Roni Size and Goldie may have the celebrity market cornered, but it is Dieselboy who has the hardcore following. On his eighth mixed CD, The Dungeonmaster’s Guide, the jungle master pursues a fantasy theme with an adventure narrated by Peter Cullen, the voice behind Venger from the animated series Dungeons…
No British rapper has a bigger hurdle to overcome than the Streets’ Mike Skinner. His second full-length, A Grand Don’t Come for Free, comes two years after the critical and fan favorite Original Pirate Material, an album the “British Eminem” used to turn the world on its collective ear, with…
Britain’s Neil Hannon, a.k.a. Divine Comedy, who is known for his wry sense of humor and singular worldview on the most mundane of subjects, hit his stride with the witty 1996 album, Casanova, and further cemented his reputation with 2001’s Regeneration. Three years later on his ninth full-length, Absent Friends,…
Lanterna is guitarist Henry Frayne’s (the Moon Seven Times, Area) solo project, with Highways being his fourth album under this guise. Although primarily recorded on guitar, the music does not sound as if it is missing something, nor does he get carried away with excessive, showy noodling. Leaving just the…
Brooklyn quintet Ambulance Ltd’s eponymous album demonstrates the group’s resistance to being limited by the garage-rock sound that city has recently become associated with. A great deal more somber and introspective than its 2003 self-titled EP, Ambulance Ltd falls somewhere between the solid indie-rock sensibilities of Pavement, the classic yet…
In the heart of the United Kingdom’s industrial city of Birmingham, there exists an authentic and thriving dub reggae scene. At the core of this movement is the longstanding Different Drummer label owned by Rockers Hi-Fi. Overproof Soundsystem — which features members of G-Corp, vocalists Ras MC T-Weed and Juggla,…
While New York, Chicago, and Detroit’s DJ/producers were reveling in the spotlight during the early Nineties, San Francisco quietly built a scene that eventually spread across the West Coast. At the heart of it was the Wicked crew: four DJs, one ridiculously superior sound system, and parties that took place…
Stargazing, the third album from Corin Dingley and Andy Jenks, a Bristol, England-based duo who initially debuted on Massive Attack’s Melankolic label, sees them delving into their classic songwriter roots. Less of a trip-hop affair than their previous records, Stargazing (Special Edition) — a revamped U.S. version of the original…
The Cooper Temple Clause, a six-piece touted as yet another “next big thing” from the U.K., may actually live up to the hype. Their second full-length, Kick Up The Fire, And Let The Flames Break Loose, is the first to be released domestically, just in time for a reprieve from…
The cult of superstar DJ, after turning a handful of artists into the closest thing to a rock star the dance world has, seemingly has disappeared from the lexicon of the trend-obsessed music press. As progressive house titan Sasha laughs, “We’re not flavor of the month. The honeymoon period is…
As possibly the only genre in modern dance music that Britain can truly call its own, drum and bass is a U.K. phenomenon that has been slow to catch on in the United States. In the last year, however, the style has gone through a period of malaise in its…
The biggest disservice you could do Just Jack would be to approach his debut album, The Outer Marker, thinking of him as a follower of the Streets. Sure, they’re both white guys from the United Kingdom who speak observationally about their surroundings and life in general in a frisky accent,…
Prior to the release of his artist album, International Affairs, and alongside his extensive production work for the likes of Erykah Badu and Common (not to mention his projects with King Britt and Roni Size), Philadelphia’s Vikter Duplaix had a significant impact on eclectically driven dance floors with his downtempo-geared…
Since emerging in 1996 as Air, the prolific duo of Jean-Benoit “JB” Dunckel and Nicolas Godin has tended to veer in a slightly different direction with each release, going from loungey sounds (Moon Safari) to psychedelic musings (The Virgin Suicides soundtrack) to crackling experiments (City Reading: Tre Storie Western with…
The world “seminal” is used over and over again in the hefty press kit that accompanies Skull Ring, the latest album from Iggy Pop. And rightfully so: The 56-year-old musician, who formed his groundbreaking group the Stooges in Detroit in 1967, has gone on to define punk rock, postpunk, garage…
Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci (pronounced “monkey”) has been around for ten years. The foursome’s unusual name is a perfect reflection of its ultraquirky sound. In contrast to its bleak, albeit verdant Welsh surroundings, its eighth album, Sleep/Holiday, is sunny and bright. The tranquil air is encouraged by singer Euros Childs’s whispered,…
There is a crucial turning point in a musician’s career that comes after the first rush of critical acclaim, commercial success, and being dubbed the “next big thing.” This is usually followed by material that is just as good, if not better, than the early offerings but gets a slightly…
Electronic music artists are often accused of being faceless and personality-free by those who don’t find their music interesting as well as those whose tastes veer toward it. The artists’ anonymity stems partially from their frequent inability to make any significant statement, be it verbally or instrumentally. With his latest…
When you are better known for the people who attend your party than for your music, you might be facing a credibility problem. Such is the case with the New York-based “celebrity DJ” Mark Ronson, who has played at the White House Correspondents’ dinner and P. Diddy’s 29th birthday party…
Outside of the despicable Aqua’s repulsive “Barbie Girl,” Denmark has not been known for producing any notable music. That is, until now: Enter the Raveonettes, who are among the new school of Danish musicians (along with Junior Senior) creatively reinterpreting familiar musical archetypes. These clever Danes — Sune Rose Wagner…
Chris Brann, the mastermind behind Ananda Project, is on a mission to produce at least four full-length artist albums this year. So far he’s managed two: under his P’taah moniker, Staring At The Sun, and his most recent release as Ananda Project, Morning Light. Having previously worked under the guises…
Brian Transeau, more commonly referred to as BT, is considered by his peers and followers to be one of the creators of the progressive house/trance style of dance music, and his percolating swells of mood-enhancing compositions are among the most popular in the genre. On his fourth full-length, Emotional Technology,…
