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REYAN ALI

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Parts & Labor | Constant Future

Jagjaguwar (2011)
Everybody forgets just how good Bear vs. Shark were. After the band split in 2005, their furious inventiveness and impeccable grasp of topsy-turvy songwriting somehow evaporated into the cultural mists.
By: REYAN ALI  |  March 31, 2011
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Cold Cave | Cherish the Light Years

Matador (2011)
The '80s have been dead for a while, but the decade's goth-rock/post-punk/synth-pop sounds still maintain cultural prestige.
By: REYAN ALI  |  March 23, 2011
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The Death Set | Michel Poiccard

Counter (2011)
Michel Poiccard insists on having it all.
By: REYAN ALI  |  March 17, 2011
Obits

Obits | Moody, Standard, and Poor

Sub Pop (2011)
Rick Froberg's co-workers have no idea how much he hates his office job and the people around him
By: REYAN ALI  |  March 08, 2011
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The Luyas | Too Beautiful To Work

Dead Oceans (2011)
The tone and feel of this release suggests the Luyas are at a big party where they don't really know anyone. The indie-pop four-piece from Montreal are well dressed and clinging to a couch in the corner.
By: REYAN ALI  |  February 23, 2011
Brahms

Exploring the frosty electronic pleasures of Brahms

Digital symphony
Naming your band after a mighty musical figure whose work has preceded your group's by almost a couple of centuries takes some moxie, but don't mistake this choice for hubris. It's not quite a tribute, says Brahms's Cale Parks, but rather a way to channel something from his past.
By: REYAN ALI  |  February 22, 2011
Tommy Stinson

Life still sounds good for GNR's Tommy Stinson

Modern-day replacement
Stinson's legacy isn't entirely based on playing back-up. He's also chiseled out a side career as a guitarist and singer, creating a repertoire of hooky alt-rock songs in side projects Bash & Pop and Perfect and, most recently, in work released under his own name.  
By: REYAN ALI  |  February 18, 2011
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Darkest Hour | The Human Romance

Century Media (2011)
My earliest exposure to Darkest Hour came via “Sound the Surrender,” off 2005’s Undoing Ruin. It was an arresting introduction: dystopian metalcore/sorta death metal paired with an unexpectedly effective piano hook.
By: REYAN ALI  |  February 16, 2011
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La Sera | La Sera

Hardly Art (2011)
Rule #17 of survival in the DIY-ish indie-rock circuit: always stay busy.
By: REYAN ALI  |  February 09, 2011
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Creating sound collages with The Hood Internet

Mash Ave
The Hood Internet are part of a wave of mash-up-centric artists working in Danger's wake.
By: REYAN ALI  |  February 10, 2011
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Review: The Go! Team | Rolling Blackouts

Memphis Industries (2011)
For close to a decade now, this Brighton (UK) band have gleefully championed going all in.
By: REYAN ALI  |  January 27, 2011
Death_Thumb

Death | Spiritual, Mental, Physical

Drag City (2011)
Death's story is one of felicitous, accidental rebirth.
By: REYAN ALI  |  January 19, 2011

Two Door Cinema Club embrace dance hooks

Pop rocks
If a band play and no one is around to hear them, do they make a sound?
By: REYAN ALI  |  January 12, 2011
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White Lies | Ritual

Fiction (2011)
If the bombast of Ritual is any indicator, nights out with White Lies must be dramatic, humorless affairs. Life-altering monologues will be recited, voices will be raised, glasses will be smashed, blood will be spilt.
By: REYAN ALI  |  January 11, 2011
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The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger explore dualism

Parts of a whole
When Sean Lennon and Charlotte Kemp Muhl started the Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger (GOASTT), the project was intended as a bit of a joke — an acoustic-folk thing that wasn't supposed to lead to anything particularly serious.
By: REYAN ALI  |  January 06, 2011
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Tennis | Cape Dory

Fat Possum Records (2011)
Cape Dory is a debut swathed in love-struck naiveté.
By: REYAN ALI  |  January 07, 2011
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4 New Obscure Music Subgenres of 2010

Revisiting a year of tags, trends, and tribulations
Artists may not like to admit it, but genres are and always will be invaluable for discussing music.
By: REYAN ALI  |  December 21, 2010
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My Chemical Romance | Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys

Reprise (2010)
Loath as My Chemical Romance might be to admit it, they were once an emo band, as their teaming of jagged pop-punk with love-is-pain lyrical histrionics attests.
By: REYAN ALI  |  November 22, 2010
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Dessa and Doomtree spread beyond hip-hop roots

Come together and grow
A dash of coincidence provoked Margret Wander's relatively quick entry into Doomtree, the hip-hop crew whose "Wings + Teeth Tour" comes to the Middle East a week from Saturday.
By: REYAN ALI  |  November 16, 2010
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Small Black | New Chain

Jagjaguwar (2010)
Listening to Small Black perform New Chain is like watching lovely but reclusive exotic fish wander around a fortified aquarium.
By: REYAN ALI  |  November 16, 2010
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Catching up with Doomtree's other six


Doomtree are a true collective, with no single voice dominating.
By: REYAN ALI  |  November 16, 2010
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