AudioVole
Brandon Hall
M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming (Part 2+)
Chris Atto defends the hell out of M83’s latest opus as a conceptual gem about childlike innocence. It was almost a perfect letter until he started bragging about his French skills. He’s new to this, but he needs to learn that this is no place for self-aggrandizing hubris. J/K, that’s all this place is for! … Continue reading
M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming (Part 1)
M83’s Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming doesn’t come out until October 18th, but the damn thing is so epic, we had to get an early jump on it. Brandon enlists the help of Chris Atto and André Salas to break down this double disc follow-up to the spectacular Saturdays=Youth.
ST. VINCENT – Strange Mercy (Pts 1-4)
St. Vincent’s third album, Strange Mercy, may be her best and may be one of the best of the year. Brandon goes about falling in love Annie Clark all over again. Greg searches for a craving that never comes. The full dialectic after the jump.
ST. VINCENT – Strange Mercy (Part 4+)
Greg relishes in the comforts of his 30s. Just one step closer to death, I say. No wonder he picked the “Surgeon” quote as his valediction. Annie Clark then confesses her love. Brandon, of course, reciprocates.
ST. VINCENT – Strange Mercy (Part 3)
Brandon went to Wal-Mart and bought himself some ammunition for his .22 hyperbole gun. He then went home, pulled the gun out of the safe in his garage, loaded up, and fired it at the internets. “Strange Mercy is a flawless album.” His words, not mine. Later, he laments the discovery that Annie Clark is … Continue reading
ST. VINCENT – Strange Mercy (Part 2)
Greg catches up on St. Vincent’s discography, comparing everything to everything and digging into some compositional hooha and actually calling out one of the songs on the album as cold and monotonous. But only one song. He’s on the Annie Clark boat, fyi. But did he answer Brandon’s question? No. Of course not.
ST. VINCENT – Strange Mercy (Part 1)
St. Vincent’s third album, Strange Mercy, may be her best and may be one of the best of the year. But Brandon doubts it’ll bring mainstream popularity. One thing he doesn’t doubt – Annie Clark is the coolest person ever. At least in the top 100. I mean, that’s saying something. There are a lot … Continue reading
WILD FLAG – Wild Flag (Pts 1-4+)
A five part conversation between Brandon Hall and Natalie Snoyman about Wild Flag’s eponymous debut. Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss, two-thirds of honest-to-God super group Sleater-Kinney, have joined forces with Mary Timony of Helium and Rebecca Cole of The Minders to bring back the 90s because they were a better, simpler time. With Zuba pants. … Continue reading
WILD FLAG – Wild Flag (Part 4+)
Natalie refuses to name names. WTF, yo? WTF? What are we doing here if not being snarky critics tearing asunder the hard work of myriad musicians, summing up years of toil and struggle with a shrug and some off-handed remark that uses words like “derivative,” “unfocused,” or “minor?” Huh, Natalie? Huh? Name names! Brandon’s response … Continue reading
WILD FLAG – Wild Flag (Part 3)
Brandon takes back everything he’s said over the past two months. (Not exactly.) But he does realize that with Sleater-Kinney gone, he should be grateful for what he can get. And Wild Flag is no meek substitute.
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