All posts by Neal Fersko »
Nina Nastasia: Outlaster
Nina Nastasia Outlaster Rating: 3.5/5.0 Label: Fat Cat Records Cutting through the dark cloaks donned by Nina Nastasia on her records ends up revealing little except that some fabrics are enigmatic enough to raise
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Interview: Laura Burhenn of the Mynabirds
I was amazed to get the message that Laura Burhenn would be walking towards me from the studios of NPR, a two mile trek in the blazing and nearly shadeless concrete of Washington, D.C.’s
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Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti: Before Today
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti Before Today Rating: 4.0/5.0 Label: 4AD Every time he shows up for dinner, he gets served as the main course. That’s the way it’s been with Ariel Pink since I
Read More »First Aid Kit: The Big Black and The Blue
First Aid Kit The Big Black and The Blue Rating 3.0/5.0 Label: Wichita Recordings A lot of us get our first primer in folk music in elementary school or a religious choir, places where
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Jamie Lidell: Compass
Jamie Lidell Compass Grade: 2.0/5.0 Label: Warp Records Sometimes when we think back through the decades long history British musicians have had with American soul records, as continentals, there’s the urge to blush or
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Concert Review: Mission of Burma/Office of Future Plans
Everything about Mission of Burma is sudden. The guitar lines they play are brief, their lyrics lack romance or wistfulness, and the band’s history, in general, has an almost violent abruptness surrounding it, the
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Film Dunce: E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
Film Dunce is a weekly series in which one of our writers finally succumbs to the lure of a movie that has long been a big part of our culture that they have never
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Concert Review: The Magnetic Fields/Laura Barrett
I’ve read a lot about The Magnetic Fields but this is my first time writing anything about them. I’m pretty sure I haven’t even used their leader Stephin Merritt as a point of reference.
Read More »Ted Leo and the Pharmacists: The Brutalist Bricks
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists The Brutalist Bricks Rating: 4.5/5.0 Label: Matador Records It’s easy to admire Ted Leo because it’s never been his era. There’s always talk of how he carries on the
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