Mirel Wagner – No Death from Aki Roukala on Vimeo. Mirel Wagner, a Finnish singer/songwriter born in Ethiopia. A voice and an acoustic guitar. A dark room with one window and one mirror. A lover whose hair smells like mud, whose kiss is marked by the taste of a rotten tongue. An eerie blend of… Continue reading »
Douglas Martin was in the Sandbox-era lineup of Guided by Voices. He was the greatest four-year-old bassist in indie-rock history. No need to put the word classic in scare-quotes. Between 1994 and 1996, the lineup of Guided by Voices released some immeasurably great output. If most pop-rock bands had the opportunity to slap their name… Continue reading »
Douglas Martin has returned after finally climbing to the top of Mt. Vesuvius. Wherein Jana Hunter and her road dogs take a ride on the Autobahn and come back with gold. Twin-Hand Movement was shoegaze guitars and sock-hop songwriting. Here, the Baltimore quartet reaches their same textural brilliance through understated rhythms, “Believer” synths, and sampler… Continue reading »
Douglas Martin listened to 1,498 records this year. By a rough estimate. A bunch of great indie labels released music this year. If I paid tribute to them all, it would feature over 100 albums with a word count that rivals The Iliad. Sub Pop, Matador, Merge, Domino, 4AD, Slumberland, Captured Tracks, Woodsist, In the… Continue reading »
Douglas Martin does not have a subscription to The Believer. John Maus’ sprawling philosophical ideas and inflammatory opinions get him into trouble. He uses four-syllable words and threatens the intellect of insecure music journalists. “John Maus celebrates the imminent demise of record stores” was 2011′s “Kanye bumrushes Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech.” John Maus could very… Continue reading »
Maybe you’re a complete different from me. Perhaps you didn’t think that 2011 was an unspeakably good for music. Maybe you didn’t pull all-nighters narrowing down your favorite music of the year to a manageable– not concise, but manageable– length. Perhaps you didn’t have to tweak your lists dozens of times to make sure it… Continue reading »
To everyone’s enduring lament, Douglas Martin can’t dissect every single girl-group slanted single that slides down the information super highway. So, after taking a lengthy vacation of exactly one Bleached song, I’m back by popular demand (no Popeye). For the A-side of the forthcoming “Searching Through the Past” seven-inch, one of LA’s best new punk… Continue reading »
Douglas Martin only endorses the wearing of fur in rare circumstances. In the past three years or so, girl-group garage has gone from a flourishing sub-genre to a crowded scene. From the punk fury of Vivian Girls to the ethereal bliss of Costa Rican grunge band Las Robertas, it’s gotten to the point where it’s… Continue reading »
Douglas Martin has a bridge in Brooklyn he would like to sell you. You’d be hard-pressed to find a single critically-acclaimed band that has garnered as much cautious praise and backhanded compliments as Real Estate. Due to their floating, easygoing nature, nobody really wants to be the critic who gives the hard sell on the… Continue reading »
Douglas Martin originally had “triumphant return” in the headline. Riddle me this: Is there any musician that has gotten more mileage out of the divisive battlefield that is internet music fandom than Nathan Williams? Is there one who has managed to stay firmly rooted in the public eye by any means necessary? The Californian twentysomething… Continue reading »
Excellent Adventures
Bogus Journeys
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Listening
Jeff Weiss
Sach O
Douglas Martin
Aaron Matthews
Abe Beame
Evan Nabavian
Tosten Burks
Matt Shea
Jonah Bromwich
Reading
Jeff Weiss
Sach O
Douglas Martin
Tosten Burks
Aaron Matthews
Abe Beame
Jonah Bromwich
Watching
Jeff Weiss
Sach O
Douglas Martin
Tosten Burks
Aaron Matthews
Evan Nabavian
Jonah Bromwich
Inner Sanctum
Miscellaneous Apostles
Local Natives
Understanding Media
The Sporting Life
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
Miscellaneous
