration 7 (4AD) Demo recording versions of two tracks from Mountain Battles . We're Gonna Rise sounds a little warmer and less sharp than the album version, though it's such a slow, quiet song that the changes seem negligible. German... Read More

Listed: Wye Oak + Magic Lantern

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:00:00 PDT

by Dusted Magazine
Wye Oak Andy Stack and Jenn Wasner make up the Baltimore duo Wye Oak, a refreshingly analog act from the Charm City. While most emerging artists from the area work in modular electronica or dirty Bmore beats, Stack and Wasner keep it unsimple, actually employing a guitar and playing it in... Read More