"1: I'm gonna quote myself (from my al..." more

"1: I'm gonna quote myself (from my album review):
Oh Blackblack, I believe I'm crushing on you. I love how your guitars and bass dance around the maypole of your drums. I love how your overtly innocent-sounding vocals contrast with the flashes of naughtiness I hear in your songs. That little edge isn't sharp enough to cut, but oh how I love the scratches you leave behind. I love how you sing your stories in a just less than perfect way. And I love how you deliver it all with a kitten-heeled strut. You work me over so well! If you're ever in Milwaukee, let me woo you with cheese curds and beer. I promise to keep my hands to myself." less

"2: Leave me wanting more... that'ss t..." more

"2: Leave me wanting more... that'ss the quickest way into my obsession. Unlike the typical jam band, Plants and Animals does just that. I get the zen of the repetitive grooves, I get the tingles from the slow layering of instruments, I get charmed by the slightly crooked harmonies. I get a tiny moment, a tiny taste, of bliss before they bring me back down again. They tease with the promise of more the next time you listen, but they are always just shy of giving you just enough. Because of that, they got me." less

"3: Microcastle is a like a trip throu..." more

"3: Microcastle is a like a trip through Alice's mirror - while sometimes lulled into a spirit of contentment, it's uneasy. Each song leads you down a different rabbit hole either chasing something or being chased. The loud is quivering on the edge of chaos and the quiet is filled with a fierce restraint with transitions between the two as subtle as an ice cream headache. Better than any ride Disney could ever come up with." less

"4: There isn't much I can say about t..." more

"4: There isn't much I can say about this album that hasn't been said before, but any album that can give me goosebumps from beginning to end, from first listen to one hundred and first; any album that can make me smile slowly while breaking my heart; any album that can make me want to let go as badly as I want to hang on is an album that must be heard." less

"5: To wit, I give you a haiku: red-h..." more

"5: To wit, I give you a haiku:

red-haired sticky bud
ice cubes in the bong water
light diffused in haze" less

"7: You know an album is special when ..." more

"7: You know an album is special when it can make you pause not to take note, but to really listen. How often do you find something that's heartfelt yet playful, textured yet uncomplicated, fresh and new but with a lovely patina in all the creases? It's an organic, fluid, earnest album that charms its way into being played again and again." less

"8: If Blackblack has the kitten-heele..." more

"8: If Blackblack has the kitten-heeled strut, The Kills have the stiletto boot swagger. Not so much a tease as a threat. A little dangerous, a little mysterious and whole lot of snarl. I love every little thing Midnight Boom throws at me." less

"9: "Verbs" is the soundtrack to the m..." more

"9: "Verbs" is the soundtrack to the most amazing National Geographic special on bugs and birds. Oooh oooh, even better, the soundtrack to the next IMAX nature movies. Can't you see the hummingbird in flitting from flower to flower in "Are Animals"? Or giant raindrops falling slow motion into a drought-stricken African watering hole in "rr vs. d"? Or flowers opening in the morning sun as the rest of the forest awakens in "Two Season"? "Verbs" couldn't be better-titled." less

"near miss"

"near miss"

"near miss"

"near miss"

"near miss"