The Black Angels
Phosphene Dream
BUY CD HERE
The group’s signature noise – cheap organs, driving rhythms, guitars bathed in enough reverb to soak a blanket – is intact, and there are enough of their usual scowling nuggets (“The Sniper,” “Bad Vibrations”) to satisfy those looking for the same fix. But the Black Angels introduce just enough variation in their still-potent formula to show growth, even as they hold to their own tradition. That makes Phosphene Dream not just compelling, but damn near brilliant. – Austinist
Of Montreal
False Priest
BUY CD HERE
ENTER TO WIN PRIZE PACK HERE
False Priest is unmistakably a creation of the post-Hissing Fauna Of Montreal. Percolating basslines weave through every track, while Barnes, sounding more comfortable than ever in his Prince-ly falsetto, pushes into increasingly purple territories. Aided by guest vocalists Janelle Monáe and Solange Knowles, producer Jon Brion succeeds in pulling the bandleader out of his own head, but he’s yet to fully shed Skeletal Lamping’s occasionally frustrating flightiness. This time, however, Barnes waits for his songs to end before flitting from stomping glam (“Coquet Coquette”) to Berlin Trilogy creepy-crawlies (“Around The Way”) to trunk-rattling P-Funk bump. On False Priest, the spirit of collaboration does for Of Montreal on record what it has done for the band’s live show, building a thrilling, carnival-like atmosphere around Barnes’ fractured perspective. – Onion A.V. Club