Album Review: Patrick Grant’s Re-Release of FIELDS AMAZE and other sTRANGE music

FIELDS AMAZE and other sTRANGE music exceeded my expectations of an album with “creative” capitalization in its title.  Patrick Grant’s work was originally released in 1998, featuring “percussion, gamelan, microtonal instruments, and electric chamber ensembles with narrative structures informed by chaos theory, biological forms, and B-horror films.”  (Goddamn, that’s a mouthful…)  Now for the album’s twentieth… Continue reading Album Review: Patrick Grant’s Re-Release of FIELDS AMAZE and other sTRANGE music

EP Review: Weather McNabb’s Cubicle Zombie

Cubicle Zombie, the recent EP from Boston-area songwriter Weather McNabb, is a clever ode to a nation of working stiffs yearning for something brighter than the fluorescent graveyard they labor in.  “Fleeing from screen to screen,” McNabb’s zombies are fighting their way out of the corporate nine-to-five grind, much like McNabb herself fought to make her… Continue reading EP Review: Weather McNabb’s Cubicle Zombie

Album Review: Save Me by Neurotix

Neurotix ‘s debut full-length Save Me immediately brings the Nirvana vibes.  Its songs are anthemic, fuzzy, and sparsely arranged, with nasal vocals would at times be at home in a Green Day or Rancid song.  I disagree with the Chicago band’s statement that grunge has been “mostly obsolete” since Kurt Cobain’s death — but I appreciate… Continue reading Album Review: Save Me by Neurotix

Nocturnal Animals Read the Writing on the Walls

Atlanta pop-rock band Nocturnal Animals are gearing up to release their sophomore EP, Writing on the Walls, on October 12, 2018.  Alternative Control reviewed their first EP, Dark Lit Places; this new one is similarly catchy and shows a progression in songwriting.  Critics have compared the band to Green Day and Fall Out Boy.  Check… Continue reading Nocturnal Animals Read the Writing on the Walls

Album Review: Elza’s Nothing’s Wrong

Vancouver singer/songwriter Elza has been hard at work on her debut full-length Nothing’s Wrong, coming out November 2nd, 2018.  The follow-up to her 2014 EP Glories, Nothing’s Wrong is a laid-back, artsy pop offering that is sure to make its way onto many “chill” playlists. I wasn’t sold on the single “Swayed,” and there were… Continue reading Album Review: Elza’s Nothing’s Wrong

AltCtrlToob Video Review: Mah-Ze-Tar Awakens with “Liquid Lotus”

A lot of world music has been making its way to the ol’ inbox!  This weekend, we took a look and listen to “Liquid Lotus,” the title track from Mah-Ze-Tar’s upcoming debut album.  This Santa Barbara-based artist sings in Hindi, Farsi, and English and incorporates exotic instruments like sitar, oud, Turkish saz, dilruba, and bansuri into… Continue reading AltCtrlToob Video Review: Mah-Ze-Tar Awakens with “Liquid Lotus”

Album Review: The Goldwyn Experiment’s Avenue B

From the first seconds of opening track “Prologue,” it becomes clear that The Goldwyn Experiment’s Avenue B represents a musical metamorphosis for band leader Goldwyn Thandrayen.  Alternative Control reviewed Psychocide, a party pop band he fronted, in 2017 — and this new project is quite a departure.  Incorporating piano, upright, bass, and even a guest rapper,… Continue reading Album Review: The Goldwyn Experiment’s Avenue B