Pop Rock Nation

#7 album of 2012 – Skelethon by Aesop Rock

Artist: Aesop Rock

Album: Skelethon

I’ll mostly discuss Aesop Rock’s Skelethon as a vehicle for Ian Bavitz’s writing. At his best, as a lyricist, he’s operating on a level no one else is attempting, and I would want to have heard this album even in a musical form (bluegrass? reggae?) I find off-putting. But instrumentally, here’s who it reminds me of: Wire (once they got into electronics). Nine Inch Nails. Massive Attack / Tricky. This is dark, synthetic […]

By brian|April 29th, 2013|Reviews|1 Comment

#8 album of 2012 – Untimely Meditations by the Verlaines

Artist: the Verlaines

Album: Untimely Meditations

If you’ve heard of New Zealand’s the Verlaines, it’s probably for their 1980s work. I’m not sure how useful that’ll be for a discussion of their current work (I’m reviewing their excellent 2012 Untimely Meditations but am also a fan of 2008’s Pot Boiler and 2010’s Corporate Moronic). The people who reviewed those early albums for AllMusic talk of them as “complex” and “fastidious” albums aided by “perfectly realized brass, woodwind, and string sections”, which […]

By brian|April 29th, 2013|Mini-Reviews|0 Comments

American Idol Season 12: Cutting Down To 4, Again?

On Wednesday night, Ryno said that there would be a surprise that would shake up the show. I didn’t know what it could be, but my first thought was that it would be something to do with the save that was never used. Maybe they would get to use it one more time? Well, I was close.

After Wednesday night’s show, I wrote that I thought Kree (Summer) would go home. But as I was discussing […]

By GG|April 26th, 2013|News|4 Comments

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