Reviews
Dean Blunt Returns to Avant-Pop Directness on 'BLACK METAL 2'
Published Jun 17, 2021
About halfway through BLACK METAL 2, some 30 seconds into "SEMTEX," Dean Blunt cranks up the delay on a single vocal line. The effect situat...
Articles By Tom Piekarski
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![Dean Blunt Returns to Avant-Pop Directness on 'BLACK METAL 2']()
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![Andy Stott Offers an Excitingly Different Take on His Trademarks with 'Never the Right Time']()
ReviewsAndy Stott Offers an Excitingly Different Take on His Trademarks with 'Never the Right Time' Published Apr 15, 2021When surveying Andy Stott's musical trajectory, 2012's Luxury Problems stands like a monolith. With the masterful manipulation of his one-ti...
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![claire rousay Puts Her Ambient Experimentation in 'a softer focus']()
Reviewsclaire rousay Puts Her Ambient Experimentation in 'a softer focus' Published Apr 07, 2021On a softer focus, claire rousay has delivered both her most accessible and compositionally daring album to date. Past releases have often r...
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![Quatuor Bozzini Pay Fitting Tribute to a Key Experimental Figure on 'Alvin Lucier: Navigations']()
ReviewsQuatuor Bozzini Pay Fitting Tribute to a Key Experimental Figure on 'Alvin Lucier: Navigations' Published Feb 02, 2021Montréal-based string quartet Quatuor Bozzini have been a mainstay in the Canadian classical music scene for over two decades. Favouring the...
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!['Magic Oneohtrix Point Never' Is a Radio Playlist with No Internal Logic]()
Reviews'Magic Oneohtrix Point Never' Is a Radio Playlist with No Internal Logic Published Oct 29, 2020Magic Oneohtrix Point Never is something of a self-titled record. Having once misheard the station ID announcement of Boston's Magic 106.7,...
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![SUMAC Offer Brutal Empathy on Their Art Metal Epic 'May You Be Held']()
ReviewsSUMAC Offer Brutal Empathy on Their Art Metal Epic 'May You Be Held' Published Oct 01, 2020SUMAC ask that you interpret their fourth full-length as an expression of care: unconditional care for yourself, for others, and for the wor...
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![Claire Rousay's 'Tuufuhhoowaah / Bday Shots' Shows the Artistic Potential of a Smartphone]()
ReviewsClaire Rousay's 'Tuufuhhoowaah / Bday Shots' Shows the Artistic Potential of a Smartphone Published Aug 17, 2020Claire Rousay has been incorporating daily life into her music more and more with every release. The two-track Tuufuhhoowaah / Bday Shots EP...
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![Protomartyr Aim Big on 'Ultimate Success Today' but Find Strength in the Subtleties Instead]()
ReviewsProtomartyr Aim Big on 'Ultimate Success Today' but Find Strength in the Subtleties Instead Published Jul 21, 2020These days, there's something strangely dissatisfying about hearing Protomartyr vocalist Joe Casey identify and diagnose our personal and so...
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![Bing & Ruth's 'Species' Is as Monotonous as the Desert Dunes That Inspired It]()
ReviewsBing & Ruth's 'Species' Is as Monotonous as the Desert Dunes That Inspired It Published Jul 15, 2020Bing & Ruth is New York composer and pianist David Moore's chosen vehicle for exploring ensemble-based music in the so-called minimalist tra...
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![Cult '90s Heroes Hum Are More Confident Than Ever on Comeback Album 'Inlet']()
ReviewsCult '90s Heroes Hum Are More Confident Than Ever on Comeback Album 'Inlet' Published Jul 10, 202022 years removed from their last release, Hum have returned with Inlet, their best album to date. Since 1998's Downward Is Heavenward, they'...
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![Greg Fox Turns Drumming Into a Spiritual Practice on 'Contact']()
ReviewsGreg Fox Turns Drumming Into a Spiritual Practice on 'Contact' Published May 29, 2020Greg Fox is best known for lending his drumming to experimental metal acts such as Liturgy, Ex Eye and Uniform. Despite the (overstated) agg...
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![Okkyung Lee Pushes the Cello to Its Limits on 'Yeo-Neun']()
ReviewsOkkyung Lee Pushes the Cello to Its Limits on 'Yeo-Neun' Published May 19, 2020Okkyung Lee has built a career out of mining the tonal depths of the cello. In solo work and in collaboration, she has mobilized that bundle...
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![C.R. Gillespie's 'Concentration Patterns' Succeeds When Its Sound and Sentiment Line Up]()
ReviewsC.R. Gillespie's 'Concentration Patterns' Succeeds When Its Sound and Sentiment Line Up Published May 15, 2020Concentration Patterns began as a private practice. Looking to quell the constant buzz of anxiety pervading his physical and mental spaces,...
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![Rone's 'Room with a View' Is More Predictable Than Progressive]()
ReviewsRone's 'Room with a View' Is More Predictable Than Progressive Published Apr 27, 2020Rone's Room with a View was shaped by at least two forces. The first was collaboration. Instigated by a live show commissioned by the Théâtr...
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![Jackie Lynn's 'Jacqueline' Finds Freedom on Back Roads and Dance Floors]()
ReviewsJackie Lynn's 'Jacqueline' Finds Freedom on Back Roads and Dance Floors Published Apr 16, 2020The last time we heard from Jackie Lynn, the vagabond's freewheeling lifestyle may have gotten the best of her. Having climbed the ranks of...
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![Beverly Glenn-Copeland Keyboard Fantasies]()
ReviewsBeverly Glenn-Copeland Keyboard Fantasies Published Mar 23, 2020With its repress of Beverly Glenn-Copeland's now-classic 1986 album Keyboard Fantasies, Toronto's Séance Centre contributes to the legend of...
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![Wolves in the Throne Room Thrice Woven]()
ReviewsWolves in the Throne Room Thrice Woven Published Sep 20, 2017Rejuvenated after taking a dive into the ambient undercurrents of their sound on 2014's Celestite, Wolves in the Throne Room are back with a...
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![Melvins A Walk With Love & Death]()
ReviewsMelvins A Walk With Love & Death Published Jul 11, 2017The last five years have seen the Melvins conjure opportunity out of chaos. In that time, fans have been treated to a double-drummer rhythm...
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![Helms Alee Stillicide]()
ReviewsHelms Alee Stillicide Published Aug 31, 2016How to follow up a debut album that melds various rock and metal styles with the sort of skill it takes some bands decades to hone? That...
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![SubRosa For This We Fought the Battle of Ages]()
ReviewsSubRosa For This We Fought the Battle of Ages Published Aug 24, 2016SubRosa have crystallized their chamber-infused doom on For This We Fought the Battle of Ages. Having achieved critical acclaim for their la...
