brian, Author at Pop Rock Nation

About brian

Tutor, parent, cat-feeder, and voice-actor Brian Block listens to too much music and glides through life mostly on the strength of his good looks. If he can see farther than others, it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants, an environmentally sound form of public transportation.

#26 album of 2013 – I Fear a New World by Cold Crows Dead

Artist: Cold Crows Dead

Album: I Fear a New World

Cold Crows Dead, as evidenced on their debut I Fear a New World, play mostly-pretty music of a polyglot form that’s become modestly popular in indie rock circles. Most of the songs — we’ll get to the exceptions — combine the sort of creatively-processed flutes/ violins/ piano/ etc orchestration that dates back to Pet Sounds; with synthesizers that convey an eerie analog feel more akin to early […]

By brian|June 11th, 2014|Reviews|0 Comments

#27 album of 2013 – Felicite Thosz by Magma

Artist: Magma

Album: Felicite Thosz

I present to you the following inside look, in internal-dialogue form, at my annual album ranking process:

“Wow, 2013 has been an incredible year for progressive rock. So many albums full of brilliant, dynamic, adventurous-yet-melodic playing — so many albums where I don’t have a clue what the singers are on about, and I don’t need to because they aren’t even what sticks in my head”.

“Yeah, but if you cram those reviews in […]

By brian|June 9th, 2014|Reviews|0 Comments

#28 album of 2013 – Guilty by Babe the Blue Ox

Artist: Babe the Blue Ox

Album: Guilty

Babe the Blue Ox were an interesting 1990s rock trio from New York City that I liked even before they recorded their masterpiece, and then in 1998 they did, and then they stopped making new songs together for fifteen years, though I believe they still played concerts every New Year’s Eve. Tim Thomas played strong, angular guitar riffs and sang (with limited melodic range) sometimes in a theatrically gruff, sultry […]

By brian|June 3rd, 2014|Reviews|0 Comments

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