Contributor
20 items by Joe Gross
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"Voyeur" | SONG REVIEW
Blake wants to make you feel good, but only if he doesn't have to move too fast. "Voyeur," the British DJ-songwriter's latest, slinks into focus while processed words slither out of his mouth; by the time the...
March 28, 2013 2:25 PM ET -
New Moon | ALBUM REVIEW
Hearing the lap steel and acoustic guitar on some of these jams, it's easy to forget that four years and four albums ago, these Brooklynites were face-melting noise punks. New Moon reminds you that the Men can...
March 15, 2013 3:15 PM ET -
Mala | ALBUM REVIEW
"Get on the dance floor" is not a phrase one associates with Devendra Banhart, but there he is, vaguely demanding it at the start of his seventh album. There's no danger of the king of folkie beardos...
March 12, 2013 12:00 AM ET -
Nanobots | ALBUM REVIEW
Given that there's an infinite supply of nerdy teens and NPR show hosts, They Might Be Giants will always be with us, as they've been for 30 (!) years. Nanobots sounds like old-school, duo-style TMBG (catchy pop...
March 5, 2013 12:20 AM ET -
Sacrilege | SONG REVIEW
Throbbing back to life after several years off, the YYY's pack "Sacrilege" with a mess of classic moves: While guitar buzz and synth beeps make out in the corner, the rock/dance baby rides an almost-disco groove, and...
February 26, 2013 4:49 PM ET -
Push the Sky Away | ALBUM REVIEW
If the dirty-old-man noise rock in Grinderman, Nick Cave's other band, was an orgy, the relentlessly laconic Push the Sky Away is pure hangover, an exhausted guy at the end of the bar mumbling about love’s...
February 19, 2013 12:15 AM ET -
"Now" | SONG REVIEW
"There's a time and a place to die," Hayley Williams shout-sings on Paramore's roaring first single since 2009. The thick howl reminds us that the Tennessee pop-metal band isn't dead yet, despite losing cofounders Josh and...
February 4, 2013 3:45 PM ET -
Band to Watch: Sharon Van Etten | VIDEO
Hometown: Brooklyn Backstory: After working as a music publicist, Van Etten released her breakout, Epic, in 2010. The LP was inspired by a particularly shitty relationship. "He was crazy – very controlling," she says. "I want to say...
October 22, 2012 7:15 AM ET -
“Hot Cheetos & Takis” | SONG REVIEW
A Minneapolis crew of actual children, part of an after-school program called Beats And Rhymes, come up with what may be the summer's final truly great jam. Over dramatic synth strings and 808ish thump, the kids deliver...
August 15, 2012 3:15 PM ET -
“Lovecrimes” | SONG REVIEW
The newly-revived Whigs, who used to do this sort of thing all the time in the 1990s with Prince, TLC and New Order songs, busted out this Frank Ocean heart-breaker on their latest tour before...
August 2, 2012 10:45 AM ET -
Unsound | ALBUM REVIEW
Burma's been reunited for more than twice as long as they were active the first time, resulting in now five 21st century albums of indie that actually rawks. Unsound booms with veteran heat and chops, folding in...
July 26, 2012 12:26 PM ET -
Early Times | ALBUM REVIEW
Originally released as the "Dime Map of the Reef" single and The Arizona Record EP, this collects the grotty indie-strum laid down in Jersey City during the first Bush administration by Pavementers Steve Malkmus and Bob Nastonovitch...
July 17, 2012 3:20 PM ET -
"I Shall Not Be Moved" | SONG REVIEW
Leave it to Chuck D to own his age: "I work it/UH!/the senior circuit." Crafted by Chuck and Gary G-Wiz, this single (from Public Enemy's upcoming album, Most of My Heroes Still Don't Appear On...
July 2, 2012 12:15 PM ET -
Tramp | ALBUM REVIEW
When Sharon Van Etten sings, "You're the reason why I'll move to the city or why I'll need to leave," you want to gas up the car and help her pack. Her last album, Epic, was a...
February 7, 2012 10:25 AM ET -
Feel the Sound | ALBUM REVIEW
It's a good time to be Imperial Teen. The San Francisco quartet were squishing together hooks and drones before everyone had broadband, and now they've returned with their first album in five years, just as bands like...
January 31, 2012 12:25 AM ET -
Bitch Magnet | ALBUM REVIEW
Bitch Magnet exploded out of Oberlin College in 1986, three (sometimes four) young men obsessed with Big Black's noise, King Crimson's precision and Scrabble-geek song titles like "Mesentery." This set collects all three records and appends...
January 12, 2012 8:10 AM ET -
Hurry Up, We're Dreaming | ALBUM REVIEW
For his sixth album, Anthony Gonzalez delivers a double CD about the unconscious, a mix of beat-driven anthems and gauzy ambience that moves like a restless night's sleep. When it's not luring you to the dance floor...
October 18, 2011 12:10 AM ET -
Ancient & Modern 1911-2011 | ALBUM REVIEW
Click to listen to Mekons' 'Geeshie' Barely famous after 30 years of damning the marketplace, Mekons fear no genre. They all but invented country punk in the mid-Eighties,...
September 27, 2011 12:05 AM ET -
Wugazi's '13 Chambers': A Track-by-Track Breakdown | ARTICLE
With their Wugazi mash-up project, Midwestern producers Cecil Otter and Swiss Andy pay sharp tribute to two iconic acts, punk titans Fugazi and hip-hop superheroes the Wu-Tang Clan. While Fugazi's staunch separation from the traditional music machine...
July 13, 2011 1:50 PM ET -
Go Away White | ALBUM REVIEW
They haven'treleased a studio album in twenty-five years and haven't played together live since 2006, but Bauhaus have never really gone away. Even after three members formed Love and Rockets, and singer Peter Murphy went solo, it...
March 6, 2008 12:00 AM ET
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