Author Archives: Ben Schultz
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ALBUM REVIEW: She & Him ‘Melt Away’ on Brian Wilson tribute album
She & Him, “Melt Away: A Tribute to Brian Wilson.” A She & Him album full of nothing but Brian Wilson covers? The very idea sounds so twee, so arch, so Wes-Anderson-y that some people might gag on general principle. Certainly, if you’ve never warmed to Zooey Deschanel and…
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REVIEW: Dawes return with slick but facile ‘Misadventures of Doomscroller’
DAWES, “Misadventures of Doomscroller.” Misadventures of Doomscroller, the latest album by Dawes, captures the mood and spirit of a certain type of “doomscroller”—namely, the well-schooled, privileged, complacent moderate/liberal. These folks are observant enough to pooh-pooh and tsk-tsk the sorry state of world affairs, but they don’t typically get riled…
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REVIEW: Drive-By Truckers stay the course on ‘Welcome 2 Club XIII’
Drive-By Truckers, “Welcome 2 Club XIII.” For most of Welcome 2 Club XIII, Drive-By Truckers drummer Brad Morgan lays down more or less the same steady, mid-tempo beat. One song rolls into the next, which rolls into the next and so on. It’s almost as if—as Neil Young once…
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ALBUM REVIEW: Arcade Fire returns with terse, tense, touching ‘WE’
Arcade Fire, “We.” WE, the first proper Arcade Fire LP in almost five years, seems a little slim at first glance. Compared to the 64-minute The Suburbs or the 75-minute Reflektor—not to mention the latter’s 102-minute deluxe edition—the new album’s 40 minutes look especially meager. In fact, not counting…
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ALBUM REVIEW: Alex Cameron shows the lows of getting high on ‘Oxy Music’
Alex Cameron, “Oxy Music.” A title like Oxy Music evokes scenes of decadence and hedonism. Alex Cameron knows that. Most likely, that’s one reason it’s the title of his latest album. The cover art emphasizes this idea: The crisp white letters and the washed-out, soft-focus portrait of the Australian…
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ALBUM REVIEW: Gang of Youths soars with stunning ‘Angel in Realtime’
Gang of Youths, “Angel in Realtime.” In 2018, David Le’aupepe’s father passed away. That loss in itself would’ve been hard to deal with; the Gang of Youths lead singer and lyricist clearly adored the man. But then the half-Samoan musician learned some long-hidden secrets—specifically, that his dad had sired…
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ALBUM REVIEW: Alt-J returns with beguiling ‘The Dream’
Alt-J, The Dream. Alt-J didn’t earn their fanbase with their stray references to Hubert Selby or Bret Easton Ellis—they earned it with their catchy tunes, quirky textures, soothing vocals and slick beats. Still, those references hinted that some brains lurked beneath all the dreaminess. The Dream Alt-J Canvasback/Atlantic, Feb.…
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REVIEW: Black Country, New Road break new ground with ‘Ants From Up There’
Shall we compare Black Country, New Road to Slint? The U.K. art-rock collective invited listeners to do so on its debut LP, For the first time, by name-checking that ’90s indie rock cult favorite. Even if it hadn’t, the album’s ominous melodies, groaned vocals and clanging guitar drones might have…
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ALBUM REVIEW: Animal Collective reconvenes with autumnal ‘Time Skiffs’
Animal Collective, “Time Skiffs.” There comes a time in many aging bands’ careers when they start talking guff about maturity, hard-earned wisdom and so on. The release copy for the latest LP from Animal Collective, Time Skiffs, gestures toward this convention by describing the album as “the collected transmissions of four…
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ALBUM REVIEW: Elvis Costello returns with smart, feisty ‘The Boy Named If’
What is it with rock musicians and children’s books? These days, it seems like every other songwriter or band is putting out some kind of storybook-themed concept album. The most recent X Ambassadors LP, The Beautiful Liar, couched its rather bland breakup songs in a half-baked audiobook-for-kids conceit. Then…