Drew SmithDrew Smith's Lonely ChoirFat Caddy Records By Al Kaufman Austinite Drew Smith is everything that's right with CDs, both musically and aesthetically. For the visual sense, this is a gorgeous CD. Dave Schwab's intricate pen and ink drawings are whimsical, and the artistry on the liner notes is brilliant. This is a wonderfully packaged […]

Yourself and the Air Friend of all Breeds EP Hands Organic By Samantha Parvin If “indie” has come to describe a particular style of music, Yourself and the Air are the poster children for the genre. The Friend of all Breeds five-song EP is polished and well-rehearsed; it makes sense, which is less easy to […]

Lord Cut-Glass Lord Cut-Glass Chemikal Underground By Julia Reidy Ex-Delgado Alun Woodward’s lilting Scottish accent wraps itself around the haunting, intricate instrumental arrangements in his songs. His debut LP under the moniker Lord Cut-Glass — named for a character in the radio play Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas — turns seamlessly from folk to […]

PhoenixWolfgang Amadeus PhoenixGlass Note Records By Eileen Tilson When most people visit Paris, they are overwhelmed by how incredibly beautiful and luminescent the “City of Lights” is; the city literally glows, and at night can be a spectacular sight. Ironically, most of these tourists do not realize that underneath Paris lies an entire city of […]

The EmptiesThe Empties Slush Fund Records By Eileen Tilson There must be something in the water of Athens. It draws musicians in like the Pied Piper, giving them the belief that maybe one day Micheal Stipe or John Bell is going to walk into Tasty World on the night you are playing and decided to […]

Regina SpektorFarSire By Al Kaufman Regina Spektor is a poet. As such, she has license to be nonsensical and downright weird if she so desires. She can talk about making a "computer out of macaroni pieces," or boldly state that "blue is the most human color." But she can also utilize beautiful metaphor. When she […]