The Juan Maclean - The Future Will Come

2009
DFA Records
Buy

6/10

Were The Future Will Come simply a collection of its strongest singles, The Juan Maclean would have achieved world renown. When much of the dance community has departed for the shores of trance, electrohouse, and for those adventurous (trendy) enough, dubstep, he's released what seems to be a long-play throwback to the days of unadulterated house which is at its best infectious and commanding. But for all of its cheery pomp, The Future Will Come is plagued by an inconsistency and lack of focus that undermines much of its success...(Read more at the Silent Ballet)

Axiotronic - Of Latitude and Longitude

2009
Electronic Eel Records
Buy

8/10

So much electronic music is conceived as little more than a means to some separate end. It's a shame, yes, but it's also a reality: house is for dancing, trance is for getting fucked up, electro is for nostalgia, etc. This current state of affairs makes Axiotronic's latest release all the more refreshing; Of Latitude and Longitude is presented as electronica, wholly undanceable, produced for its own sake. Unfortunately, this purity of intent will, in all likelihood, preclude the album from ever attaining a wide audience - if it isn't spun in the club, most in the community won't take notice. Michael Spinka's Axiotronic project might prove to be Philadelphia's best kept secret...(Read more at the Silent Ballet)

Bibio - Vignetting the Compost

2009
Mush Records
Buy

7.5/10

To those of us whose introduction to prolific British producer Stephen Wilkinson's Bibio came with Ambivalence Avenue's 'Pitchfork Best New Music' ambience, it might come as a bit of a shock to hear that said album is a drastic artistic departure. Want proof, Sherman? All you've got to do is wake up Mr. Peabody and set the Wayback Machine to five months earlier...(Read more at the Silent Ballet)

Antifilm - IO

2009
Statler & Waldorf
Buy

6.5/10

With its eclectic backgrounds, lush accompaniment, and murmured vocals, IO has all the makings of an indie classic. It could have been the next You Forgot It In People. Instead, Danish band Antifilm has come up with something more along the lines of Feel Good Lost: a great first step, but not quite there...(Read more at the Silent Ballet)

bvdub - A Prayer to False Gods

2009
Shoreless Recordings
Buy

6.5/10

At its most banal, A Prayer to False Gods sounds like the jarring hum of unshielded stereo wire. But when bvdub (San Francisco disc jockey Brock Van Wey's nom de guerre) hits his stride, the result is nothing short of sublime...(Read more at the Silent Ballet)

Nicker Hill Orchestra - All the Different Deaths...and Rebirths

2009
Self Released
Buy

7/10
All the Different Deaths...and Rebirths does not break very much new ground as standard genre fare. But Nicker Hill Orchestra, given the confines in which they work, provide enough embellishment to - however incrementally - advance the post rock sound a few steps into the future...(Read more at the Silent Ballet)

Boxcutter - Arecibo Message

A few months ago, as I was travelling the world of breakbeat music in search of fun tracks, I stumbled upon a neat drum and bass outfit called Boxcutter.

So this morning, as I was perusing that other website I write for, I was very pleasantly surprised to see that name, "Boxcutter", under the list album reviews posted this morning. Lo and behold, it was the same DJ as I had heard previously!

Christa Macnaughton has written a very nice review of his newest album, Arecibo Message, so be sure to check it out.

aMute - Infernal Heights For a Drama

2009
Still Records
Buy

3/10

To hear it told by many, the Belgian experimentalists aMute have crafted a desolate, nuanced aural landscape in Infernal Heights for a Drama. And while I acknowledge that it is not fair to fault aMute for delivering something which deviated from my expectations, it is fair to fault them for a meandering, directionless array of noise...(Read more at the Silent Ballet)

Parhelia - Shifting Sands

2009

Buy

5.5/10

As a genre, “post-rock” had a good run; the late 90s and turn of the millennium saw a slew of releases which should still be looked upon in fifty years as being classics, as legendary. The story since 2003 has been a little different. Certainly there have been exceptions, but the rule has been repackaging the tired formula of thunderous percussion and shimmering tremolo guitar set amidst Baroque dynamics. Post-rock lived a healthy life, but has been denied a graceful death by hundreds of bands that are either incapable of, or refuse to, evolve their sound.

Bands like Parhelia, for instance...(Read more at the Silent Ballet)

Lunar Node - Exploring Unknown Territory

2009

Buy

6.5/10

Upon hearing Exploring Unknown Territory, the listener is immediately drawn out of their run or their bed or their sofa and into their surrounding environment: the cliched wind feathering the leaves, the sterile flouresence of an overhead bulb, the clock's insistent reminder that their chemistry lecture lies a mere forty minutes away. Too often, Lunar Node immerses one so deeply that the analysis and appreciation of their music becomes quite the challenge...(Read more at the Silent Ballet.)

Claro Intelecto - Warehouse Sessions

2009

Modern Love Records
Buy

3/10

Many people complain that electronic music is rather boring. Armchair critics deride the form's diverse genres as being stereotypical "techno", the mindless homogeny only enjoyable to those lucky few on a roll or a trip. House, breakbeat, dubstep, trance - to the masses, there's no difference.

I believe those detractors to be dead wrong. Unfortunately, Claro Intelecto - the brainchild of producer Mark Stewart - doesn't do much to help my cause...(Read more at the Silent Ballet)

Crippled Black Phoenix - 200 Tons Of Bad Luck

2009

Invada Records
Buy

6.5/10

For what they do, Crippled Black Phoenix achieve a fair amount on 200 Tons of Bad Luck. The only problem is, sometimes it just seems like they’re doing a bit too much. The disc is compiled from tracks off of two different releases with two very different sounds, and upon listening to the final product, this is more readily apparent than anything else. Clocking in at over 70 minutes, the album runs the stylistic gamut from languid post-rock to the sounds of Pink Floyd circa 1977. Like Forrest Gump’s analogy of life, you really do never know what you’re going to get next...(Read more at the Silent Ballet)

Commix - FabricLive 44

2009
Fabric
Buy

7/10

One of my hipster Lower East Side friends recently made the claim that breakbeat is dead – and has been for quite some time.

Cambridge's dynamic duo of drum and bass, Commix, offer a slightly less bleak assessment – breakbeat isn't dead. Not yet, at least...(Read more at the Silent Ballet)

A Journey Down The Well - Sorry Monsters, I Have To Grow

A few months ago, I was approached via e-mail by a band known as A Journey Down The Well to review their forthcoming album Sorry Monsters, I Have To Grow. Upon listening to it, I was frankly perplexed, and have been unable to produce a decent write-up of the work.

So instead, I'll defer to Fred Bevan's review written for "The Silent Ballet". I think he more or less hits it right on the head.

Keith Canisius - Ferris Wheel Makeout

2008
Darla Records
Buy

6/10

Upon hearing the name Keith Canisius, my first instinct is always to make some sort of association with Canisius College, a Jesuit school in Buffalo, New York. This is a terrible connection on my part, because there is nothing pious on Ferris Wheel Makeout. Just fun. And, last I checked, the church regards pretty much anything involving fun as a sin, right? (Read more at the Silent Ballet)

Deepset - The Lights We Shed Shall Burn Your Eyes

2008
Kitty Wu Records

8/10

Isaac Brock famously opined that "anyone can equally easily fuck you over" and I'd be inclined to agree.

At least, I was inclined to agree. Things have changed, and now I might be forced to reconsider. Because sometimes, people can surprise you; occasionally, they'll throw you a bone. Once in awhile, instead of bland, watered down instrumentals, your editor places something special on your desk. Deepset, your album is my bone. You are my something special...(Read more at the Silent Ballet)

Natsumen - ONExMORExSUMMERxSHIT!!!

2008

2/10

There is a small – tiny, miniscule, insignificant – part of me that wants to herald Natsumen as the greatest thing known to man. I love progressive rock. I love math rock. I love noise rock. I love psychedelic rock. I love all things loud, cacophonous, and chaotic. In other words, I love all things that Natsumen represents. If anybody, then, should love Natsumen, it should be me.

But I don't. Not at all. (Read more at The Silent Ballet)

The Slow Life - Be Not Afraid

2008

5/10

The Slow Life compose sensible, emotional, generic post-rock. And like many other contemporary bands of the genre, most of this mediocrity is due not to a lack of musical talent, but to their succumbing to the temptation to incorporate stagnant, boring vocals...(Read more at The Silent Ballet)

Richard Skelton - Marking Time

2008
Preservation Records

8/10

Some writers less prone to gushing might be inclined to characterize this as an accomplished debut and leave it at that. But to hear Marking Time, the first album Skelton has released under his own name, is an experience deserving of so much more, and to speak of it as merely "accomplished" would be an insult....(Read more at The Silent Ballet)

Hunz - When Victims Fight

2008
Apegenine Records

2.5/10

Hunz.

The very name brings to mind "Heinz" and "Hunts", and this might be more than simple coincidence. Hunz is really a lot like ketchup, if you think about it. That is to say, a little bit goes a long way. Ooh, demoscene! Wow, tracker music! Yay, ketchup! The novelty quickly wears off...(Read more at The Silent Ballet)