Dan Auerbach-Keep it hidden

Dan Auerbach Keep it Hidden:

More laid back than his work with The Black Keys, Auerbach stretches out a little and records a decent disk. No big suprises.

Rating 12/15 Legit beards

Graveyard-Selftitled

Graveyard Selftitled:

Graveyard is to rock what Ikea is to furniture

Rating: 7/15 snickers at funny accents

Castlemusic-You Can't Take Anyone

Castlemusic You Can't Take Anyone:

Folky Indie pop. Interesting piano and guitar parts, but weak on the vocals.

Rating: 10/15 Sing it like you mean it points

Bottomless Pit-Hammer of The Gods

Bottomless Pit Hammer of The Gods: The remnants of Silkworm join with two new dudes and make one kick ass, albeit a little short, record. The interplay between guitar, bass, baritone guitar almost steals the light from the exemplary lyrics in some spots. I doubt T Midgett and Andy Cohen will ever stop making great records.

Rating: 15/15 Real music fans that miss Mike.

Mclusky-The Difference Between Me & You Is That I'm Not on Fire

Mclusky The Difference Between Me & You Is That I'm Not on Fire:

Loud and obnoxious music with a smart ass squawker for a singer. Done in the same spirit as Flipper, this is a really fun album, particularly tracks where they take the piss out of other indie bands.

Rating: 12/15 Smart ass jerks you can't help but like

Dexter Romweber Duo-Ruins of Berlin

Dexter Romweber Duo Ruins of Berlin:

Punked up versions of surf-rock and Rockabilly. Good songwriting and guitar playing, excellent drumming. More varied than the singer/guitarists previous outfit Flat Duo Jets.

Rating 12/15 Chrome rims

Quatre Tete-Arm of The State

Quatre Tete Arm of The State:

Math-rock with clean vocals. Musically Quatre Tete is steeped in blues based music more than most math-rock, a genre which usually goes for more dissonant harmonies. The riffs remind me a bit of Mastodon, but they change at a pace reminiscent of The Mothers of Invention. A really interesting mash-up of styles.

Rating: 14/15 Bitchin' riffs

A.C.-Picnic of Love

A.C. Picnic of Love:

The everyday asshole is a loathsome creature, completely unamusing and undeserving of attention. Seth Putnam has a attained a level of assholedom that its hard not too respect. This is an entire album of love song parodies so douchey that it will leave your mouth on the floor. Possibly the simultaneously best and worst album ever released.

Rating: 15/15 No really. You seriously wrote and released this? points

Bear Claw-Slow Speed: Deep Owls

Bear Claw Slow Speed: Deep Owls:

These guys fall somewhere between post-punk and melodic hardcore. The riffs are fairly simple and effective. I've heard few singers that convey a sense of righteous indignation quite like this one. One of the most promising acts from the Chicago scene.

Rating: 13/15 Steve Albinis

Make Do and Mend - Bodies of Water EP

Make Do and Mend Bodies of Water EP:

Really good melodic Hardcore. Intelligent lyrics are backed by decen musicianship crating an enjoyable EP. Can't wait to hear more from this band, they seemed poised to pick up the crown of most interesting hardcore band that Modern Life Is War dropped when they broke up.

Rating: 13/15 actually interesting things to say

Pink Razors - Leave Alive

Pink Razors Leave Alive:

Lame generic pop punk. Sadly there's not much more to it than that. Oh wait, some female vocals.

Rating: 5/15 goofy haircuts and awkward myspace photos

Ignominious Incarceration - Of Winter Born

Ignominious Incarceration Of Winter Born:

This sounds like At The Gates, much like the thousand other melodic death metal albums that sound like At The Gates.

Rating: 6/15 goofy attempts at a brutal band name

Cynic-Traced in Air

Cynic Traced in Air:

A jumbled cluster-fuck of influences that comes out sounding like Dream Theater without the chops. The vocals are a true low point. Several times an effects treated vocal will come in, and another falsetto vocal will try and harmonize. The falsetto vocal never quite makes it so the listener is treated to some pseudo prog riffing topped by one singer that sounds like hes singing into a robots asshole mixed with another singer who's singing in a high voice, and is off key. Way to go guys.

Rating 5/15: failed attempts at overblown prog-metal

Zombi-Spirit Animals

Zombi Spirit Animals:

Sounds like the soundtrack to a mid-nineties Megaman game, except more midi.

Rating: 6/15 Robot bats

Misery Index-Traitors

Misery Index Traitors: Sounds like Napalm Death with a dash of Pantera. Generic and boring, theres plenty of bands that sound like this but better.

Rating: 9/15 Its been done points

Fen-The Malediction Fields

Fen The Malediction Fields:

Creepy Black Metal guy gets hands on synth, halloween sounds cd, and sings like Morrissey.

Rating: 4/15 Prayers for the Apocalypse

The Ugly Suit-Selftitled

The Ugly Suit Selftitled: Bright Eyes-esque Buttrock. Avoid at all costs

Rating: 3/15 Bands that are as ugly as they are terrible

Agoraphobic Nosebleed-Altered States of America

Agoraphobic Nosebleed Altered States of America: Scott Hull's grindcore masterpiece. Clocking in at twenty-one minutes none of the ninety-nine tracks feel forced, or inessential. Hulls inventive drum machine programming stands out, and while all aspects of this album are exceptional, the drums are truly unique. The speed and ferocity of this album gives way to slower tracks often containing excerpts from disturbing radio broadcasts. Most grindcore albums do not flow nearly as well as this one. Thanks to Hull's capability as a musician and arranger, Altered States of America will surely be remembered as one of the most important releases in its genre. If you're angry, you really can't do better than this album.

Rating: 15/15 600 bpm drum tracks

Here We Go Magic-Selftitled

Here We Go Magic Selftitled:

Sounds like a happier Radiohead less bent on innovation. Simple, but not boring music-wise, the real focus here is the vocal delivery. The vocals are largely falsetto and layered well, sounding similar to Thom York or the singer form Sigur Ros. Interesting disc, worth picking up.

Rating 11/15: Crappy band names

The Presets-Apocalypso

The Presets Apocalypso:

Earnest vocals and lyrics, too bad the beats and synth lines are generic and dated.

Rating: 10/15 Aptly named bands

Dalek-Gutter Tactics

Dalek Gutter Tactics:

I've always like the idea of Dalek more than what they've actually produced. This album lives up to their potential. Theres a variety of beats, but they all incorporate ambient drones. The drones combined with well produced drum tracks and some sick flow, create an albums worth of solid tracks guaranteed to suck you in.

Rating 14/15: Hip Hop tracks about 2012

Brian Eno & David Byrne-Everything That Happens Will Happen Today

Brian Eno & David Byrne Everything That Happens Will Happen Today:

Some of the best work either artist has done in years. Byrne's usual herky jerkiness is balanced out by Eno's ambient leanings. The music is solid and fairly sparse. Byrne's lyrics fit perfectly, and recall the Talking Heads in their prime.

Rating 13/15: 20 year old beats

Fennesz - Black Sea

Fennesz Black Sea:

It's a Fennesz album, you know what you're getting. It's really good, but still nothing super different than the other albums.

Rating: 13/15 hypnotic trances

Drunkdriver - Born Pregnant

Drunkdriver Born Pregnant:

I'm going to call this No Wavecore. It sounds like this band just started playing in someone's basement and tape-recorder just happened to be on. The guitars, bass, and drums just swirl into this wall of static while a drunk lunatic rants over the chaos. Perfect for lovemaking.

Rating: 12/15 bleeding eardrums

Dreams of Dying Stars - Funeral in The Void

Dreams of Dying Stars Funeral in The Void:

Dude taping down a key on his Moog synthesizer and walking away for half an hour, then calling it a song.

Rating: 2/15 Endless planes of nothing

Drake - So Far Gone

Drake So Far Gone:

First, dude is an actor on Degrassi High and wants to be an R&B star. With that said, this isn't a bad mixtape just generic. Some pretty sweat beats are found on this, but everything else is your run of the mill R&B. Most of the songs are about sex and women sung in the usual R&B way. Even Lil Wayne showing up four times can't make this any more than a ho-hum affair.

Rating: 7/15 Canadian Teen Dramas