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REYAN ALI

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Wild Belle push magical buttons

indie
Wild Belle's multi-ethnic allegiances — Afropop, reggae, and rocksteady — fuse into American indie-pop and classic rock. Results are, at varying times, tropical, tepid, and tempestuous.

By: REYAN ALI | February 11, 2013

The Lumineers aim for the rafters

Jeremiah Fraites isn't famous — at least not yet. The drummer of the Lumineers, the folk trio who experienced an outrageously fruitful 2012, is talking to me two days before appearing on the January 19 Saturday Night Live, but he doesn't sound convinced that his band have crossed the fame threshold.

By: REYAN ALI | February 01, 2013

Phantom Glue come into focus

Cellars by Starlight
Variations of "nightmarish" and "psychedelic" come up repeatedly as Matt Oates describes his band's work — which makes sense, given that Phantom Glue trace their roots back to Slayer, the Jesus Lizard, and cult post-hardcore act KARP.

By: REYAN ALI | January 23, 2013

Coming of age with Hoodie Allen

Hoodie Allen cannot escape James Franco.

By: REYAN ALI | December 18, 2012

Simian Mobile Disco get a move on

Electronic
Occasionally someone will find the Virgin Mary's image on a slice of toast, or they're sure they see grandpa's face in a patch of clouds.

By: REYAN ALI | December 03, 2012

Star Slinger | Ladies in the Back

Jet Jam (2012)
How high can a remix-heavy disc go when it's built on the dodgiest and lousiest of foundations?

By: REYAN ALI | November 16, 2012

Isis | Temporal

Ipecac (2012)
Temporal is an assortment of rarities culled from Isis' entire career, and it's a suitably bulky set in both length (almost two hours) and aural weight.

By: REYAN ALI | November 12, 2012

MUSIC_POP_DanDeacon3_CreditJoshSisk_list

Dan Deacon is coming to America

In 2007, Dan Deacon experienced startling cultural self-awareness.

By: REYAN ALI | November 08, 2012

Mount Kimbie’s wallflower power

Sometimes making a statement from a corner of a room feels truer than making one from its center. Kai Campos — one-half of the London duo Mount Kimbie — believes that reasoning was crucial to his desire to make electronica in the first place.

By: REYAN ALI | October 24, 2012

Amon Tobin settles into abstract electronica

His bridge
If his 2011 off-the-cuff comment is any proof, Amon Tobin is terrible at resisting the urge to prod a proverbial beehive.

By: REYAN ALI | September 05, 2012

The proper intentions of Frank Turner

Punk makes good
On July 27, Frank Turner played the biggest show of his life while surrounded by sheep, actors dressed as Brits of different stripes, a Ferris wheel, a synthetic recreation of the English countryside, and an unfathomably massive crowd.

By: REYAN ALI | August 28, 2012

Inside the globe-spanning pop of Beirut

Worlds in flux
Pictures on walls have held great meaning to Zach Condon.

By: REYAN ALI | August 21, 2012

Dan Deacon | America

Domino
America as a country is rarely celebrated by its off-the-radar and off-kilter musicians.

By: REYAN ALI | August 21, 2012

Seriously, what is Babymetal?

Japanese animated
Given that they're all alumni of the J-pop "idol" group Sakura Gakuin, it's extremely unlikely that these girls (whose ages fall between 12 and 15) formed Babymetal on their own.

By: REYAN ALI | August 01, 2012

Nachtmystium | Silencing Machine

Century Media (2012)
The end is nigh, and it will be ugly. With Silencing Machine, Nachtmystium's sixth album, Blake Judd and his fellow Chicago-based melodic black metallurgists have put together a fantastically tormented document — a recipe for Armageddon that promises things getting darkest before the death.

By: REYAN ALI | July 31, 2012