by osmosis

 
John Dwyer is a monster. In a good way. The amount of music that he’s had a hand in over the last decade is well beyond most other figures currently mucking about in the underground music world. From his work in Coachwhips to his relatively new ensemble Thee Oh Sees, Dwyer’s  adept amalgam of scuzz, […]

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I’ve never been to Sacramento. I’ve driven by it on my way to and from the Bay. Arnold lives there. And it’s hot. That’s all that I know. Bands like Mayyors, who are gaining a bit of attention for unknown reasons, call that city home. And Cake too, not that that matters. But Ganglians are […]

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With his career resurrected by last year’s re-issue of Cold Fact, Rodriguez and In the Light have undergone a campaign to get that disc’s follow up, 1971’s Coming from Reality, a bit of attention as well. It seems to have worked thus far. With a spate of national and international dates set up and underway, […]

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The Internet has done a remarkable job slashing the price of media/information down to zero.  Some struggled all the way down (the New York Times' pay news site is a notable example), but more and more we're starting to see an influx of free content.  The latest wealth of free information I've discovered is Yale […]

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The conceptual strength that Wu-Tang and its affiliates display are the points the set the Shaolin apart from other rap crews and solo acts. Through the mental acumen displayed by the higher profile members of the Clan, the Wu’s sold something like 12 million albums. That’s pretty incredible considering that eight member crew (nine, if […]

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Mash-up and DJs, David Lynch and appropriation. These words sound risky to me, and so the smooth sound of Dark Night of the Soul caught me off guard. I expected to be jarred but Dark Night is an album that makes eeriness soothing.
Rumors about collaboration between Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse, both musical entrepreneurs, began to […]

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The pursed lips that sit squarely in the middle of Naomi Shelton’s face on the cover of her long player can lead a listener to believe one of two things. Either she feels that the process of completing various tasks for her Daptone Records release of What Have You Done, My Brother? is a bit […]

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The darkly foreboding cover of Amen Dunes’ Dia doesn’t have too much to do with what’s inside these grooves, mp3s or discs. One might guess that an afro-beat toting ensemble of former jazzbos seek to recreate some heavy atmosphere of the past and the allusive other. That wouldn’t […]

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By all secular accounts, contemporary religious music is insufferable. Christian rock can pump out raucous instrumentation; however, the impetus to convert listeners leads to preachy, predictable messages force-fed to audiences. So too are the shortcomings of traditional Islamic rhythms and rhymes. It's not the music's fault. Biblical anecdotes and religious mythology […]

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Firstly, the use of the phrase “blissed-out” shouldn’t simply be disallowed. Secondly, the term “soundscape” is a contrived, pseudo intellectual cop out for when writers don’t have anything too valid to comment upon. And if you read anything from Pitchfork or the generally buoyant Brainwashed, you might run into those terms when exploring the new […]

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