[True Panther Sounds/Matador Records; 2021]
Rating: 9/10
Key tracks: “A Slide In (New Drugs) – Live”, “Stoned Again – Live”, “Easy Easy – Live”
Closing your eyes to a live album can provide a euphoria to the listener, like you are actually there, and in my mind, I am here: at one of King Krule’s concerts right before quarantine. King Krule (Archy Marshall) is an indie rock/post-punk musician hailing from London, U.K who has released projects under multiple names, including Zoo Kid and Edgar the Beatmaker. You Heat Me Up, You Cool Me Down is King Krule’s second live album release aside from Live On the Moon and overall his fifth project he has released under the King Krule moniker. You Heat Me Up, You Cool Me Down features live performances from past projects such as 6 Feet Beneath The Moon, The OOZ and Man Alive!.
Category: Reviews
Movie Review: The Card Counter
By Ben Lindner, Staff Writer
[Focus Features; 2021]
Rating: 5/10
Writer and director Paul Schrader, best known for writing Scorsese classics Taxi Driver and Raging Bull and the 2017 indie hit First Reformed, returns to the big screen with The Card Counter. In The Card Counter, former soldier William Tell (Oscar Isaac) is just getting out of prison. Haunted by his time in a cell, William spends all of his time playing blackjack, swindling the casinos out of money with the card counting skills he learned during his time in solitary. William prefers to be alone, but he ends up getting to know La Linda (Tiffany Haddish), the charming poker manager who wants to get William into bigger gambling rings and Cirk (Tye Sheridan), a young former soldier who brings William’s past back to him. William has to face his past and see if he can adapt back into the world.
Album Review: Sufjan Stevens – A Beginner’s Mind
By Adrian Woods, Contributor
[Asthmatic Kitty Records; 2021]
Rating: 8/10
Key tracks: “Reach Out”, “Back To Oz”, “You Give Death A Bad Name”
Stevens is one of the biggest indie folk figures of the 2000’s and 2010’s, and he has released some of the most essential pieces of indie folk music within that time. It was a bit of a shock to see him drop his second album of the year, A Beginner’s Mind, just four months after his last album Convocations.
Album Review: Sadness – Rain chamber
Texas blackgaze outfit Sadness have already proven themselves to be a competent artist in their niche. 2019’s I Want to Be There was well-received critically and by fans, marked as a lovable and sometimes very blissful, uneven experience. Since then, two more EPs have been released, the latest of which being Rain chamber. A sonic departure from past records with its electronic influences and massively cleaned up production, Rain chamber is an all-around pleasant experience.
Album Review: Young Thug – Punk
Two years after Young Thug’s debut album So Much Fun, Thug returns with his sophomore album Punk. Despite its name, Punk is not what an average person would consider a punk album. In fact, most would consider it the opposite of a punk album. Young Thug justifies his reasoning for this name in a recent interview with The FADER, where he explains: “[Punk] means brave, not self centered, conscious. Very, very neglected, very misunderstood. Very patient, very authentic.”
Album Review: A Great Big Pile of Leaves – Pono
After an eight-year hiatus, A Great Big Pile of Leaves makes a worthy return with their third album Pono. Equal parts past adolescence-laden lyrics and proof of musical growth, the album is a perfect addition to the band’s already strong discography and extends its reach far past their Brooklyn-emo roots. While their other releases are fun to listen to, if not a little naïve, Pono displays the group’s maturity while reminiscing on the same subject they’ve always catered to: the wistful feeling of youth.
Album Review: dltzk – dariacore 2: enter here, hell to the left
By Jack Hampton, Contributor[Independent; 2021]Rating: 9/10 Key tracks: “snare of a lifetime”, “the dariacore to YTP pipeline”, “she was a star, now she works in toronto” Dltzk released their first album, Teen Week, on February 26th of 2021, and when I heard that album, I was on my way out of giving a shit about…
Album Review: Foxing – Draw Down The Moon
By: Ethan Bloomfield, Staff Writer[Grand Paradise; 2021]Rating: 4/10 Key tracks: “737”, “Speak With The Dead” The indie-rock scene had a rich month. Everyone from The Academic to Deafhaven have dropped new music with no signs of slowing down industry-wide. Within this slew of new albums, St. Louis group Foxing unveiled their latest LP, Draw Down…
Album Review: DJ Seinfeld – Mirrors
After making a distinct, unique mark on the lofi-house scene back in 2017 with Time Spent Away From U, Swedish house producer DJ Seinfeld, whose real name is Armand Jakobsson, returns after four years to deliver a dance record that follows in the footsteps of other influential deep house producers such as Burial and Disclosure.
Album Review: Rx Nephews – Crack Dreams 2
By Kwase Lane, Features Editor
[NewBreedTrapperRecords; 2021]
Rating: 7/10
Key tracks: “Who Are They”, “The One”, “Aunty Lip Lock”
Crack Dreams 2, the latest project in Rx Nephew’s endless procession of releases, is a beautiful mishmash of boasts and self-condemnation. If you’re familiar with the New York rapper, you know he has a unique way with words, and if you’ve never heard his work, it doesn’t take long for his inimitable style to register. Rx Nephew’s work is ruled by contradiction. He’ll dedicate several lines to lamenting the tale of Job before irreverently declaring that he wants to “beat the shit out of Eve.” He laments his history of drug use just before criticizing individuals struggling with addiction for not kicking their own habits. Despite the staggering amount of tonal whiplash his pieces share, they are linked by a mutual understanding of pain and a desire to know what it takes to heal that hurt.
Album Review: Lorde – Solar Power
Four years after the release of her sophomore album, Melodrama, Lorde graces us with her presence yet again, with a freshness in her sound that supersedes the melancholy heartbreak anthems of her predecessors. This time, the vocalist has found inspiration both in her home country of New Zealand and in her love of summer; it feels like you’re on a beach somewhere, eyes closed with the sun blazing down on you.
Album Review: Honnda – Ultimate Rivals: The Court
By Kiah Easton, Editorial Director
[Orange Milk Records/ Rivals; 2021]
Rating: 7/10
Key tracks: “Megabloom Halo ft Dai Burger & moistbreezy”, “Bounce Castle”, “The Golden Age of Content (Menu)”
ACRN.com 