In recent years Durham has risen from its status as a junior partner in the Triangle music scene to a thriving music community that is home to indie bands with national followings.
Teen Dream is the document of a band maturing and experimenting without abandoning the core of their sound.
The songs ultimately sound sophisticated and crafted but don’t leave an impression. It’s disappointing entry in the Starbucks Adult Contemporary genre.
To reword the tagline: few goats, few redeeming qualities.
The whole album is a paean to Sun Belt living cut short by Bush’s second term, Iraq and the faltering economy.
No public figure so encapsulated the late ’90s/early aughts era. No other poet had the singularity of vision to tell it like it was. Now he’s gone, and we’re all poorer for it.
Banhart's seventh album finds the freak-folk artist in a period of transition.
A lot of the songs, though often beautiful and usually masterfully crafted, don’t pass muster on their own, instead serving as the film’s emotional reinforcement.
All of the conventions established by his 1989 film Roger & Me are in evidence here—even footage from the film itself
Drawing on his standard pallet of Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound" (although thankfully light on the saxophone), Bob Dylan acoustic balladry, some Tom Waits-esque distorted vocal blues and his...
